Less Citation, Less Dissemination: The Case of French Psychoanalysis.

Rémy Potier,Elliot Jurist,Charlotte Dolez,Olivier Putois

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01729

Abstract

We contribute to inquiries about the visibility of globalized psychoanalytic research in the digital era (cf. Stepansky 2009) by adopting a comparative perspective on a specific geographic area of historical importance for psychoanalysis: France. The largely digital globalized psychoanalytic research field relies on standard bibliometric measures of journal quality (Impact Factor, SJR, etc.), which depend on the number and type of academic cites received by a journal. Thus, citing shapes academic publishing space by differentially valuing its component journals. Conversely, not to cite practically means not to engage with the field. Hence, we took citedness rate as a proxy for global visibility. By drawing on an original database created by one of us, we determined the global citational visibility of French vs. Anglo- American psychoanalytic productions (respective global outreach); and we related it to a first look at French vs. Anglo-American citation practices (geographic breakdown of article cites). We found that, on a 15-year period, the global outreach (citedness rate) of French articles is ten times smaller than that of Anglo- American articles; and that French articles are cited in Anglo-American journals five times more than Anglo-American articles in French journals – which in turn don’t seem to cite their French peers very often. These specific French citation practices could be explained by the implicit modes of reference at work in clinical settings shaped by rich theoretical and clinical local legacies. We conclude by considering that this situation presents French psychoanalytic research with a formidable opportunity for increased citational visibility.

Highlights

The future of all publishing is open to question, and this is especially true in the case of psychoanalytic publishing. Stepansky (2009) has explored the future of psychoanalytic publishing with a particular emphasis upon how the digital era has had an impact upon the decline of scholarly publication in the United States
We tried to determine whether the seemingly small international visibility of contemporary French psychoanalytic research could be related to its lack of acknowledgment of the impact of digitalization on rules of writing and publishing
Are French psychoanalytic journals almost absent from the international research scene? A first step toward answering this question is to assess the global outreach of French vs. Anglo-American articles, by determining the ratio of citations per psychoanalytic article depending on its geographic origin (French vs. Anglo-American)

Summary

Introduction

The future of all publishing is open to question, and this is especially true in the case of psychoanalytic publishing. Stepansky (2009) has explored the future of psychoanalytic publishing with a particular emphasis upon how the digital era has had an impact upon the decline of scholarly publication in the United States. Stepansky (2009) has explored the future of psychoanalytic publishing with a particular emphasis upon how the digital era has had an impact upon the decline of scholarly publication in the United States. If this trend continues, the survival of contemporary psychoanalytic research will depend upon its capacity to embrace and utilize digital publishing. The survival of contemporary psychoanalytic research will depend upon its capacity to embrace and utilize digital publishing Echoing this perspective, we tried to determine whether the seemingly small international visibility of contemporary French psychoanalytic research could be related to its lack of acknowledgment of the impact of digitalization on rules of writing and publishing. Our intuition is that French psychoanalytic work would become more visible if it demonstrated familiarity with psychoanalytic work in English, citing it and engaging in dialogue

Methods

Results

Conclusion