Where to Find the Big Names in Psychology

Hello:

As far as I know, academia doesn’t seem to have anything like an authoritative “ranking of the big shots.” Then again, maybe I’m just poorly informed.

So how do you find out who the big names are in a particular research field?

First, when it comes to your own little corner of research, if you’re working on the front line, you’ll naturally become well-read in the field’s literature and familiar with its research history and cutting edge. Who’s leading the pack in your own little corner, and where the frontier lies—I don’t think those are too hard to get a handle on.

Second, for related fields outside your own little corner, I suppose it’s really just a matter of familiarity through repetition. You may not understand them as deeply as you do your own specialty, but if you keep reading and learning, you’ll naturally get a handle on the big picture in those fields too.

Reading more and learning more means getting into the habit of keeping up with the field’s major academic journals and important science coverage. Researchers who keep turning up in the big stories in heavyweight journals and scientific publications, and who are repeatedly cited in other researchers’ papers and books, may well be the leaders in their field. Once you notice a few names like that, search for the researcher on Google Scholar, check how many citations their papers have and what their h-index is, then take a look around their lab’s website. Cross-check all that information, and you can pretty much bag yourself a big name.

Also, here are a few links to websites’ picks for the “top” psychologists “currently” working, for your reference (though, of course, big names in psychology are everywhere, and every one of these lists leaves plenty out).

thebestschools.org/features/…

www.onlinepsychologydegree.info/30-most-i…

www.bestmastersinpsychology.com/30-most-i…

www.bestcounselingdegrees.net/30-most-i…

thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/who-are-m…

If you want to search Google for big names in psychology, I suggest adding words like “living” and “today” after keywords such as “leading psychologists,” “most influential psychologists,” or “Most Eminent Psychologists.” That way you’ll actually find the field’s big names today; otherwise, the results will be full of historical figures like Freud.

Notes

• This article series, “Psychology New Knowledge Mini-Course,” was written at the time to accompany content related to Zhichao Wei: Psychology New Knowledge Course. These short popular-science pieces and casual essays were published on the now-closed platform Fantuan, and the original link no longer exists.