The role of the Association of Psychologists-COP in the international ranking of Spanish Psychology (1979-2018)

Abstract: The presence and spread of Spanish psychology journals in different international databases (JCR and SJR) is an indicator that determines the maturity and growth of this field, apart from providing an interesting view of the scientific activity for what concerns psychology and its situation within the international context. The objective of the present work is to determine the role of the Association of Psychologists (COP) as editor of psychology high-impact journals. 17 indexed journals were simultaneously selected in the JCR and SJR databases. The results show how 53% of them are edited or coedited by the professional association of psychologists-COP, with salience of that of Madrid (COP Madrid), having both, a greater presence in other databases and a greater number of journals in the first JCR quartile, with differences in the number of records per quartile between those journals edited or co-edited by the COP and those that are not. We could conclude that the state policies and the ranking campaigns of universities, associations and colleges play a key role in internationalization and ranking, since, in the case of Spain, the Association of Psychologists is the main editor and promotor of a true policy focused on these objectives.