Assessing the need for a new group journal.

The need for a new journal dealing with group psychology and group psychotherapy was documented for the Publications & Communications Board of the American Psychological Association. The authors examined the output characteristics of existing journals that published articles about groups and group work between 1980 and 1995. Although articles about groups were published in 1,042 journals, 35% of the group articles were published in 23 journals. Although the 23 journals seemed to provide thorough coverage of general and specific aspects of group dynamics and group interventions, including psychodrama, few journals attempted to integrate diverse topics in group dynamics and group intervention. Trends in the number and kinds of topics published were also examined across the 16-year interval. The main implications of this survey were that (a) the study of groups, as reflected by the rate and number of publications, is a central concern in various fields in psychology and mental health; (b) researchers' and practitioners' publications dealing with group-level topics are distributed widely across many diverse journals, which makes it difficult for group psychologists to keep abreast of the literature; and (c) a single journal is needed to provide a focal point for basic and applied studies of groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)