Expanding the Scope of Research Productivity Indices: a Commentary on Dixon, Reed, Smith, Belisle, and Jackson (2015).

Dixon et al. (Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8:7-15, 2015) outlined methods to evaluate research rankings of behavior analytic graduate training programs and their graduate faculty. Publications across five behavior analytic journals were evaluated and cumulative totals were obtained for each program and its faculty members. Critchfield (Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8:3-6, 2015) noted that these measures indicated that many graduate students in behavior analysis are receiving training by faculty members with limited research productivity. This commentary offers some suggestions and refinements of the procedures used by Dixon et al. that might provide a more sensitive measure of scholarly productivity in our field. The implications of these suggestions are discussed.