A leading trade publication has given West Virginia Universitys Department of Psychology high marks for the research effort it puts behind its clinical and clinical child training programs.

A recent article in the Journal of Clinical Psychology,Research Productivity and Academic Lineage in Clinical Psychology: Who Is Training the Faculty to Do Research?,ranked the research productivity of 169 clinical psychology programs across the country in schools accredited by the American Psychological Association.

WVU ranked 13th for the total numbers of publications generated by faculty, and placed sixth in the nation for the mean number of publicationswhich is adjusted for publications by the number of graduates.

Other numbers:

• WVU was number 32 in the country for the number its psychology graduates who are currently faculty in doctoral programs.

• From 2000-04, some 19 graduates of WVU psychology programs went on to be faculty members at approved graduate clinical training programs.

• A total 308 articles in that same period were published by WVU psychology graduates.

Dr. Kevin Larkin, who directs the departments clinical training programs, said hes pleased with WVU s showing, since the placement is based on actual research outputand not byreputationsurveys other publications use to rank academic programs.

Many program rankings are based upon ratings of prominent educators,Larkin said.The weakness is that program chairs rarely have knowledge of all programs in the country in order to make accurate appraisals of their quality. This could be compared to voting without knowing the qualifications of all candidates.

The Clinical Training Program has been an American Psychological Association-accredited program since 1966. It is designed to help students develop careers in academic and clinical service settings. It operates on the scientist-practitioner model of trainingso its graduates are prepared for a future in either research or practice.

It is very common for our students to acquire multiple publications prior to graduating,Larkin said.It is a testament to our junior-colleague model of graduate training.

The department last February earned the American Psychological Associations Award for Innovation in Graduate Education for its junior-colleague model.

For more information, contact Larkin at kevin.larkin@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2001, ext. 31668.

The department is housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.