You may have noticed a section labeled “Author’s Perspective” appearing in an APA PsycArticles record on APA PsycNet. Authors of APA journal articles are encouraged to join Kudos to contribute their own plain-language explanation of the purpose and impact of their study. This first-hand summary appears on APA PsycNet along with the abstract and other publication details, allowing you to further evaluate the article’s relevance in the context of your own research.
What is Kudos?
The Kudos research communication platform allows an author to gather their publications in a single place, regardless of publisher. It’s designed to help researchers maximize the readership, citation, and application of their published work, and quantify its impact.
When an author of an APA journal article shares their own description of their paper’s significance in their Kudos profile, you’ll see an abbreviated version in the database record on APA PsycNet (view a sample APA PsycArticles record with Author’s Perspective summary). You’ll also see an external link to the author’s full statement on the Kudos site.
How does the Author’s Perspective differ from the article’s Impact Statement?
An article’s Impact Statement is developed by the journal’s editorial board and describes the relevance of the study for the general public from the publisher’s view. The Impact Statement is part of the publication record.
The Author’s Perspective is written by the author, published on the Kudos platform, and not officially included in the publication record.
Sometimes you’ll see an Author’s Perspective for an APA journal article that does not have a publisher’s Impact Statement. This additional detail may help you determine the publication’s relevance to your own work.
How many APA PsycArticles records contain the Author’s Perspective?
Currently about 1,000 articles published by APA contain the Author’s Perspective from Kudos (compared to approximately 7,400 APA journal articles with an Impact Statement). This number will continue to grow as more researchers engage with the Kudos platform.
Related Resources for APA Authors
- APA Publishing Resources: Using Kudos to increase and track impact
- Kudos: American Psychological Association (APA) Showcase
