World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Journal of Vocational Behavior
H-index 45

Journal of Vocational Behavior

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Psychology 53 113 187 41
Social Sciences and Humanities 540 13 14 9

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 145
Documents by Best Scientists*: 214
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 5
SCIMAGO H-index: 197
SCIMAGO SJR: 2.793
Impact Factor: 5.2

Overview

Top Research Topics at Journal of Vocational Behavior?

The journal explores disciplines such as Social psychology, Vocational education, Career development, Job satisfaction and Developmental psychology. Journal of Vocational Behavior facilitates discussions on Social psychology that incorporate concepts from other fields like Applied psychology and Career choice. The research on Applied psychology discussed in Journal of Vocational Behavior draws on the closely related field of Cognitive Information Processing.

While work presented in it provided substantial information on Vocational education, it also covered topics in Scale (social sciences), Career counseling, Higher education, Clinical psychology and Preference. The presentations focused mostly on Career development in an attempt to further explore topics in Pedagogy. Most of the works presented in it deals with Job satisfaction but it intersects with the subject of Organizational commitment.

The study on Organizational commitment presented is investigated in conjunction with research in Affective events theory. The studies on Job attitude discussed can also contribute to research in the domains of Job analysis and Job design. The journal emphasizes research on Personality, which includes concerns such as Big Five personality traits.

  • Social psychology (66.06%)
  • Vocational education (20.59%)
  • Career development (17.03%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • The Measurement of Organizational Commitment. (6493 citations)
  • AFFECTIVE, CONTINUANCE, AND NORMATIVE COMMITMENT TO THE ORGANIZATION: A META-ANALYSIS OF ANTECEDENTS, CORRELATES, AND CONSEQUENCES (4689 citations)
  • Toward a Unifying Social Cognitive Theory of Career and Academic Interest, Choice, and Performance (4124 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Journal of Vocational Behavior:

The most cited papers facilitate discussions on Social psychology, Job satisfaction, Career development, Organizational commitment and Applied psychology. The journal publications investigate Social psychology research which frequently intersects with Developmental psychology. The most cited articles explore topics in Career development which can be helpful for research in disciplines like Vocational education, Interpersonal relationship, Career choice and Adaptability.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Social psychology
  • World War II
  • Statistics

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The objective of the journal is to combine knowledge in the areas of Social psychology, Vocational education, Career development, Sample (statistics) and Applied psychology. It facilitates the exploration of Social psychology in relation to the field of Perspective (graphical). The subject of Proactivity, which is connected to the field of Job performance, serves as the foundation of the Vocational education research featured in Journal of Vocational Behavior.

The research on Career development featured in the journal combines topics in other fields like Identity (social science) and Scholarship. Some problems in Applied psychology that were presented in Journal of Vocational Behavior overlapped with concepts under Psychological intervention and Social support. The journal explores topics in Organizational citizenship behavior which can be helpful for research in disciplines like Phenomenon and Affect (psychology).

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Precarious work in the 21st century: A psychological perspective (8 citations)
  • Life stage, lifespan, and life course perspectives on vocational behavior and development: A theoretical framework, review, and research agenda (8 citations)
  • Contemporary career orientations and career self-management: A review and integration (5 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Journal of Vocational Behavior (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Terence J. G. Tracey (44 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Robert W. Lent (38 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • Tammy D. Allen (34 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Itamar Gati (32 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition,
  • Andreas Hirschi (31 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Journal of Vocational Behavior (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Maryland, College Park (93 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • Ohio State University (91 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • University of Minnesota (84 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Iowa State University (77 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (72 papers) published 6 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 2.50% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 15.38% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 12.82% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 33.33% of all publications and 38.46% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Potential Career Paths in Vocational Behavior Research

There are numerous career paths for individuals interested in the field of vocational behavior research. A primary field that would benefit greatly from the knowledge generated by this area of study is Forensic Science. By understanding a person's vocational behavior, a forensic scientist can use this information to provide impactful insights during investigations. For example, if an individual interested in a career in vocational behavior research decided to specialize in forensic science, possessing a deep understanding of job satisfaction metrics could help them interpret data regarding a suspect's or victim's job history or help create profiles for unidentified individuals based on work-related evidence. Undertaking comprehensive study in this field could also lead to roles in organizational development, career counseling, among others, where an understanding of job satisfaction, career development, and vocational education are key. Should you wish to explore such opportunities, you can find more detail on how to become a forensic scientist in Kentucky by visiting this link: forensic science degree in Kentucky. Begin your journey towards a rewarding career in vocational behavior research today. The impact of your work could be quite groundbreaking, providing significant contributions to a variety of fields.

Top Publications

  • Latent profile analysis: A review and “how to” guide of its application within vocational behavior research

    Daniel Spurk;Andreas Hirschi;Mo Wang;Domingo Valero

    (2020)
    1499 Citations
  • Sustainable careers : towards a conceptual model

    Ans De Vos;Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden;Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden;Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden;Jos Akkermans

    (2020)
    733 Citations
  • The Covid-19 crisis as a career shock: Implications for careers and vocational behavior.

    Jos Akkermans;Julia Richardson;Maria L. Kraimer

    (2020)
    607 Citations
  • Unemployment in the time of COVID-19: A research agenda.

    David L. Blustein;Ryan Duffy;Joaquim A. Ferreira;Valerie Cohen-Scali

    (2020)
    573 Citations
  • Taking control amidst the chaos: Emotion regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Simon Lloyd D. Restubog;Simon Lloyd D. Restubog;Anna Carmella G. Ocampo;Lu Wang

    (2020)
    437 Citations
  • The process of reinventing a job: A meta–synthesis of qualitative job crafting research

    Alessandra Lazazzara;Maria Tims;Davide de Gennaro

    (2020)
    320 Citations
  • Addressing common method variance and endogeneity in vocational behavior research:A review of the literature and suggestions for future research

    Brian Cooper;Nathan Eva;Forough Zarea Fazlelahi;Alexander Newman

    (2020)
    268 Citations
  • Contemporary career orientations and career self-management: A review and integration

    Andreas Hirschi;Jessie Koen

    (2021)
    243 Citations
  • Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on career development: Insights from cultural psychology.

    Yanjun Guan;Hong Deng;Xinyi Zhou

    (2020)
    176 Citations
  • Career decision making, fast and slow: Toward an integrative model of intervention for sustainable career choice

    Robert W. Lent;Steven D. Brown

    (2020)
    124 Citations

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

For students interested in Psychology, exploring complementary fields through online programs can broaden career opportunities. One such option is pursuing a human services online program, which offers a faster route to entering helping professions focused on community support and social services.

Career changers, especially educators, often wonder, can a teacher become a speech pathologist? The answer is yes, with the right academic preparation and certifications, including completing accredited speech-language pathology programs.

For those pursuing speech therapy, it’s crucial to find programs that meet professional standards. The asha approved slp programs offer accredited options that adhere to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s guidelines, ensuring quality and licensure eligibility.

Non-SLP majors can transition into speech-language pathology through speech language pathology bridge programs online. These bridge programs provide a streamlined pathway while accommodating professionals from related fields, enhancing flexibility and career mobility.

Best Scientists Contributing to This Journal