By Justin Richter

UK’s clinical psychology department achieved the highest ranking in the nation, according to a recent study.

Due to the amount of quality publications produced, the clinical psychology program ranked No. 1 in h-index in a study by Leslie Morey, a Texas A&M psychology professor. The study, “Leading North American Programs in Clinical Assessment Research: An Assessment of Productivity and Impact,” was recently published in the Journal of Personality Assessment.

“It’s generally just a way to figure out how much research you’re publishing and how much others are citing it,” said Greg Smith, the clinical psychology program director, about the h-index ranking system. “If you publish research that nobody ever cites, you never really have a good impact on events or people.”

There are two areas in the psychology department: clinical psychology and lab, or researching, psychology.

The department studies and publishes information ranging from mindfulness, to the effects of alcohol on an ADHD individual, to general personality disorders, Smith said.

“We are a very productive department,” Richard Milich, a psychology professor, said. “We are good across the board and that’s why we score well,”

Not only do the professors publish their research and findings, graduate students also get this opportunity.

“All the publications I’ve had have been working with professors. They provide us support and we do the research and data,” said Walter Roberts, a graduate student and research assistant.

“It’s refreshing to collaborate with professors,” Roberts said. “From experience, I think it’s more productive to collaborate with each other.”

The study ranking schools according to h-index wasn’t the only study in recent history in which UK has prevailed.

UK received number one in a 2008 study by the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

It measured schools on what they have actually done not on their reputation, Smith said.

Both of these studies are apart from other studies which judge on reputation rather than production, Milich said.

“How we think about it is, rankings are not on reputations,” Smith said. “But on how they are produced, we hope in the long run that we will be judged on what we have produced, which will help our university improve its reputation.”