Evaluating Professional Behavior Analysts’ Literature Searches
Doctorate and university-library access drive more confident literature searches, so create team systems that share access and set weekly search habits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Bank et al. (2023) sent an online survey to 180 Board Certified Behavior Analysts. They asked how often the BCBAs search the research literature and how confident they feel about it.
The team also asked about degree level and whether the person still had access to a university library. They wanted to see which factors predict more frequent and confident searches.
What they found
Most BCBAs report searching the literature about once a month. A smaller group searches weekly.
Holding a doctorate and having university-library access both predicted more searches and higher confidence. Without library access, many BCBAs feel stuck behind paywalls.
How this fits with other research
Briggs et al. (2022) gave step-by-step tech tools to help BCBAs stay current. Bank’s data now show those tools are sorely needed—most BCBAs are not searching weekly as the ethics code implies.
Whitehouse et al. (2014) offered a hand-picked reading list for developmental-disability practice. The new survey reveals that today’s BCBAs still rely on occasional searches rather than systematic reading plans.
Brown et al. (2025) surveyed early-career BCBAs about supervision and also found wide variability. Both studies paint the same picture: professional habits are inconsistent and could benefit from structured support.
Why it matters
If you supervise RBTs or train new BCBAs, treat literature-search skills like any other skill: model it, set goals, and give feedback. Schedule a shared 15-minute journal scan each week and rotate who picks the article. If you still have university-library access, share PDFs with colleagues who don’t. Small system changes can turn monthly searches into weekly ones—and keep your whole team ethics-code compliant.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The first section of the new Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2020) includes the expectation that behavior analysts will maintain competence by reading relevant literature. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate to what extent professional behavior analysts search for and access the behavior analytic literature. A survey invitation was sent through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and social media outlets at the end of 2020; 180 professionals responded. Roughly 80% of participants searched for research at least once per month. The top three online resources used were academic web search (72.7%), a university library subscription (65.6%), and the BACB research resource (65.6%). Forty-five percent of all participants indicated satisfaction with the research resources available to them. A series of independent samples t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine group differences. Participants with doctorates searched more frequently and reported higher satisfaction and confidence across all tested domains. Participants using a university library reported more frequent literature searches, a higher skill level in conducting searches, more confidence in their ability to conduct a meaningful literature search, more satisfaction with the research resources available to them, and were more likely to report that the identified research would inform their practice.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2023 · doi:10.1007/s40617-022-00720-w