Welcoming Address for the Inaugural Edition International Annual Edition of Applied Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice by Dr. Kurt Kraiger and Dr. Janice L. Nerger

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the International Annual Edition of Applied Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice. This online journal is a product of the collaboration of the psychology departments at Saratov State University (SSU) in Russia and Colorado State University (CSU) in the United States of America. It is a means by which psychology researchers across the globe can share ideas, theories, and research findings. By exploring similarities and commonalities across cultures, we can work towards discovering and understanding universal principles of human behavior.
We must be aware that the story of the journal does not begin with the first issue. In the novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, the author Italo Calvino observes, “But how to establish the exact moment in which a story begins? Everything has already begun before, the first line of the first page of every novel refers to something that has already happened outside the book[1].” And so is the story of the International Annual Edition of Applied Psychology. The publication of the journal marks the next step in the ongoing collaborative partnership between two psychology departments and between two universities.
The story of the alliance between the two psychology departments began in May 2010 when a delegation of faculty from Colorado State University visited Saratov State University. It was during that visit that Professor Liudmila Aksenovskaya, Head of the Faculty of Psychology of Saratov State University, met with Jan Nerger, Professor of Psychology and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at Colorado State University. Prof. Aksenovskaya presented her vision for collaborations among students and faculty at the two institutions. Though the distance between the two universities is great and the languages spoken are distinct, Profs. Aksenovskaya and Nerger became close friends and it is through their efforts that the collaboration in psychology was initiated. Several more visits of faculty from CSU to SSU and SSU to CSU culminated with the signing of an International Memorandum of Understanding on 22 September 2011.
The first International Conference on “Organizational Psychology: People and Risks” was held in spring of 2010, and beginning in 2011, subsequent conferences featured keynote addresses and workshops by both prominent CSU and SSU researchers. In 2012, an informal competition was created to recognize the top research presentations by Saratov students and faculty. In 2013, a poster session was added on the second day to allow a greater number of SSU faculty and students to present their theories and research.
The International Annual Edition is not the first success to grow out of the conferences. Four SSU masters students enrolled in an online graduate course offered by Colorado State University in the spring of 2013. In the summer of 2013, Professor. Zinta Byrne of Colorado State University launched the International Virtual Lab for the Study of Employee Engagement with several collaborators from Saratov State University. Finally, in December of 2013, a research study entitled “Personality Correlates of Assessment Center Consensus Competency Ratings: Evidence from Russia” was published in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, co-authored by Professors Svetlana Simonenko (SSU), George Thornton (CSU), and Alyssa Gibbons (CSU), as well as Anna Kravtcova (SSU)[2].
Now in 2014, the collaboration continues to evolve with the formation of the International Annual Edition of Applied Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice debuts. The aim of the journal is to promote international cooperation in the area of theoretical and practical psychology. By covering cutting-edge psychological research, the journal hopes to advance the integration of psychological inquiry from different countries and encourage the widespread dissemination of psychological theory, knowledge, and practice.
As the journal grows, the initial focus will be on highlighting key presentations from the annual conference, as well as original research, reviews, brief reports, commentaries, and news of scientific events. A second ongoing feature will be research and theory papers that will initiate discussion, promote new research opportunities, and foster communication between colleagues in different nations. We intend that in time, the journal will attract more contributions from researchers in other countries and become an important international journal.
We wish to express our appreciation of the ongoing efforts of Professor Liudmila Aksenovskaya, Dean of the Psychology Department at Saratov State University. Dr. Aksenovskaya has been the leading visionary of the growing collaboration between SSU and CSU. She was the original founder and driving force behind the annual international conference, and she was also the founder of this journal. What you read in this issue is due to Dr. Aksenovskaya’s vision and perseverance.
We are writing this in advance of seeing all the submissions for this first edition. We are looking forward to seeing the first online issue, and witnessing the journal grow in stature in the coming years. The partnership between the two psychology departments has already resulted in great benefits for the students and faculty of CSU’s Psychology Department and the College of Natural Sciences. We look forward to growing our partnerships and establishing even greater collaborations in the future.
 
Dr. Kurt Kraiger
Chair, Department of Psychology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO, USA
Kurt.Kraiger@colostate.edu
 
Dr. Janice L. Nerger
Dean, College of Natural Sciences
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO, USA
Janice.Nerger@colostate.edu

[1] Calvino, I. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Orlando, FL, USA, 1981, 260 pages. p. 153.

[2] Simonenko, S., Thornton, G. C., Gibbons, A. M. Kravtcova, A. Personality Correlates of Assessment Center Consensus Competency Ratings: Evidence from Russia. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 2013, 21, 407–418. doi: 10.1111/ijsa.12050.