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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

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  • Director: Laura E. Gómez Sánchez
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Program FACTOR at 10: Origins, development and future directions

Pere Joan Ferrando and Urbano Lorenzo-Seva

Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Background: We aim to provide a conceptual view of the origins, development and future directions of FACTOR, a popular free program for fitting the factor analysis (FA) model. Method: The study is organized into three parts. In the first part we discuss FACTOR in its initial period (2006-2012) as a traditional FA program with many new and cutting-edge features. The second part discusses the present period (2013-2016) in which FACTOR has developed into a comprehensive program embedded in the framework of structural equation modelling and item response theory. The third part discusses expected future developments. Results: at present FACTOR has attained a degree of technical development comparable to commercial software, and offers options not available elsewhere. Discussion: We discuss several shortcomings as well as points that require changes or improvements. We also discuss the functioning of FACTOR within its community of users.

10 años del programa FACTOR: una revisión crítica de sus orígenes, desarrollo y líneas futuras. Antecedentes: se pretende dar una visión conceptual del origen, desarrollos y futuras líneas de investigación de FACTOR, un popular programa no comercial de análisis factorial (AF). Método: el estudio se organiza en tres partes. En la primera se discute FACTOR en su etapa inicial (2006-2012) como un programa AF tradicional con opciones novedosas. En la segunda se discute la etapa actual (2013-2016) en la que FACTOR se presenta ya como un programa general enmarcado tanto en los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales como en la teoría de respuesta a los ítems. En la tercera parte, finalmente se discute la esperada evolución futura del programa. Resultados: en la actualidad FACTOR ha alcanzado un grado de desarrollo técnico comparable al software comercial, ofreciendo opciones no disponibles en otros programas. Discusión: se discuten algunas limitaciones, así como varios puntos que requieren cambios o mejoras. Se discute también el funcionamiento del programa dentro de la comunidad de usuarios.

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