Scholarly Impact

h-index: 50; i10-index: 108; citation count: 10866

Obtained from Google Scholar, August 2025.

Dr. Deacon has had an incredible impact on the scientific community. She is in the 100th percentile of researchers in psychology (mq index of 2.55; please see Ruscio et al., 2012; see) and in the top 2% most impactful scientists in the world, across all fields and ages (Ioannidis, 2024).

Publications

Publications by Dr. Hélène Deacon and the Language and Literacy Lab

Please visit Dr. Deacon's ResearchGate page for accessible articles. If you have any difficulties accessing our publications, please contact us for a personal copy.

To view a full list of Dr. Deacon's publications, download the PDF document below:

Document.att

Educational and Clinical Impact

Talks and partnerships with educators

Beyond traditional scientific impact, Dr. Deacon actively collaborates with educators and practitioners to ensure that research findings directly benefit learners in classrooms and clinics. By engaging with school boards and education departments, Dr. Deacon's work informs curriculum development and empowers educators to implement research-backed strategies effectively. She has also given multiple presentations to educators through the Inter-University Research Network (IURN), which is a Nova Scotia Education and Early Childhood Development network that funds research projects identifying positive learning environments and opportunities. To this group and beyond, Dr. Deacon is regularly invited to give talks. These include speaking to 'full house' workshops with over 200 attendees at major gatherings of speech-language pathologists and teachers. This ongoing engagement with practitioners integrates real-world insights into research design and facilitates the translation of research into action. 

Influence on educational curriculums around the world

Dr. Deacon's work identifying core skills that children need to read has been implemented in educational curriculums across Canada and around the world to optimize children's reading outcomes. For instance, in Alberta, the development of the new elementary school curriculum relied directly on Deacon’s research on morphology. Internationally, Deacon’s findings have influenced curriculum recommendations in the USA (Allen et al., 2015), France (Colé, 2011), New Zealand (Chapman et al., 2018), Singapore (Silver & Bokhorst, 2016), and the United Kingdom (Breadmore et al., 2019).

Influence on professional training

Dr. Deacon's research findings are now integrated into post-secondary textbooks and professional development initiatives. This broader dissemination ensures that educators, psychologists, and speech-language pathologists are incorporating Deacon's insights into their practices, thus magnifying their effects.

Bearne, E., Reedy, D., Gardner, P., & Sawers, Y. (2023). Spelling and handwriting. In Teaching primary English in Australia (pp. 375-398). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003265016
Fritz, R., & Harn., B. (2021). Effective literacy instruction in inclusive schools. In McLeskey, J., Spooner, F., Algozzine, B., & Waldron, N.L. (Eds.). Handbook of effective inclusive elementary schools: Research and practice (pp. 199-220). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003043874

Public Policy

Reports for the Royal Society of Canada

Dr. Deacon was recruited by the Royal Society of Canada’s COVID-19 Task Force to co-author a policy brief with evidence-based recommendations to improve the well-being of Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief was shared with leaders at Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as with Chief Medical Officers across the country, including at the national level. This report was featured in the National Post and Radio-Canada and has been downloaded over 3000 times. It has led to widespread decisions for schools to be the “last to close and the first to open,” supporting children’s learning and family well-being through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thompson, J., & Deacon, S. H. (2021). Technology and a child’s journey to literacy. In Werker, J. F. et al. (Eds.) Impact of COVID-19 on Language and Literacy in Canada (pp. 75-77). Royal Society of Canada. rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/Literacy%20PB_EN_3.pdf
McGrath, P. J., Asmundson, G. J. G., Blackstock, C., Bourque, M. C., Brimacombe, G., Crawford, A., Deacon, S. H., McMullen, K., Mushquash, C., Stewart, S. H., Stinson, J., Taylor, S., Campbell-Yeo, M. (2020, October 9). Easing the disruption of COVID-19: Supporting the mental health of the people of Canada.  Royal Society of Canada. rsc-src.ca/en/research-and-reports/easing disruption-covid-19-supporting-mental-health-people

Partnership with the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation

The Language and Literacy Lab produces research reviews for Canada’s premiere literacy advocacy group, the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, which then creates and mobilises briefings such as Screens and the Early Years through their influential networks of 5000+ health care, non-profit and education leaders (examples below). These collaborative briefings have real world impact for families and practice. For example, Screens and the Early Years informed the Canadian Paediatric Association’s new guidelines on screen time.