Changing Center and Stagnant Periphery in Communication and Media Studies: National Diversity of Major International Journals in the Field of Communication from 2013 to 2017

Abstract

n this research, we explored what has changed in the field of communication and media studies since Edmund Lauf’s research in 2005, in which he analyzed publication patterns of leading communication journals from 1998 to 2002. We compared the results of our current analysis of 14,925 articles published in 72 Web of Science-ranked communication journals from 2013 to 2017 with Lauf’s earlier data. We found that most leading journals still publish articles almost exclusively from the developed world, and we found the same bias regarding the composition of journal editorial boards. Analysis shows a decreasing contribution of the U.S., while Asia and Western Europe greatly increased their participation, and developing regions are still underrepresented. Our research shows that the field is still deliberately dominated by Western articles in Western journals edited by Western editorial board members. Given this, we suggest that the international community of communication scholars develop strategies to expand common standards for a more balanced international contribution pattern.