Trends in Communication Scholarship: An Analysis of Four Representative NCA and ICA Journals over the Last 70 Years

As the demand for research productivity continues to rise for communication scholars, it is important to understand the norms that govern publication in our scholarly journals, since these influence promotion and tenure decisions. This project examined publication patterns of four representative communication journals to discern publication norms and changes in them over time. Findings showed an increase in article length, number of references, multiple-authored publications, female authorship, and quantitative studies, but no significant change in number of articles per journal issue. These trends have a number of potential applications for communication scholars.