Whose voices are published? Public relations scholarship by race, place, and gender in 30 years of journal publications

The purpose of this study is to examine whose voices on issues of diversity have been included in public relations scholarship and to what extent those voices have been amplified in the literature. Thus, we analyzed 238 journal articles in 11 leading public relations and communication journals selected through using diversity, equity, and inclusion-related key search terms to examine the authorship and citation count of articles published by public relations scholars. We analyzed the data by article first author, as well as by race, institution, and gender. The findings inspired by the work of Chakravartty et al. (2018) and Freelon et al. (2023) extend this work by examining scholarship on diversity in the field of public relations. Results demonstrate that authorship and citation patterns have changed over three decades, with increasing parity. Much of the work has been conducted at U.S. institutions, with White women figuring prominently as authors of diversity work. Theoretical and practical implications discuss important questions about how diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarship is framed and whose perspectives are privileged and amplified.