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An analysis of all published research articles in the Journal of Communication (N = 1574) revealed a slow progression toward openness and diversity of thought, interrupted by temporal slowdowns and declines. Among the recorded gaps is the overwhelmingly small representation of voices outside the United States. The assumption of interdisciplinarity is also questioned, as primary journal contributors were limited to a small set of sub-disciplines. The results also reveal a dominance of the (post-)positivistic paradigm and quantitative methods. While the relative proportion of atheoretical research is decreasing, there is also a remarkable slowdown in new theory development. Finally, with a steep decline in federal funding, communication scholars are becoming more reliant on universities, public organizations, and private donors.
Walter et al. (Sun,) studied this question.