A51. Rice,
R. E., Chapin, J., Pressman, R., Park, S., & Funkhouser, E. (1996).
What's in a name? . Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 40, 511-539.
This study analyzed citation data involving a
"core" set of 17
communication
journals from 1977 through 1993, measures of the Journal of
Broadcasting
& Electronic Media’s influence within the communication discipline,
most-frequently cited author and publication data collected from the
Social
Science Citation Index, a citation matrix hand-culled from 27
communication
journals in 1990, the semantic patterns of words in the titles of all
the
articles from the past 40 years, and the semantic relationships among
the
topic categories assigned to those articles. Special attention was paid
to the periods of time preceding and following the Journal’s 1985
change
in title and mission. These analyses reveal shifts in the patterns of
citations,
article title words, and topics. While the editorial board was correct
in its assessment that the Journal of Broadcasting did not accurately
reflect
the research of the prior few years, the Journal continues to be a
cohesive
whole in thematic content, impact, and standing in the network of
communication
journals.
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