Undisclosed Flexibility in Computing and Reporting Structural Equation Models in Communication Science

The use of structural equation modeling (SEM) in communication research has become increasingly popular in recent years, with SEM being commonly used as the primary method of data analysis in studies published within the field’s journals. However, despite its widespread use, there are persistent misapplications of SEM in published empirical studies in the communication sciences. Of these types of misuse, the most troubling are those related to the exploitation of flexibilities in data collection and analysis. Given the number of decisions that must be made when analyzing and reporting structural equation models, decisions which often remain undisclosed, the potential for researchers to exploit flexibilities in SEM research is high. To assess the extent of this problem, as well as the more longstanding types of misuse (i.e., omission of information and disclosed “bad practice”) identified by prior studies, we undertake a methodical review of studies employing structural equation modeling within major journals in the field of communication between the years 2007 and 2011. Articles were coded on the characteristics of the sample, characteristics of the model tested, as well as for various potential problems that we defined a priori. The most serious issues are identified, and recommendations for future standards in SEM research are suggested.     

Audience Research Trends in Mainland China: An Analysis of Three Major Journalism and Mass Communication Journals, 1985–2002

This paper employed quantitative methods to explore the trends of audience research in Mainland China by analyzing research articles in three major journalism and communication academic journals. The author analyzed research approaches, research methods, medium of focus and theoretical frameworks in these audience research articles from 1985 to 2002. Unlike findings derived from the analyses of mass communication research articles in major international journals, most of the research articles in Mainland China used qualitative methods. Chinese scholars tend to adopt behaviorist and structural approaches towards the study of audience. The number of research articles that dealt with broadcast and print media exceeded any other media, while more and more studies on Internet users are being conducted. Chinese scholars began to develop theories in recent years. The future study will continue based on analysis of other research materials and comparison with audience research articles in leading international journals.     

Research methods: What's in the name?

Research methods are applied in all kinds of studies, though no consensus exists regarding what constitutes a research method and how research methods should be categorized. Over 1900 research articles were obtained from three major journals published between 2001 and 2010 in library and information science (LIS). Each selected article was coded using a schema of research methods developed in this study. The coded data, along with related publications, were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. This exploration shows that research methods comprise data collection techniques (e.g., interview, observation) and data analysis techniques (e.g., qualitative, quantitative). Research methods should perhaps be categorized by data collection technique, as it makes more sense than if research methods are labeled as qualitative or quantitative. This study is one of the many efforts to facilitate a better understanding of research methods in LIS and help scholars make more informed decisions about research method selection in their endeavors. Its implications can be extended to LIS research education, training, and advocacy. Because research methods themselves are not discipline-specific, researchers beyond the LIS field would benefit from this study as well.     

科学传播十载,研究成果几何:文献计量学视角的动态解析

科学传播是共享科学技术研究和开发的相关信息的人类传播活动,可促进科学共同体与公众的沟通,参与并提高公民科学素质的研究和实践领域。在新冠疫情的背景下,其重要性和研究价值愈发凸显。为了梳理近十年来国内外科学传播发展的状况,跟踪该领域前沿研究进展,对比国内外研究之差异和差距,本文借助文献计量学方法、共词网络分析和知识图谱等手段,对科学传播领域的研究论文发表情况进行总结,并从研究机构、学术期刊、作者、国家和地区等不同维度对科学传播的学科建制发展进行深入剖析。最后,通过共词网络分析,本文对此领域的研究内容和主要议题进行分析和可视化呈现,以期为科学传播领域的研究者、实践者乃至参与其中的公众提供参考和启发。     

Thinking like a bricoleur: New forms of rigor in research on information experience

Research on information behavior, practice, and experience focuses on complex topics embedded in multiple circles of context. LIS researchers in these areas often adopt interpretive, participatory, or critical methods. Yet, they just as often are ambivalent to measurements of rigor, or they unintentionally use positivist criteria to measure quality. Each of these decisions is indicative of a deep-seated assumption about the nature of objectivity and subjectivity. Bricolage offers researchers a way to think about research outside of this assumption: to understand the object of inquiry as it really is, not as the researcher frames it. Thinking like a bricoleur, researchers circumvent exact research protocols and cultivate difference by combining methods, methodologies, theories, and philosophical positions in creative ways. Bricolage already has a toehold in LIS research, but the diverse topics and methods that researchers bring to studies of information behavior, practice, and experience call for greater engagement with it.     

Core Journal Lists for Behaviorally Disordered Children

Two professionals, one an academic researcher and the other a classroom teacher, each selected starting sets of journals that they found most useful in their work with behaviorally disordered children. Using citation analysis, core lists of journals were developed from these starting sets and ranked by "discipline impact factor," or DIF. Only two journals were common to both lists. The uncritical acceptance of core lists without considering the value judgements that are a part of the selection process can be misleading.     

Why do authors publish in predatory journals?

This study examines the reasons why authors publish in ‘predatory’ OA journals. In total, 50 journals were randomly selected from Beall's list of ‘predatory’ journals. Different methods, including WHOIS tracking, were utilized to query basic information about the selected journals, including location and registrant. Then, 300 articles were randomly selected from within selected journals in various scientific fields. Authors of the selected articles were contacted and sent survey questions to complete. A grounded theory qualitative methods approach was used for data collection and analysis. The results demonstrated that most of these journals were located in the developing world, usually Asia or Africa, even when they claimed they were in the USA or UK. Furthermore, four themes emerged after authors’ survey responses were coded, categorized, and sub‐categorized. The themes were: social identity threat, unawareness, high pressure, and lack of research proficiency. Scholars in the developing world felt that reputable Western journals might be prejudiced against them and sometimes felt more comfortable publishing in journals from the developing world. Other scholars were unaware of the reputation of the journals in which they published and would not have selected them had they known. However, some scholars said they would still have published in the same journals if their institution recognised them. The pressure to ‘publish or perish’ was another factor influencing many scholars’ decisions to publish in these fast‐turnaround journals. In some cases, researchers did not have adequate guidance and felt they lacked the knowledge of research to submit to a more reputable journal. More needs to be done by institutions and reputable journals to make researchers aware of the problem of ‘predatory’ journals.     

Information Use in Communication Research: A Citation Analysis of Faculty Publication at the University of Houston

Citation analysis provides valuable information on researchers' information use behavior, and helps librarians make evidence-based collection development decisions. However, no citation analysis of faculty publications in the field of communication has been performed to study communication researchers' information use behavior. This study examined communication faculty publication from 2006 to 2014, analyzing format, age, most frequently cited journals, and their subject areas. Analysis of local holdings provides evidence for the library's role in support of faculty research, and helps librarians articulate the value of libraries.     

新时代下学术期刊功能的转变:构建新型智库期刊

在新时代背景下,学术期刊作为智库研究成果的传播平台,应该加快转变自身的功能定位,并逐步探索建设智库期刊的成长之路.本文在分析新型智库特点的基础上,结合学术期刊在知识引领方面的严谨性、科学性、专业性和权威性,引入智库期刊的概念.为顺应新时代发展的要求,学术期刊不仅要发挥学术传播、交流、评价和引领的作用,更要实现服务于智库发展的功能.通过开设智库专栏、提高选题系统性、承接国家研究项目、加强期刊与期刊以及期刊与智库间的交流合作等方法,学术期刊可以逐步实现服务于智库建设的功能.     

The Quick and the Dirty: The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly of Database Overlap at the Journal Title Level

With the growing predominance of full-text databases, publisher’s searchable websites, Discovery systems, and Google, abstract and index (A&I) databases are becoming less prominent in the academic library’s collection. The A&I databases enable the serious researcher to more carefully refine their search, but given the users’ growing expectations of ease and “good enough,” this may be a need that is of less importance today. For this reason and given the decreasing budgets for collections, librarians are looking at these resources with a more skeptical eye. In addition to traditional evaluation measures, such as costs, usage, and faculty input, we looked at the overlap of indexing coverage. Those who have conducted such overlap studies have approached them at either the journal or article level. Article-level overlap studies demonstrate coverage of selected articles in the databases under study. Conversely, journal-level studies examine the extent of indexing of journals among the selected databases. Both methods are time-consuming and require extensive resources. A simplification of the journal-level method is to compare lists of journals indexed.     

Exploring the scholarly communication styles of Arab social science and humanities scholars

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study of scholarly communication behaviour among Arab scholars. The main objective of this study is to determine how Egyptian and Saudi Arabian social sciences and humanities scholars engage in scholarly communication practices. The study used a mixed‐methods approach. A questionnaire was answered by a sample of 104 participants, followed by interviews with 36 participants to gain insight into the scholarly communication behaviour of the Arab scholars. The analysis demonstrated that participants use different styles of scholarly communication approaches. Most of the participants do use informal (social media) channels to communicate their research findings (particularly ResearchGate and Facebook), although priority is given to formal over informal publication in peer reviewed journals. Responses showed that the promotional systems of both countries dictate publication choices of scholars, reducing the amount of collaboration by ranking co‐publications lower than sole publications and favouring printed journals over online‐only journals.     

Marketing Journals:

The purpose of this study is to determine the comprehensiveness and composition of university library holdings of marketing journals for three types of university library holdings of marketing journals for three types of institutions: schools that offer a doctoral degree program in marketing; non-doctoral degree programs in marketing offered at schools accredited by the AACSB; and non-doctoral degree programs offered at non-AACSB accredited schools. The results offer useful information for university librarians and marketing educators responsible for making journal acquisition and discontinuation decisions.     

Sampling Methods and Sample Populations in Quantitative Mass Communication Research Studies: A 15-Year Census of Six Journals

This study evaluated the sampling methods and sample populations used in all U.S.-based survey and experimental mass communication studies published between 2000 and 2014 in six major journals (N = 1,173). Most studies used nonprobability samples, and more than half used student samples. Experiments used more nonprobability and student samples than surveys. Funded studies used more probability and nonstudent samples than nonfunded studies. Implications of results pertaining to population validity and interpretations of findings for mass communication research are discussed.     

我国新闻传播学期刊集群分布及其亲疏关系研究

基于期刊共被引数据,本研究利用分层聚类和多维尺度分析方法考察新闻传播学期刊的集群分布及彼此之间的亲疏关系。数据分析表明:(1)新闻传播学期刊首先区分为新闻传播类期刊和编辑出版类期刊两大分支。(2)在新闻传播类期刊中,《电视研究》和《中国广播电视学刊》两者关系密切,但与其他期刊关系疏远。其他期刊按其亲疏关系又大致区分为两类:以学术研究为主导的研究型期刊和以实践总结为主导的行业性期刊。(3)在编辑出版类期刊中,《读书》和《中国图书评论》两者关系密切,但与其他期刊关系疏远。其他期刊按其亲疏关系又大致区分为三类:科技编辑出版类期刊、以出版为重点的出版类期刊和以编辑为重点的编辑类期刊。     

科技期刊学术交流作用的实现与拓展

在分析科技期刊学术交流的机制与模式基础上,对科技期刊学术交流的实现进行探讨,认为科技期刊是我国科技学术交流的重要平台,科技期刊的学术交流从作者投稿开始,通过编辑审稿和加工过程、出版发行和构建科技期刊与专题学术会议等多渠道和模式进行学术交流和传播,从而实现科技期刊学术交流传播的职能和作用,并能够通过构建刊会互动机制和基于作者、读者群专业爱好和研究方向的大数据分析实现精准推送,能够有效提高科技期刊的学术交流和传播的效率。     

2002-2012年我国健康传播研究的计量分析

2002-2012年健康传播研究文献的年度分布、期刊分布、作者分布、机构分布、主题分布统计分析结果表明,我国健康传播研究文献有逐年上升趋势,呈现出既分散又集中于健康教育类、新闻传播类及医药卫生类期刊上的特征,健康教育/疾控中心类与新闻传播类机构是健康传播研究的重要力量,健康传播研究主题主要集中在健康教育与健康意识、健康传播方式与传播途径、重大公共卫生事件和流行性疾病防控3个方面.     

Report of the UNESCO “Training the Trainers in Information Literacy” (“TTT”) Workshop Ankara,Turkey, September 3–5, 2008

The purpose of this article is to explore the use of mixed methods research (MMR) in articles published in library and information science (LIS) journals in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 2004 to 2008. A mixed methods research framework provided in the methodological literature is used to determine how this method was practiced within the LIS scientific community in SSA. Six hundred and eighty five articles published in nine peer-reviewed LIS journals in SAA were reviewed, finding the dominant research methods in these journals to be survey designs and historical research. The use of MMR was limited: 48 out of 685 articles used the mixed methods approaches that were identified in the methodological literature. A paradigm shift and a change of mindset are recommended for LIS researchers in SSA so that they may exploit the advantages offered by mixed methods research in conducting their studies.