International Journal of Business Communication

Top Research Topics at International journal of business communication?

The journal is mainly concerned with subjects like Public relations, Social psychology, Knowledge management, Social media and Perception. The work tackled in it goes beyond the discipline of Public relations as it also encompasses Business communication. In addition to Social psychology research, the journal aims to explore topics under Quality (business) and Supervisor.

More specifically, the research on Knowledge management in it is related to Organizational communication.

• Public relations (35.37%)
• Social psychology (20.90%)
• Knowledge management (15.43%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

• Driving Employee Engagement: The Expanded Role of Internal Communications (180 citations)
• Communicating Corporate Brands Through Social Media An Exploratory Study (82 citations)
• The Hype and Reality of Social Media Use for Work Collaboration and Team Communication (64 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at International journal of business communication:

The published papers mostly deal with topics like Public relations, Knowledge management, Social media, Social psychology and Corporate social responsibility. While Public relations is the focus of the most cited publications, it also provides insights into the studies of Marketing, Strategic planning and Perception. The Social psychology research tackled in the published papers is interrelated with Organizational communication which concerns subjects like Competence (human resources), Supervisor, Process (engineering) and Reliability (statistics).

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

• Social psychology
• Social science
• Management

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The main points discussed in the journal deals with Public relations, Social psychology, Knowledge management, Organizational identification and Social media. The main emphasis of International journal of business communication is the research on Public relations, emphasizing the topic of Corporate social responsibility. International journal of business communication covers research in Social psychology, particularly Attribution, Interpersonal communication and Workplace bullying and how they are related with concepts in Publics.

Knowledge management research presented in the journal encompasses a variety of subjects, including Context (language use), Strategic communication, Institution and Group identification. While Organizational identification is the focus of International journal of business communication, it also provided insights into the studies of Identity (social science), Internal communications, Organizational culture and Ethnography. Topics in Social media explored in International journal of business communication were investigated in conjunction with research in Space (commercial competition), Taste (sociology), Crisis communication and Brand loyalty.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

• Examining the Effects of Internal Communication and Emotional Culture on Employees’ Organizational Identification: (14 citations)
• Speaking to the Self: How Motivating Language Links With Self-Leadership (13 citations)
• Cybersecurity Breach and Crisis Response: An Analysis of Organizations’ Official Statements in the United States and South Korea: (5 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

Top authors and change over time

The top authors publishing in International journal of business communication (based on the number of publications) are:

• Jacqueline Mayfield (10 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition,
• Milton Mayfield (9 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
• Peter W. Cardon (8 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition,
• Robyn Walker (7 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition,
• Linjuan Rita Men (6 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Top affiliations and change over time

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in International journal of business communication (based on the number of publications) are:

• University of Southern California (20 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
• Texas A&M International University (10 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
• City University of Hong Kong (8 papers) absent at the last edition,
• Aarhus University (7 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
• University of Florida (7 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 13.73% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 25.00% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 13.64% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 27.27% of all publications and 34.09% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

• Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
• Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
• Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
• Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
• Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Career Opportunities in Business Communication Research

The exploration of vital themes such as public relations, social psychology, and knowledge management in the field of business communication research opens up many career opportunities. One such career path is becoming a substance abuse counselor. While this might seem divergent from the subject matter at hand, communication skills play a crucial role in such a role. For instance, using the knowledge of social psychology gained in studying business communication, a substance abuse counselor can better understand their clients' behavior, attitudes, and social situations. Similarly, understanding organizational communication can help create effective client-counselor relationships in treatment centers. The expertise in public relations helps shape public awareness of substance abuse and the importance of counseling services. Moreover, techniques learned under knowledge management can be utilized to manage and disseminate relevant information to clients, their families, or even the public during awareness campaigns. If you are interested in using your knowledge and skills gained from studying topics in business communication and applying them in a different yet critical context, consider becoming a substance abuse counselor. To learn how you can transition into this fulfilling career, you can read our guide on How to be a substance abuse counselor in Delaware.