World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Political Communication
H-index 22

Political Communication

1058-4609

Published by: Taylor & Francis

https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/upcp20/current

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Political Science 24 45 55 21

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 59
Documents by Best Scientists*: 64
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 4
SCIMAGO H-index: 114
SCIMAGO SJR: 2.173
Impact Factor: 5.1

Overview

Top Research Topics at Political Communication?

The primary areas of discussion in the journal are Politics, Media studies, Law, Political communication and Social psychology. It explores issues in Politics which can be linked to other research areas like Social science, Political economy, News media and Public relations. Research in News media tackled falls within the umbrella of Advertising.

Issues in Media studies were discussed, taking into consideration concepts from other disciplines like Framing (social sciences) and Mass media. Political Communication primarily discusses Law topics, particularly Public opinion, Presidential system and Government. The Political communication study featured in Political Communication draws connections with the study of Political socialization.

It investigates Social psychology research which frequently intersects with Voting behavior.

  • Politics (43.23%)
  • Media studies (29.85%)
  • Law (19.90%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse (1256 citations)
  • The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation (964 citations)
  • "Connecting" and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital (816 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Political Communication:

The journal papers focus largely on the fields of Politics, Social psychology, Political communication, Media studies and News media. The Politics studies in the published papers expound on topics in

  • Political economy which is related to area like Law,
  • Public relations which intersects with area such as Perception.. The Media studies research tackled in the published papers is interrelated with Framing (social sciences) which concerns subjects like Public policy.

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

  • Law
  • World War II
  • Politics

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The journal mainly tackles studies in Politics, Political communication, Social media, Data science and Media studies. Topics in Politics were tackled in line with various other fields like Legislature, Digitization and Parallelism (grammar). Topics in Political communication explored in Political Communication were investigated in conjunction with research in Scholarship, Political economy, Computational sociology and Public relations.

The research on Scholarship tackled can also make contributions to studies in the areas of Social psychology, Moderation, Mediation, State (polity) and Public opinion. The work on Data science tackled in it brings together disciplines like Sophistication, Core (game theory) and Framing (social sciences). In addition to Media studies research, the journal aims to explore topics under Broadcasting and Democracy.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Political Polarization on the Digital Sphere: A Cross-platform, Over-time Analysis of Interactional, Positional, and Affective Polarization on Social Media (19 citations)
  • Computational Social Science and the Study of Political Communication (7 citations)
  • Computational identification of media frames: strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities (6 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.

The top authors publishing in Political Communication (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Regina G. Lawrence (14 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • W. Lance Bennett (13 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Dhavan V. Shah (11 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Holli A. Semetko (10 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • David M. Ryfe (9 papers) absent at the last 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.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Political Communication (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Pennsylvania (29 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • Ohio State University (27 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (26 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 2 less than at the previous edition,
  • George Washington University (23 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • University of Texas at Austin (23 papers) published 1 paper at the last 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, 3.12% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 22.58% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 19.35% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 12.90% of all publications and 45.16% 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.

How to Contribute and Career Opportunities in Political Communication Research

For those interested in contributing to the ongoing discourse in the sphere of political communication, there are numerous opportunities. This could range from submitting scholarly articles to recognized journals to participating in relevant symposiums and conferences. Researchers are encouraged to maintain a multi-disciplinary approach in their work, given the interconnected nature of the subject.

In addition to academic contributions, there are also a range of career avenues to explore within this realm. Careers in political communication are not limited to being an academia or researcher. Other roles can include positions in public relations, media studies, and legal professions, where the understanding and application of political communication is vital.

Careers in related disciplines such as library and information sciences can also benefit from a solid understanding of political communication. To illustrate, librarians play a crucial role in the dissemination of scholarly articles and supporting academic research. For those based in Massachusetts considering a career pivot or beginning a career in library science, check out our guide on how to become a librarian in Massachusetts.

Ultimately, the research and examination of political communication extend beyond the realm of academia. The findings and discussions in this context have real-world implications, influencing public opinion, media narratives, and even government activities. By pursuing a career in this field, one can make meaningful contributions to the understanding of these critical societal processes.

Top Publications

  • Disinformation as Political Communication

    Deen Freelon;Chris Wells

    (2020)
    361 Citations
  • Social Media and Political Agenda Setting

    Fabrizio Gilardi;Theresa Gessler;Maël Kubli;Stefan Müller

    (2021)
    188 Citations
  • Can Interparty Contact Reduce Affective Polarization? A Systematic Test of Different Forms of Intergroup Contact

    Magdalena Wojcieszak;Benjamin R. Warner

    (2020)
    166 Citations
  • A Picture Paints a Thousand Lies? The Effects and Mechanisms of Multimodal Disinformation and Rebuttals Disseminated via Social Media

    Michael Hameleers;Thomas E. Powell;Toni G.L.A. Van Der Meer;Lieke Bos

    (2020)
    151 Citations
  • Is Context the Key? The (Non-)Differential Effects of Mediated Incivility in Three European Countries

    Lukas P. Otto;Sophie Lecheler;Andreas R.T. Schuck

    (2020)
    77 Citations
  • Why Don’t We Learn from Social Media? Studying Effects of and Mechanisms behind Social Media News Use on General Surveillance Political Knowledge

    Patrick F. A. van Erkel;Peter Van Aelst

    (2020)
    75 Citations
  • Sourcing and Automation of Political News and Information over Social Media in the United States, 2016-2018

    Samantha Bradshaw;Philip N. Howard;Bence Kollanyi;Lisa-Maria Neudert

    (2020)
    69 Citations
  • In Validations We Trust? The Impact of Imperfect Human Annotations as a Gold Standard on the Quality of Validation of Automated Content Analysis

    Hyunjin Song;Petro Tolochko;Jakob Moritz Eberl;Olga Eisele

    (2020)
    66 Citations
  • How News Feels: Anticipated Anxiety as a Factor in News Avoidance and a Barrier to Political Engagement

    (2022)
    55 Citations
  • Computational identification of media frames: strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities

    Tom Nicholls;Pepper D. Culpepper

    (2021)
    54 Citations

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

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Each of these pathways connects with Political Science in distinct ways, making it easier to tailor your education to your career goals.

Best Scientists Contributing to This Journal

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