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Communication
The study of how we share ideas and information with each other, from everyday conversations and body language, to global media systems and digital platforms.
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Overview
This overview provides a brief introduction to communication, highlighting its major areas of study, related disciplines, and resources for exploring the field in greater depth.
What's communication and communication studies?
What's communication and communication studies?
Traditionally, communication is defined as exchanging verbal, written, and nonverbal information between individuals or systems through different media. It is the process of sharing ideas and information through words, actions, symbols, and other media so that people can understand each other within a specific situation or culture.
According to Professor Jeremy Rose, author of Communication in Practice, communication is “a process in which one person with a construct in their mind uses symbols such as language to try to get another person to formulate the same construct in their mind.”
Thus, communication studies is the academic field that explores how people create, share, interpret, and respond to messages in different contexts in person, in groups, through organizations, in the media, and online. Communication studies explore how messages work in everyday life, from conversations and social media to news, organizations, and public debates.
For an in-depth description of the field of communication, see the free article provided by the National Communication Association website, What’s Communication?
What are the main subfields of communication?
What are the main subfields of communication?
Communication studies cover a wide range of topical areas. The following core communication subfields are commonly taught in university academic programs:
- Business Communication
- Digital and Social Media
- Health Communication
- Interpersonal Communication
- Media and Mass Communication
- Organizational Communication
- Political Communication
- Public Relations & Strategic Communication
- Rhetoric and Persuasion
What other subjects are important to communication research?
What other subjects are important to communication research?
Communication is interdisciplinary, drawing ideas, theories, and research methods from many other fields to better understand how people create, share, and interpret messages. Areas of interest include:
- Business and management
- Cultural and gender studies
- Digital media
- Linguistics
- Political science
- Psychology
- Public relations
- Sociology
- Technology
Resources for new communication majors.
Resources for new communication majors.
Communication majors go on to work in a wide range of careers, such as public relations, marketing, journalism, digital media, magazines, radio and TV stations, and streaming platforms.
If you’re thinking about majoring in communication, these resources can provide useful background information and help guide your next steps. They explain what to expect from the major and the wide variety of career paths available to you.
- What You Need to Know About Becoming a Communication and Media Studies Major – U.S. News & World Report
- Communications – BigFuture/ College Board
Literature Reviews
After selecting a topic, conducting a literature review is an essential step in the research and writing process. Writing a literature review helps you:
- Understand how scholars have approached your topic
- Identify key debates and theoretical perspectives
- Recognize gaps in the existing research
- Situate your own work within the broader academic conversation.
But what are the best resources for a literature review if you are unfamiliar with the topic? The following databases are great places to start to help you locate major publications and relevant scholarship on communications topics.
The Annual Reviews are peer-reviewed academic journals that publish comprehensive and critical literature review articles in many academic disciplines. Each year, a new volume consisting of a series of review articles written by leading experts in the field is released, providing overviews of the most important and influential research and scholarship in various disciplines.
Although the Annual Reviews does not offer dedicated reviews for communication, education, geography, or international relations, it does include bibliographies covering a variety of topics related to each discipline.
Oxford Bibliographies provides scholarly bibliographies in most social science disciplines, including communication. Each bibliography includes authoritative books, journal articles, websites, and other materials selected and organized by academic scholars. These bibliographies can also help researchers begin building literature reviews by identifying important authors, major debates, foundational studies, and key publications on different communication and media studies topics.
When searching for literature reviews, don’t overlook dissertations found in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Doctoral students are typically required to write extensive literature reviews. Each review will examine major debates, theories, methods, and key publications related to their research topic, which can help you identify important authors, major studies, useful keywords, and gaps in the existing research.
To learn more about finding resources for a literature review, see “How to Locate Resources for a Literature Review.”
It’s important to know that there are many different types of literature reviews. However, most undergraduates, especially in their first and second years, are typically required to produce a traditional narrative literature review as part of a research paper or standalone assignment.
Communication Reference
Communication reference sources provide a convenient starting point for researching significant communication events, influential figures, key concepts, and important issues. They offer reliable background information, definitions, historical context, and overviews of communication theories, media, and practices. Below are major communication reference resources organized by type.
Bibliographies
Bibliographies
Oxford Bibliographies is a leading scholarly source for expert-curated bibliographies, providing scholarly bibliographies in most social science disciplines, including anthropology, communication, criminology, economics, international relations, political science, psychology, and sociology. Each bibliography provides a list of authoritative books, journal articles, websites, and other materials, all organized by academic scholars.
Companions
Companions
Companions provide scholarly essays by experts that examine a topic, theory, region, or subfield in greater depth than introductory texts. Written by experts, they are especially helpful for students and researchers who already have a basic understanding of the field of communication, and want a more comprehensive overview of current scholarship in the field.
Dictionaries
Dictionaries
In communication studies, dictionaries are important for providing clear and standardized definitions of key terms and concepts in the areas of communication and media, film, and journalism. They also help students understand specialized vocabulary, communicate ideas accurately, and analyze media and communication theories using consistent language.
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias
Subject encyclopedias are specialized reference works that provide in-depth information on specific discipline topics. Unlike general encyclopedias, which cover a wide range of topics, subject encyclopedias focus exclusively on one field, offering detailed and comprehensive entries written by experts. For a list of general and specialized encyclopedia databases, go to Getting Started—Reference Resources.
Handbooks
Handbooks
Communication handbooks provide comprehensive overviews of major communication topics, theories, methods, and current scholarship. Written by experts, they synthesize decades of research and can help researchers understand a subject before moving on to primary literature.
General Databases
Academic libraries subscribe to a wide range of research databases. EBSCO and ProQuest are the largest and most widely used subscription-based academic research databases. Most colleges and universities offer access to one or both platforms which provide multiple subject-specific databases. Although each has unique features, they share several key characteristics:
- Both are multidisciplinary research platforms that cover a broad range of academic disciplines.
- Both provide a single search interface for accessing dozens of subject-specific databases.
- Both offer access to diverse content, including e-books, scholarly and peer-reviewed journals, trade publications, magazines, newspapers, and images.
EBSCO is a major research database platform that allows users to search multiple EBSCO databases simultaneously. The difference between EBSCOhost and Academic Search is that Academic Search can be searched as part of the EBSCOhost platform or searched separately if your institution has a subscription. To check if your institution subscribes to EBSCOhost, use EBSCO’s Find your institution page.
ProQuest is a major database vendor and platform that provides access to hundreds of database collections. The ProQuest platform provides a multidisciplinary search with access to scholarly ebooks, journals, video and audio, newspapers, and more, all searchable simultaneously. ProQuest is unique in providing dissertations and theses, historical newspapers, and other primary sources.
Scholarly Databases
Scholarly research databases provide peer-reviewed academic journal articles, book reviews, and other scholarly resources authored by scholars, researchers, or academics who are experts in their fields. Unlike magazines which focus on current events and general-interest stories, articles in scholarly journals undergo rigorous peer-review before publication. The following is a list of the most important multidisciplinary scholarly research databases.
Google Scholar is a free academic search engine that helps researchers and students find scholarly literature across disciplines. It indexes journal articles, books, conference papers, theses, patents, and other resources from academic publishers, universities, and professional organizations.
- Unlike subscription databases, which publish lists of journals in their collections, Google Scholar does not provide a list of the journals, books, repositories, or conference proceedings it indexes.
- General databases such as EBSCO and ProQuest allow you to limit your results to peer-reviewed articles only. Google Scholar does not filter results for peer-reviewed articles.
- When off your school’s network, you must enable your institution’s Google Scholar library links (review process) to see full-text articles available in your institution. If Library Links are not enabled, you’ll only see paywalls, publisher links, and what’s available open-access in the public domain.
The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), compiled by the British Library of Political and Economic Science at the London School of Economics, provides access to a vast collection of scholarly literature in the social sciences. Covering multiple disciplines, IBSS includes references to journal articles, books, newspapers, and dissertations, with records dating back to 1951.
JSTOR is an important scholarly research database for the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It provides the full text of articles from thousands of influential academic journals. In addition to journal articles, users can access eBooks, book chapters, images, and primary source documents. JSTOR also provides an AI research tool that provides key points and arguments of articles.
JSTOR contains the full text of more than 2,000 journals from 1,000 publishers, with publication dates ranging from 1665 to 2015 (for certain titles). JSTOR also provides:
- Free access to Early Journal Content published before the last 95 years in the United States or before the last 143 years if initially published internationally.
- A collection of nearly 150 open-access journals covering the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
- JSTOR allows anyone to register for a free personal JSTOR account and provides access to 100 free monthly articles.
Project MUSE offers online access to a vast collection of scholarly journals, books, and academic resources in the humanities, social sciences, and arts. As a leading provider of digital humanities content, it features high-quality, peer-reviewed publications from prestigious university presses, scholarly societies, and academic publishers.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses is a database of dissertations and theses from universities worldwide. It provides access to millions of full-text works across many disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities, sciences, and business. Each dissertation includes an abstract or summary that provides a concise overview of the research, its methodology, and key findings.
ScienceDirect is a leading full-text scholarly scientific database that provides journal articles and book chapters from more than 2,500 peer-reviewed journals and more than 11,000 books. It covers over 24 major subjects in the physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, health sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
Social Sciences Full Text provides access to a wide range of scholarly literature in the social sciences. It covers many disciplines, including sociology, psychology, international relations, political science, anthropology, economics, and education.
Web of Science is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research and citation index that provides access to a wide range of scientific, technical, social science, and humanities research. It maintains rigorous criteria for the journals and publications it indexes, ensuring that only high-quality, peer-reviewed content is included. Web of Science includes 98 million papers dating back to 1900.
Communication Databases
Searching general or multi-disciplinary databases can sometimes give you too many results. To narrow your focus, try using a database dedicated to communication research. The list below highlights the top databases for finding communication journals and articles.
Communication Abstracts is a scholarly database that provides abstracts (summaries) of literature related to communication studies. It includes abstracts only (not full text) of journal articles, conference papers, books, and reports.
With abstract and indexing databases like Communication Abstracts, links or icons next to results let you check for full-text or print availability through your library. The full text of articles may be available in another subscription database.
The Communication Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS) is an openURL-enabled bibliographic database containing articles from core communication literature. The organization provides access to communication literature databases such as ComAbstracts, ComIndex Online, and offers a variety of other resources to support communication research and education.
Communication Source and Mass Media Complete (CMMC) are two communication research databases available on the EBSCO platform. They provide comprehensive coverage of communication and mass media literature. They include access to scholarly content in communication, media studies, journalism, linguistics, rhetoric, and related disciplines.
The International Telecommunication Union ITU DataHub, an open online platform that provides global statistics and data on information and communication technologies (ICTs). It collects, organizes, visualizes, and makes available hundreds of indicators that measure things like Internet access, broadband subscriptions, mobile use, ICT markets, prices, and other aspects of digital connectivity for nearly 200 economies around the world.
Communication Journals
Scholarly journals are essential for academic research. However, not all scholarly journals are of the same quality. While peer review is a good starting point, researchers should also consider a journal's reputation and impact within its discipline. Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is considered one of the best tools to help researchers identify leading journals within a discipline.
Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is widely regarded as the leading subscription-based resource for identifying high-quality, peer-reviewed journals and assessing the impact, influence, and quality of scholarly journals across all academic disciplines. To learn more about JCR and journal impact, go to Journal Databases.
To review the JCR list of the most highly cited communication journals, go to Journal Citation Reports and choose Categories > Social Sciences, General > Communication. Below are the top ten cited communication journals in 2024.
Communication Research is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes studies on how communication functions, including its causes, processes, and effects across domains such as media, interpersonal interaction, health, politics, and technology.
The Journal of Communication publishes influential research on how communication operates in society, across media, technology, politics, culture, and interpersonal interaction. The journal brings together scholarship from across the communication field to highlight new ideas, methods, and debates.
Information, Communication & Society examines how digital and communication technologies affect society. It publishes research on topics like media, social media, the internet, privacy, identity, and how technology shapes culture, politics, and everyday life.
Health Communication is a scholarly journal that publishes research on how communication affects health, including interactions between patients and caregivers, public health messaging, and health information in media and institutions.
Social Media + Society is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes research exploring how social media platforms shape and affect societies. It features interdisciplinary work on the cultural, political, psychological, historical, and social effects of social media across different contexts and time periods.
Journal of Advertising is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes research on advertising theory and practice, exploring topics such as how advertising works, its social and economic effects, and ethical and global issues in the field.
Public Opinion Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes research on public opinion, including its shaping and measurement, as well as studies of attitudes, beliefs, communication, political behavior, and survey methods.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes research on how social and personal bonds form, change, and influence people’s lives. It features interdisciplinary studies from psychology, communication, sociology, and related fields that examine topics like friendships, romantic relationships, family dynamics, and interpersonal communication.
International Journal of Communication is an interdisciplinary, open-access, peer-reviewed online journal published by the University of Southern California Annenberg Press. It publishes original research on communication and media across cultural, social, and technological contexts worldwide.
Communication Research is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes studies on how communication functions, including its causes, processes, and effects across domains such as media, interpersonal interaction, health, politics, and technology.
Research Methods
Research methods are the specific strategies, tools, and techniques researchers use to collect and analyze information to answer questions or solve problems. Research methods can be qualitative ( interviews or observations), quantitative (numerical and statistical), or mixed methods (a mixture of both).
Communication Research Methods
The following books offer clear, in-depth explanations of research design concepts, methods, and techniques used in communication research.
The icons next to each resource indicate its access requirements.
Open source/ Free
Subscription required
Communication scholar Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, "the medium is the message." His research showed that how a message is delivered often matters more than what the message says. Learn More
Source: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)