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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Global communication network concept. Social media.
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Updated April 15, 2026

Overview

This section provides a brief introduction to the communication field, including its main areas of study, key questions, and other subjects important to communication research. It is designed to give you a clear starting point and help you understand the scope and focus of the discipline.

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—face-to-face, 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?

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

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 psychology, sociology, political science, linguistics, business and management, cultural and gender studies, public relations, digital media, and technology.

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.

 

Communication Subfields

Communication is a broad discipline in U.S. universities, and it’s typically taught through many subfields and areas of specialization.  Listed below are guides for common core areas taught in undergraduate programs. Scroll through the listing provided or view all subfields.

Business Communication

The study of corporate communication, leadership messaging, and workplace communication.

Digital and Social Media

An interdisciplinary field that explores how digital technologies, social media platforms, and online networks shape human interaction.

Health Communication

The study of using communication strategies to inform, influence, and improve health-related behaviors, decisions, and policies.

Interpersonal Communication

The study of the exchange of information, thoughts, emotions, and meaning between two or more people through verbal and nonverbal communication.

Media and Mass Communication

The study of how information is created and shared with large audiences through channels like newspapers, television, and the internet, and how these media affect society.

Organizational Communication

The study of how information, messages, and meaning are created, shared, and interpreted within and between organizations.

Political Communication

The study of the intersection between political actors, individuals, groups, and institutions and the mass media.

Public Relations

The study of how organizations, businesses, and individuals manage their public image, communicate with their audiences, and influence public perception.

Rhetoric and Persuasion

The study of rhetoric examines how language and symbols are used to persuade, inform, and influence audiences.

Communication Reference

Communication reference sources provide a convenient way to locate background information for research on critical communication events, key people, concepts, or significant communication issues. This section lists major communication reference materials by type. We provide links to either the publisher’s websites or Amazon for further details and descriptions.

A bibliography lists sources cited in research papers, such as books, articles, documents, websites, and other academic materials. Oxford Bibliographies is widely regarded as the leading scholarly reference source for expert-curated bibliographies across disciplines.

 

 

 

Dictionaries are important for understanding words, concepts, and terminology. Anthropology dictionaries provide clarity when exploring complex concepts or theories, offering clear definitions of key political terms.

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 provide authoritative overviews, in-depth analyses, and critical discussions of a particular academic field, discipline, or topic. Communication's interdisciplinary nature means it touches on many subject areas—media, psychology, sociology, linguistics, political science, education, and even business and technology.

Each subfield has its own handbook because the theories, methods, and key questions vary in scope. The following are important handbooks in communication. Use the filters below to find your subdiscipline's most relevant handbook(s).

Companions provide brief but comprehensive introductions to a subject. Written by experts, introductions present key ideas, theories, and debates understandably. The following books are ideal for readers new to anthropology, providing foundational knowledge without requiring prior expertise.

General Databases

Academic libraries subscribe to a diverse range of research databases of which EBSCO and ProQuest are two of the largest providers. Most colleges and universities offer access to one or both platforms. Here are some key insights about each:

  • Both are multidisciplinary research databases covering multiple disciplines.
  • Both provide access to dozens of subject databases with a single search interface.
  • Both provide a varied mix of e-books, scholarly journals, peer-reviewed journals, trade publications, magazines, images, and newspapers.

EBSCOhost 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 (Time, Newsweek, etc.) focused on current events, news, and general-interest stories written by journalists, articles in scholarly journals undergo rigorous 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 studentsfind scholarly literature across disciplines. It indexes journal articles, books, conference papers, theses, patents, and other resources from academic publishers, universities, and professional organizations.

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.

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 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. 

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. Both databases include abstracts and full-text articles from hundreds of journals and conference proceedings, including those from the International Communication Association.

 

​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.

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

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 disciplines, including anthropology. To learn more about JCR and journal impact, go to Journal Databases.

To review the JCR list of most highly cited communication journals, go to Journal Citation Reports and choose Categories > Social Sciences, General > Anthropology. Listed below are the top ten communication journals that received the highest number of citations in 2024.

New Media &Society

New Media & Society examines how digital technologies, including social media platforms, algorithms, and mobile media, shape culture, politics, communication, and everyday life. Research includes communication, sociology, political science, and other related fields.

Journal Site

Journal of Communication

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.

Journal Site

Information communication & society

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.

Journal Site

Health Communication

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. 

Journal Site

Social Media + Society

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 Site

Journal of Advertising

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.

Journal Site

Public Opinon Quarterly

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 Site

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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.

Journal Site

International Journal of Communications

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. 

Journal Site

Communication Research

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.

Journal Site

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 a mixture of both. Most social science students are required to take at least one research methods course as part of a department's core curriculum, which introduces the basics of how research is done in a specific discipline. 

Sage Research Methods

Sage Research Methods is a major subscription database that guides users in understanding research methodologies across different academic disciplines. It provides electronic access to reference books, journal articles, instructional videos, and other qualitative methods resources.

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Communication Research Methods

The following books offer clear, in-depth explanations of research design concepts, methods, and techniques used in communication and its subfields.
Do You Know
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
Digital News On Mobile Phone
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