Central journals and authors in communication using a publication network

The current study used citation data and relied on network analysis to determine centrality scores for 24 communication journals and the authors of their publications during the years 2007–2011. Scores were used to rank journals and authors across the discipline. The results of centrality rankings reveal that Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Communication Research Reports, Human Communication Research, and Communication Studies are the central most journals in the citation network. Across these 24 journals, the top 1 % of central most scholars are presented in rank based on the placement of their publications. An additional list ranks the 14 central most (1 %) of scholars who published in the five central most journals. These centrality rankings for the journals and authors are discussed in comparison to previous ranking methods. The results for the central most journals mirror the findings of other network analysis research relying on various citation data. However, the findings for author centrality rankings revealed that traditional methods (e.g., summing total publications) for ranking communication scholars yield drastically different results when compared to centrality rankings (incorporating breadth of publications across journals). Future attempts to situate prolific authors should consider the conceptual utility of relying on network analysis methods to analyze citation data. The limitations of this study are also discussed.