Social construction of public relations knowledge by academic institutions worldwide: A bibliometric network analysis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This VOSviewer-enabled bibliometric study examines scientific knowledge construction in public relations research since 1955. A co-citation analysis indicates that while sustaining its cross-disciplinary nature, public relations increasingly relies on scholarship generated within its own discipline, with Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly most cited academic sources. A citation analysis of author affiliations revealed a number of findings, including universities with the highest count of publications, university pairs that tend to cite each other, as well as regional university groups and large clusters within a broader, citation-based network. Among the 108 most productive academic institutions from four continents included into the study, U.S.-based universities produced the highest number of publications in nine peer-reviewed journals. Cross-referencing citation relationships among university clusters in different world regions illustrates an ongoing pattern of globalized construction of public relations knowledge.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102361
JournalPublic Relations Review
Volume49
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2023

Keywords

  • Bibliometric analysis
  • Public relations
  • Social constructivism
  • Social knowledge construction
  • VOSviewer

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