Skip to Main Content

CMN 228 - Thweatt: Communications Journals

How to Read an Academic Article

Unsure how to understand or use an academic article? Click here for some helpful tips. 

MegaSearch

Helpful Databases

Databases are collections of journals to which the library subscribes for a fee (think Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, etc.) Below are some databases which may contain relevant articles.


Journals Available via PCC Libraries

The journals listed below are a selection of communications-focused academic journals available through Pima Community College Library. Read the journal descriptions to get a sense of the focus of each publication.
······················································································································

American Communication Journal (2010-Present)
Articles focus on the diversity of research agendas and methodologies in the study of communication.

Atlantic Journal of Communication (2004-Present, 18 month embargo)
The Atlantic Journal of Communication (AJC) is an academic journal concerned with the study of communication theory, practice, and policy. AJC is philosophically committed to an eclectic approach to scholarship and the publication of articles of the highest quality regardless of their type, orientation, or geographical origin.

Business Communication Quarterly (1995-2013)
Articles, reviews, original research, and news of note on issues of teaching and practice in business communication for members of the Association for Business Communication.

Canadian Journal of Communication (1993-Present, 12 month embargo)
The objective of the Canadian Journal of Communication is to publish Canadian research and scholarship in the field of communication studies. In pursuing this objective, particular attention is paid to research that has a distinctive Canadian flavour by virtue of choice of topic or by drawing on the legacy of Canadian theory and research.

Catalan Journal of Communication and Cultural Studies (2009-Present)
The Catalan Journal of Communication and Cultural Studies (CJCS) is committed to publishing research and theoretical articles in the fields of media studies, popular culture and cinema, public relations and advertising studies, social communication, new media, language uses in the media, communication and cultural policies, social and national identities, gender studies, sports and leisure, tourism and heritage, among other related issues. 

Chinese Journal of Communication (2008-Present, 18 month embargo)
The Chinese Journal of Communication (CJoC) is a scholarly publication aimed at elevating Chinese communication studies along theoretical, empirical, and methodological dimensions, while contributing to the understanding of media, information, and communication phenomena around the world. This fully refereed journal is an important international platform for students and scholars in Chinese communication studies to exchange ideas and research results, both with each other and globally.

Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, formerly Communication (1972-Present)
The Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (JICR) is a publication of the World Communication Association. JICR publishes qualitative and quantitative research that focuses on interrelationships between culture and communication. Generally, research published in JICR emphasizes non-mediated contexts. 

Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies (2004-Present)
Communication, Culture & Critique (CCC) provides an international forum for critical research in communication, media, and cultural studies. We welcome high-quality research and analyses that place questions of power, inequality, and justice at the center of empirical and theoretical inquiry. CCC seeks to bring a diversity of critical approaches (political economy, feminist analysis, critical race theory, postcolonial critique, cultural studies, queer theory) to bear on the role of communication, media, and culture in power dynamics on a global scale.

Communication Methods and Measures (2010-Present, 18 month embargo)
The aims of Communication Methods and Measures are to bring developments in methodology, both qualitative and quantitative, to the attention of communication scholars, to provide an outlet for discussion and dissemination of methodological tools and approaches to researchers across the field, to comment on practices with suggestions for improvement in both research design and analysis, and to introduce new methods of measurement useful to communication scientists or improvements on existing methods.

Communication Quarterly (1976-Present, 12 month embargo)
Communication Quarterly, a scholarly, academic journal sponsored by the Eastern Communication Association (ECA) publishes refereed manuscripts extending the understanding of human communication. Communication Quarterly is philosophically committed to an eclectic approach and to the publication of high quality articles. Manuscripts considered for publication may be research reports, rhetorical studies, critical analyses, state of the art reviews, reports of topical interest, supported opinion papers, and other essays related to the interest groups of ECA and its affiliate organizations.

Communication Reports (1988-Present, 12 month embargo)
Communication Reports (CR), published since 1988, is one of two scholarly journals of the Western States Communication Association (WSCA). The journal publishes original manuscripts that are short, data/text-based, and related to the broadly defined field of human communication. The mission of the journal is to showcase exemplary scholarship.

Communication Research Reports (1984-Present, 12 month embargo)
Consistent with the mission of the journal, the main portion of submitted manuscripts should focus on the method, results, and interpretation of the results.  However, manuscripts must contain a concise theoretical rationale and relevant literature review. All data analyses should report relevant effect size statistics, and we recommend reporting other diagnostics (such as, but not limited to: observed power, tests of significance inflation, and test of insufficient variance, among others) at the Author’s discretion.

The Communication Review (1997-Present, 18 month embargo)
The Communication Review seeks a synthesis of concerns traditional to the fields of communication and media studies. The journal’s heuristic division of the field into three analytical perspectives provides a natural structure for creating new knowledge across conventional disciplinary boundaries: communication and culture, communication as a social force, communication and new media.

Communication & Society (2014-Present)
Its main goal is to make outstanding research contributions to the field of communication from a variety of perspectives, both theoretical and empirical. It includes journalism studies, advertising, public relations, broadcast and film studies, political communication, ethics, media history, communication policy, political economy and new media, among others. Methodological rigor and valuable research results are required for review and publication.

Communication Studies (1992-Present, 12 month embargo)
Communication Studies is a refereed journal publishing articles on a wide range of communication research. The goal of the journal is to publish the best communication scholarship representative of the range of research within the discipline. All methods of scholarly inquiry into communication are welcome, including but not limited to rhetorical analysis, cultural studies, content analysis, media studies, health communication, family communication, critical studies, survey research, etc.

Communication Theory (1997, 2006-Present, 12 month embargo)
A journal of the International Communication Association, Communication Theory especially welcomes work in the following areas of research, all of them components of ICA: Communication and Technology, Communication Law and Policy, Ethnicity and Race in Communication, Feminist Scholarship, Global Communication and Social Change, Health Communication, Information Systems, Instructional/Developmental Communication, Intercultural Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Journalism Studies, Language and Social Interaction, Mass Communication, Organizational Communication, Philosophy of Communication, Political Communication, Popular Communication, Public Relations, Visual Communication Studies, Children, Adolescents and the Media, Communication History, Game Studies, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies, and Intergroup Communication. The journal aims to be inclusive in theoretical approaches insofar as these pertain to communication theory.

Communication Today (2010-Present)
Contains professional scientific reflections on the media, media competencies, media thinking, new media, peculiarities of individual marketing types, the structure of media content, and marketing strategies and communication sciences.

Communicator (1970-1983)
The Northwest Journal of Communication (NWJC) is a scholarly, peer reviewed publication dedicated to understanding human and mass communication in all forms.

Discourse (1995-Present)
Discourse explores a variety of topics in contemporary cultural studies, theories of media and literature, and the politics of sexuality, including questions of language and psychoanalysis. The journal publishes valuable and innovative essays on a wide range of cultural phenomena, promoting theoretical approaches to literature, film, the visual arts, and related media.

Environmental Communication (2007-Present, 18 month embargo)
Environmental Communication is an international, peer-reviewed forum for multidisciplinary research and analysis assessing the many intersections among communication, media, society, and environmental issues. These include but are not limited to debates over climate change, natural resources, sustainability, conservation, wildlife, ecosystems, water, environmental health, food and agriculture, energy, and emerging technologies. Submissions should contribute to our understanding of scientific controversies, political developments, policy solutions, institutional change, cultural trends, media portrayals, public opinion and participation, and/or professional decisions. Articles often seek to bridge gaps between theory and practice, and are written in a style that is broadly accessible and engaging.

ESSACHESS: Journal for Communication Studies (2009-Present)
ESSACHESS – Journal for Communication Studies is the only French journal in communication sciences to promote in French and English language original contributions in the field of social, cultural, symbolic or economic communication. The journal publishes original articles whose diversity of reading levels and disciplinary boundaries, help through international innovative contributions to a better understanding of a regional issues.

Howard Journal of Communications (1988-Present, 18 month embargo)
The Howard Journal of Communications is a quarterly journal that publishes original and current research papers focusing on ethnicity and culture as they interact with communication. The purpose of the journal is to serve as a forum for researchers as well as policy and decision makers who seek to use research as the frame for social awareness and change. The journal has a strong history of providing space and voice for persons and ideas that would otherwise be silenced. The journal invites work that makes important contributions in its focus areas. These may include a variety of topics such as gender, ethnic representations in the media, interracial issues, cultural resistance, and much more. The journal welcomes a variety of methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative.

Human Communication (2006-2013)
Presents experimental, theoretical, and speculative articles in the artistic, humanistic, and scientific areas of communication.

Human Communication Research (2006-Present, 12 month embargo)
Human Communication Research concentrates on presenting the best empirical work in the area of human communication. The journal works to advance understanding of human symbolic processes with a strong emphasis on theory-driven research, the development of new theoretical models in communication, and the development of innovative methods for observing and measuring communication behavior. The journal has a broad social-science focus and as important applications to scholars in psychology, sociology, linguistics, and anthropology, as well as areas of communication studies.

Interaction Studies (2004-Present)
This international, peer-reviewed journal aims to advance knowledge in the growing and strongly interdisciplinary area of Interaction Studies in biological and artificial systems. Understanding social behaviour and communication in biological and artificial systems requires knowledge of evolutionary, developmental and neurobiological aspects of social behaviour and communication; the embodied nature of interactions; origins and characteristics of social and narrative intelligence; perception, action and communication in the context of dynamic and social environments; social learning, adaptation and imitation; social behaviour in human-machine interactions; the nature of empathic understanding, behaviour and intention reading; minimal requirements and systems exhibiting social behaviour; the role of cultural factors in shaping social behaviour and communication in biological or artificial societies.

Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture (2009-Present)
Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture recognizes the interdisciplinary nature of the fields of media, communication and cultural studies. This peer-reviewed journal engages readers and contributors from different parts of the world in a critical debate on the myriad interconnections and interactions between communication, culture and society at the outset of the twenty-first century.

Intercultural Communication Studies (2011-Present)
Intercultural Communication Studies (ICS), the journal of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS), is committed to publishing quality research in the area of intercultural communication. All manuscripts submitted to the journal should include thorough research that brings something new and pertinent to the field of intercultural communication.

International Journal of Communication (2010-Present)
The International Journal of Communication is an online, multi-media, academic journal that adheres to the highest standards of peer review and engages established and emerging scholars from anywhere in the world. The International Journal of Communication is an interdisciplinary journal that, while centered in communication, is open and welcoming to contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that meet at the crossroads that is communication study. We are interested in scholarship that crosses disciplinary lines and speaks to readers from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

International Journal of Communication Research (2012-Present)
Publishes original research in the socio-human field, with a special focus on communication studies research.

International Journal of Listening (1998-Present)
The International Journal of Listening (IJL) serves as an outlet for the publication of scholarly research in listening. IJL focuses on aspects of listening in a variety of contexts, including professional, interpersonal, public/political, media or mass communication, educational, intercultural, and international (including second language acquisition contexts). The Journal publishes studies of listening utilizing a variety of methodologies, such as empirical, pedagogical, philosophical, and historical methods.

The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (2006-Present)
We publish contributions on Psychoanalytic Theory & Technique, The History of Psychoanalysis, Clinical Contributions, Education & Professional Issues, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Film Essays. The Journal also publishes the main papers and panel reports from the International Psychoanalytical Association's Congresses, book reviews, obituaries, and correspondence.

International Review of Pragmatics (2010-Present, 36 month embargo)
The International Review of Pragmatics (IRP) is a peer-reviewed international journal committed to publishing excellent research in the area of pragmatics and related disciplines pertaining to all aspects of human communication, verbal and non-verbal. It aims to provide a comprehensive and authoritative picture of the field, encouraging submissions rooted in different conceptions and perspectives originating in geographically diverse areas. IRP publishes full-length original articles, review articles and discussion notes. 

Journal of Applied Communication Research, formerly Journal of Applied Communications Research​ (1973-Present, 18 month embargo)
The Journal of Applied Communication Research (JACR) is a peer-reviewed publication of the National Communication Association. JACR publishes original scholarship that contributes to knowledge about how people practice communication across diverse applied contexts. All theoretical and methodological approaches are welcome, as are all contextual areas. Of utmost importance is that an applied communication problem or issue is clearly identified as the motivation for the research. 

Journal of Asian Pacific Communication (1990-1996)
The Journal of Asian Pacific Communication (JAPC) is an international journal whose academic mission is to bring together specialists from diverse scholarly disciplines to discuss and interpret language in communication issues as they pertain to people of Asian Pacific regions and in their immigrant communities worldwide. The journal’s academic orientation is generalist, passionately committed to interdisciplinary approaches to language in communication studies relating to people in and from Asian Pacific regions.

Journal of Business Communication (1963-2013)
The International Journal of Business Communication (IJBC) publishes manuscripts that contribute to knowledge and theory of business communication as a distinct, multifaceted field approached through the administrative disciplines, the liberal arts, and the social sciences. Accordingly, IJBC seeks manuscripts that address all areas of business communication including but not limited to business composition/technical writing, information systems, international business communication, management communication, and organizational and corporate communication. In addition, IJBC welcomes submissions concerning the role of written, verbal, nonverbal and electronic communication in the creation, maintenance, and performance of profit and not for profit business.

Journal of Communication (2006-Present, 12 month embargo)
The Journal of Communication (JOC) is the flagship journal of the International Communication Association and an essential publication for all communication specialists and policy makers. The Journal of Communication concentrates on communication research, practice, policy, and theory, bringing to its readers the latest, broadest, and most important findings in the field of communication studies. Journal of Communication also features an extensive book review section, and the symposia of selected studies on current issues.

Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media and Engagement in Global Health (2008-Present)
Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media and Engagement in Global Health is a peer-reviewed journal covering contemporary issues, theories, research findings, evidence-based interventions, and innovation across all areas of health communication research and practice in the fields of the healthcare, public health, and global health. Global in its scope, the Journal examines and engages in relevant topics from a variety of country settings and across professional sectors.

Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (2002-Present, 18 month embargo)
The Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (JICR) is a publication of the World Communication Association. JICR publishes qualitative and quantitative research that focuses on interrelationships between culture and communication. Generally, research published in JICR emphasizes non-mediated contexts.

Journal of Multicultural Discourses (2006-Present, 18 month embargo)
Journal of Multicultural Discourses (JMD) is a premier international journal in discourse studies which aims to enhance cultural diversity, equality and prosperity in social life as well as in scholarship. A forerunner in the cultural politics of language, communication or discourse research, the journal has published over the past five years numerous articles on Asian, African, Latin American, as well as western, approaches to discourses in diverse cultural settings. 

Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research (2004-Present)
Kaleidoscope is a refereed, annually published print and electronic graduate student journal devoted to communication research at the intersections of philosophy, theory, and/or practical application of qualitative, interpretive, and critical/cultural communication research.

Kentucky Journal of Communication (2006-Present)
The Kentucky Journal of Communication (KJC) (ISSN:1533-3140) was first published in the fall of 1969 and is the official journal of the Kentucky Communication Association. The journal is published by the association bi-annually in the Spring and Fall. The KJC is one of only six state journals published in the Southern States Communication Association. Special Issues of the journal feature topics which range from pertinent social issues to the state of communication education in Kentucky. Additionally, there is an ongoing commitment by the editorial board to publish exceptional undergraduate and graduate research; either in a special issue or in a regular edition.

Language and Dialogue (2011-Present)
The journal intends to be an explicitly interdisciplinary journal reaching out to any discipline dealing with human abilities on the basis of consilience or the unity of knowledge. It is the challenge of post-Cartesian science to tackle the issue of how body, mind and language are interconnected and dialogically put to action. The journal invites papers which deal with ‘language and dialogue’ as an integrated whole in different languages and cultures and in different areas: everyday, institutional and literary, in theory and in practice, in business, in court, in the media, in politics and academia.

Media and Communication (2013-Present)
Media and Communication is concerned with the social development and contemporary transformation of media and communication and critically reflects on their interdependence with global, individual, media, digital, economic and visual processes of change and innovation. Contributions ponder the social, ethical, and cultural conditions, meanings and consequences of media, the public sphere and organizational as well as interpersonal communication and their complex interrelationships. The journal focuses on the application and advancement of qualitative and quantitative methods of media and communication research, but also encourages scholars to submit manuscripts that introduce innovative and alternative theoretical perspectives.

NAWA: A Journal of Language & Communication (2007-Present)
Nawa Journal of Language and Communication is a journal published bi-annually by the Department of Communication, Polytechnic of Namibia. It is a peer-reviewed journal whose goal is to advance knowledge in human language and communication.

Northwest Journal of Communication, formerly Journal of the Northwest Communication Association (1986-Present)
NWJC represents the diversity of the discipline, thus we welcome contributions related to any area of communication and from all theoretical and methodological perspectives. Submissions are expected to make original contributions to academic research in communication studies and should be theoretically sophisticated, methodologically sound, and make important advancements to human or mass communication scholarship.

Ohio Communication Journal (2006-Present)
The official publication of the Ohio Communication Association; contains original scholarship bearing on the breadth of the field of communication studies.

Popular Communication (2003-Present)
Popular Communication provides a forum for scholarly investigation, analysis and dialogue about communication symbols, forms, materiality, systems and networks within the context of transnational and globalized popular culture and communication. It is an international journal of media and culture that publishes articles on all aspects of popular communication in everyday life, including legacy media and new media, the Internet, advertising and consumer culture, games, print, radio, music, dance, sports, film and television, fandom, and social media. Popular Communication engages with cultural forms and texts, artifacts, events, technologies, industries, policies and audiences through critical methods and standpoints. Popular Communication addresses these practices and phenomena in relationship to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class in the political (economic), social, historical and cultural contexts in which they are a part and to which they contribute.

Psychology of Language and Communication (2008-Present)
Psychology of Language and Communication is an international journal printed in Poland. The journal publishes articles on different aspects of psychological studies on language and communication processes in children and adults, including language production and comprehension, cognitive and social bases of speech, nature and strategies of various types of discourse, development and disorders of linguistic and communicative competences.

Qualitative Research Reports in Communication (2000-Present, 12 month embargo)
Qualitative Research Reports in Communication is a scholarly, peer-reviewed annual journal sponsored by the Eastern Communication Association. The journal publishes brief qualitative and critical research essays of 2,500 words or less on a wide range of topics extending and enhancing the understanding of human communication. Topics appropriate for the journal include but are not limited to studies of intercultural, mediated, political, organizational, interpersonal and legal communication. Submissions are welcomed from all geographical regions of the globe.

Quarterly Journal of Speech, formerly Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking (1915-1917, 1928-Present)
The Quarterly Journal of Speech (QJS) is a peer-reviewed publication of the National Communication Association. QJS publishes original scholarship and book reviews that take a rhetorical approach to diverse texts, discourses, and cultural practices through which public beliefs, norms, identities, institutions, affects, and actions are constituted, empowered, enacted, and circulated. Rhetorical scholarship traverses and mobilizes many different intellectual, archival, disciplinary, and political vectors, traditions, and methods, and QJS seeks to honor and engage such differences. 

Sign Language Studies (2000-Present)
Founded by William C. Stokoe, known by many as the father of the linguistics of American Sign Language, this quarterly journal presents a singular forum for groundbreaking research on the language, culture, history, and literature of signing communities and signed languages. The first journal published in the field, SLS continues to offer fresh content with a uniquely international, multidisciplinary focus.

Styles of Communication (2009-Present)
Styles of Communication is an international journal which is published annually by the “Danubius” University of Galați in cooperation with the Committee for Philology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław Branch. The main purpose of Styles of Communication is to show the unity existing within global diversity. As communication implies, besides the transfer of information to others and the decoding of the others’ messages, the production of meaning within (non)verbal texts/ objects is closely connected to interculturality, creativity and innovation and it needs a refining of styles in order to avoid misunderstandings. This journal is a plea for interdisciplinarity as its aim is to include different perspectives on cultural studies, coming from different fields, such as linguistics, semiotics, literature, political and sociological studies, communication, public relations, anthropology, translation studies etc.

Visual Communication Quarterly (2005-Present)
Visual Communication Quarterly is an international, peer-reviewed journal of theory, research, practical criticism, and creative work in all areas of visual communication. Our goal is to promote an inclusive, broad discussion of all things visual, while also encouraging synthesis and theory building across our fascinating field of study.

Western Journal of Communication, formerly Western Journal of Speech Communication (1977-Present, 12 month embargo)
Published quarterly since 1937, the Western Journal of Communication is one of two scholarly journals of the Western States Communication Association (WSCA). The journal is dedicated to the publication of original scholarship that enhances our understanding of human communication. Diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives are welcome. WJC's longstanding commitment to multiple approaches, perspectives, and issues is reflected by its history of publishing research across rhetorical and media studies, interpersonal and intercultural communication, critical and cultural studies, language behavior, performance studies, small group and organizational communication, freedom of speech, and health and family communication.

Women's Studies in Communication (2004-Present)
Women's Studies in Communication ( WSIC ) provides a feminist forum for diverse research, reviews, and commentary addressing the relationships between communication and gender. WSIC invites contributions that advance our understanding of the intersections of gender and race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, sexuality, and class, as well as the articulations between gendered performances, power, and representation in public culture. Topically and methodologically inclusive, WSIC publishes quantitative, qualitative, and critical communication scholarship drawing from a variety of areas including but not limited to interpersonal, organizational, performance, rhetoric, media, and cultural studies.