Scholarly productivity in communication studies: five-year review 2012-2016

This study reports prolific scholarship trends in communication studies based on individual publication rates in 24 journals from the field for the years 2012-2016. In addition, we summarized data from a subset of journals considered to be most central to our discipline (Human Communication Research, Communication Research, Communication Monographs, and Journal of Communication). Results provide information about what characterizes the 32 individuals who could be considered prolific scholars across the total list of 24 journals, and the nine individuals who could be considered prolific in the central journals. It took nine and seven articles within the five-year period to make it onto each list, respectively. Our data indicate that many of the trends (e.g., mean publication rates, rates of collaboration, etc.) found in recent analyses have largely remained the same. Results are discussed as they pertain to individual characteristics and institutional environments that support research proliferation.