The structure of knowledge and dynamics of scholarly communication in mobile media and communication research, 2013–2022

Abstract

As a relatively young journal,Mobile Media & Communication (MMC) has become reputable and influential in the field of communication and technology research. While contemplating the questions provided by the editors of MMC concerning the 10th anniversary issue, I happened to read an article about the citation analysis of agendasetting research (Tai, 2009). Based on social network analysis, Tai analyzed the structure of the citation networks of the key literature (56 journal publications) in agenda-setting research. The analysis results showed how agenda-setting as a sub-field of mass communication and journalism research has developed and evolved over 10 years (1996–2005), referring to a few authoritative pieces. For further details of that analysis, please refer to the excellent article by Tai as this space is limited to discussing topics specifically relevant to our journal, MMC. I was inspired by Tai’s (2009) approach and intrigued about whatMMC’s citation networks would look like. Though I am aware that SAGE, the publisher, does its own citation analysis and posts updates on the journal website regarding the “Most cited” and “Most read” articles, those statistics involve citations and readership from outside the journal as well; thus, they cover a much wider range of authors and readers. For this article, I am interested in our internal conversations, particularly regarding the work