Against dullness: on what it means to be interesting in communication research

ABSTRACT

This research-based essay presents evidence concerning the leading dimensions that make an empirical communication research article interesting. Based on a survey to editorial boards (EBs) of 16 communication journals, five different categories of interest were found: counterintuitive, foundational, new approach, quality and exemplarity, and insightful and practical. By outlining these categories, the article provides illustrative examples of interesting studies, aiming to stimulate the research community to better assess the potentiality of their contributions, and thus elevating the likelihood of being influential and appealing. To contextualize these findings, the study also provides evidence from EBs regarding the research system itself, arguing that there is a gap between the current robustness of empirical developments and the apathy about them showed by some field’s forefathers. The article finally reflects on the social division of academics based on the research nature of their studies, suggesting that the ‘empirical’ term has lost its original meaning of evidenced-based research and became shorthand for most quantitative work, made by ‘social scientists’.

KEYWORDS:

• Interesting research
• communication research
• research isomorphism
• communication journals
• editorial boards

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Manuel Goyanes, PhD, teaches at Carlos III University in Madrid and his main interests are in media management and sociology of communication sciences. He has written about leadership, news overload and business models. He is the author of Desafío a la Investigación Estándar en Comunicación. Crítica y Alternativas, Editorial UOC.

Notes

1 There are other research approaches to science (quantitative or qualitative) that are not represented by this formula and which are of course legitimate. However, the hypothetic-deductive approach is one of the most popular formulas in academic research journals and that is why is taken as reference.

2 Communication Research, New Media & Society, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Media Psychology, Communication Theory, Public Opinion Quarterly, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Political Communication, European Journal of Communication, International Journal of Communication; Information, Communication & Society, Journalism, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, International Communication Gazette.

3 This is mainly due to three reasons: the impossibility of finding their e-mail, the change of affiliation or simply because they were retired at the time of the survey.