‘New media’ research publication trends and outlets in communication, 1990-2006

Applying Fidler’s (1997) principles of mediamorphosis and Rogers’s (2003) diffusion of innovations, this study examines a 17-year timeframe to assess publication patterns in and outlets for new media research that examines the internet and related digital technologies within the communication discipline. The five primary findings reveal that: 1) publication of new media research continues to diffuse, with the subfield likely to have reached a critical mass and passed through an adoption ‘take off’ phase; 2) authors favor a concentrated set of title keyword terms to describe their research; 3) media-oriented journals publish approximately half of all new media articles; 4) a core set of 14 communication-related journals currently publishes new media research; and 5) the principles of mediamorphosis and diffusion of innovations help to explain the emergence of the new media concentration within the communication discipline. We conclude that new media research focusing on the internet and related digital technologies is currently a formalized and self-sustaining area of study within the discipline.

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