Impact Factor: 1.6

Published since January 1, 1976

Communications

The European Journal of Communication Research

ISSN: 1613-4087

Edited by: Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz, Leen d'Haenens

Submit manuscript

About this journal

Objective
Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research is an established forum for scholarship and academic debate in the field of communication science and research from a European perspective. Communication science is concerned with the investigation of the structure and function of communication processes and their impact on society, social groups and individuals. Communications highlights the concerns of this discipline through the publication of articles, research reports, review essays and book reviews on theoretical and methodological developments considered from a European perspective. The journal encompasses the entire field of communication science as its domain of interest. The contributions published in the journal cover a wide range of subfields in communication science.

Topics

Communication reseach
Structure and function of communication
Impact on society, social groups and individuals
Interpersonal communication
Intercultural communication
Mass communication
Communication theory
Philosophy of communication
Media history
Media development and communication technology

Article formats
Original articles, research reports, review essays, and book reviews

Your Benefits

Your benefits

European perspective on communication research
Specialized expertise on communication processes
Societal references of the research
Broad topics
Interdisciplinary approach to journal’s subject matter

History

Communications was founded in 1975 by Alphons Silbermann in cooperation with the German Society for Communication Research (DGKF). The journal has been published by De Gruyter Mouton since 2002.

Other publications in the field:

Abstracting and Indexing

Communications is covered by the following services:

Baidu Scholar
BLL Bibliographie Linguistischer Literatur
Cabells Journalytics
CIOS - ComAbstracts
CNKI Scholar (China National Knowledge Infrastructure)
CNPIEC - cnpLINKer
Dimensions
EBSCO (relevant databases)
EBSCO Discovery Service
ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences)
Genamics JournalSeek
Google Scholar
IBR (International Bibliography of Reviews of Scholarly Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences)
IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences)
Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
J-Gate
Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition
JournalGuide
JournalTOCs
KESLI-NDSL (Korean National Discovery for Science Leaders)
Linguistic Bibliography
MLA International Bibliography
MyScienceWork
Naver Academic
Naviga (Softweco)
Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals, Series and Publishers
PhilPapers
Primo Central (ExLibris)
ProQuest (relevant databases)
PSYNDEX
Publons
QOAM (Quality Open Access Market)
ReadCube
Scilit
SCImago (SJR)
SCOPUS
Semantic Scholar
Sherpa/RoMEO
Summon (ProQuest)
TDNet
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory/ulrichsweb
WanFang Data
Web of Science - Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences
Web of Science - Social Sciences Citation Index
WorldCat (OCLC)
X-MOL
Yewno Discover

Supplementary Materials

Topics

External Links

Online Submission of Manuscripts

Volume 48 Issue 4

November 2023

Publicly Available November 7, 2023

Titelseiten

Page range: I-VI

Download PDF

Articles

Open Access January 21, 2023

Peer socialization of male adolescents in digital games: Achievement, competition, and harassment

Natalia Waechter, Markus Meschik

Page range: 457-481

More Download PDF

Abstract

Socialization theories suggest that, due to social change and technological transformation, peers and media have become important institutions of socialization for young people. Assuming that male adolescents use digital games for processes of peer self-socialization, this article investigates the values they mediate in digital games and how these values are related to their practice (with a focus on harassment) in digital games. Applying a qualitative research design, 36 male adolescents who frequently play various (multiplayer) online games were interviewed about their values and practices when gaming. The results show that the young gamers share individualistic values promoting performance, competition, and achievement, which seem to facilitate practices of online harassment. We conclude that, in their gaming practices, male adolescents mediate and reproduce neoliberal values as increasingly shared by society. Regarding their practices of harassment, however, they seem to use digital games as a moratorium that lets them break free from societal restrictions.

Open Access December 1, 2022

“How can I keep quiet?” Motivations to participate in vaccination communication on Facebook

Pavel Rodin

Page range: 482-501

More Download PDF

Abstract

Risk and crisis communication (RCC) is a complex constellation of multiple actors, platforms, and voices. It involves institutional actors but also laypeople. Participation by social media users can both facilitate and obstruct effective RCC. The present study draws on in-depth interviews with Swedish Facebook users, and explores motivational factors for lay participation in RCC in the context of vaccination utilizing Peter Dahlgren’s (2011) model. The contributions of this study are threefold. First, it identifies three dominant clusters of participation motivations: personal interest, information brokerage, and persuasion. Second, the results show that Facebook sociality is characterized by asynchronous communication, loops, and widespread hostility. Third, degrees of content visibility set up “zones of peace” (backstage, safe communication spaces) and “zones of fight” (frontstage, open sub-arenas where various views on vaccination are debated). Moreover, the study finds that these forms of sociality and levels of visibility can both strengthen and undermine user motivations.

Open Access December 21, 2022

Attractive or repellent? How right-wing populist voters respond to figuratively framed anti-immigration rhetoric

Amber Boeynaems, Christian Burgers, Elly A. Konijn, Gerard J. Steen

Page range: 502-522

More Download PDF

Abstract

The rhetoric employed by right-wing populist parties (RWPPs) has been seen as a driver for their success. This right-wing populist (RWP) rhetoric is partly characterized by the use of anti-immigration metaphors and hyperboles, which likely appeal to voters’ grievances. We tested the persuasive impact of figuratively framed RWP rhetoric among a unique sample of Dutch RWPP voters, reporting an experiment with a 2 (metaphor: present, absent) x 2 (hyperbole: present, absent) between-subjects design. Our findings challenge prevailing ideas about how supportive voters respond to RWP rhetoric: Figurative language did not steer voters more in line with RWP ideas but pushed their opinion further away. These unexpected boomerang effects mainly held for weakly identified voters. This suggests that RWPP voters support their party, not because of but despite their rhetoric. Being heard in their grievances, rather than told what to grieve about, seems to be a main driver for RWPP support.

September 20, 2022

Cultural capital as a background of media use and civic engagement

Stanislaw Jedrzejewski

Page range: 523-538

Abstract

This article outlines the relationship that cultural capital, which is identified as a media user’s education level, shares with news media consumption patterns, civic engagement, and cultural participation. The article’s findings are based on data gathered during a 2015 investigation on news media consumption conducted by a group of European researchers as part of a comparative research project, supplemented with data from a survey on a random sample of Polish citizens conducted in May 2019. The project for the empirical 2015 study aimed to examine the principles of building individual media repertoires as a representation of media usage patterns and experiences related to news media consumption. The study focused on universal aspects of news media consumption, while simultaneously allowing for the discovery of aspects of news media use that are specific to the individual countries participating in the study: Germany, Denmark, Israel, Belgium-Fr., Belgium-Flanders, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Croatia, and Poland.

Open Access February 18, 2023

No-go zone for Jews? Examining how news on anti-Semitic attacks increases victim blaming

Christian von Sikorski, Pascal Merz

Page range: 539-550

More Download PDF

Abstract

Antisemitism is on the rise. Recently, discussions have considered so-called “no-go zones for Jews” (city areas Jews should avoid to reduce the likelihood of being attacked). In this context and drawing from attribution theory, we examined if news consumers perceive a Jewish hate crime victim as partly responsible for being attacked when news coverage explicitly emphasizes that the victim displayed religious symbols (kippah) in a certain inner-city location. We conducted a quota-based survey experiment (N = 392) in Germany (4 groups, between-subjects design) and randomly exposed participants to news coverage about an anti-Semitic attack. The article either emphasized that the Jewish victim displayed religious symbols (kippah) or not, and highlighted the specific location of the attack (Berlin synagogue vs. deprived inner-city district of Berlin). Moderated mediation analysis suggested that participants perceived the victim’s behavior to be more provocative when the news article highlighted that the victim displayed religious symbols and when the attack occurred in a deprived Berlin district. Yet, effects were only detected for individuals with low (vs. high) levels of education. Perceived provocativeness in turn increased victim blaming indicating that some individuals indirectly regarded the Jewish victim to be partly responsible for being attacked.

Open Access June 25, 2022

Avoiding the news to participate in society? The longitudinal relationship between news avoidance and civic engagement

Jakob Ohme, Kiki de Bruin, Yael de Haan, Sanne Kruikemeier, Toni G.L.A. van der Meer, Rens Vliegenthart

Page range: 551-562

More Download PDF

Abstract

Lower levels of news use are generally understood to be associated with less political engagement among citizens. But while some people simply have a low preference for news, others avoid the news intentionally. So far little is known about the relationship between active news avoidance and civic engagement in society, a void this study has set out to fill. Based on a four-wave general population panel survey in the Netherlands, conducted between April and July 2020 (N = 1,084) during a crisis situation, this research-in-brief investigates the development of news avoidance and pro-social civic engagement over time. Results suggest that higher news topic avoidance results in higher levels of civic engagement. The study discusses different explanations for why less news can mean more engagement.

Publicly Available September 7, 2022

Uninterested, disenchanted, or overwhelmed? An analysis of motives behind intentional and unintentional news avoidance

Lea C. Gorski

Page range: 563-587

More Download PDF

Abstract

In the light of a vast political information ‘buffet’, so-called news-avoiders stay away from the news for indefinite periods of time. Recent research suggests that news avoidance can be intentional or unintentional. However, research has mostly focused on one form of news avoidance or has not differentiated at all. Based on survey data, this study (a) identifies and compares motivations for intentional and unintentional avoidance and (b) investigates drivers of different news avoidance motives. Findings suggest that, overall, avoidance is rooted in the preference for other pastimes, with intentional avoiders also being tired of news and seeing it as too negative, biased, and unreliable. Further, different motives are driven by specific characteristics: Political knowledge and internal efficacy relate to ‘cognitive’ motives, empathy, and being negativity-prone to ‘emotional’ motives, while external efficacy relates to ‘political’ motives.

Open Access March 10, 2023

They are all against us! The effects of populist blame attributions to political, corporate, and scientific elites

Michael Hameleers, Toni G. L. A. van der Meer, Jelle W. Boumans

Page range: 588-607

More Download PDF

Abstract

Populist attributions of blame have important effects on citizens’ attitudes, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Extending previous studies that have mostly looked at populist messages blaming political elites, we use an online survey experiment (N = 805) to investigate the effects of blaming different elitist actors in populist and non-populist ways: (1) political elites, (2) corporate elites, (3) scientific elites, and (4) a combination of these elites. We compare mere causal responsibility attribution to populist blame attributions that highlight a central opposition between “pure ordinary people” and “corrupt elites” to tease out the specific effect of populist rhetoric. Results suggest that populist messages blaming all elites have stronger effects than isolated cues. Furthermore, populist blame attribution leads to more negative perceptions of the elites than non-populist blame attribution. The finding that populist frames can – under some conditions – activate negative perceptions toward different elites is alarming in times of declining trust in societal institutions, and calls for a more encompassing understanding of populists’ scapegoats.

Publicly Available February 4, 2023

You are the agenda: The pursuit of personal significance in social media contexts

Philemon Bantimaroudis, Theodora A. Maniou, Thanasis Ziogas

Page range: 608-629

More Download PDF

Abstract

This paper draws evidence from a national survey conducted in the Republic of Cyprus. Respondents provided evidence about their own self-promotion on social media while assessing other users’ personal salience online. Furthermore, they provided evidence about their own reactions toward other people’s personal salience. The study shows that respondents display affective, perceptional, as well as behavioral reactions toward other people’s online visibility. Demographic characteristics along with certain types of control variables are associated with individuals’ personal salience. Although transferring personal salience constitutes a segmented social media influence, this survey shows that it is recognized as a widespread objective and priority by ordinary individuals.

Book Reviews

May 13, 2022

Petros Iosifidis and Nicholas Nicoli (2021). Digital Democracy, Social Media and Disinformation. Routledge: New York and London. 155 pp.

Valentyna Shapovalova

Page range: 630-631

May 24, 2022

Reese, S. D. (2021). The crisis of the institutional press. Cambridge: Polity. 208 pp.

Sarah Van Leuven

Page range: 632-634

February 14, 2023

Artz, L. (2022). Spectacle and diversity: Transnational media and global culture. Routledge, 250 pp.

Heritiana Ranaivoson

Page range: 635-637

Ahead of Print / Just Accepted

Ahead of Print / Just Accepted

Volume 48 (2023)

Volume 47 (2022)

Volume 46 (2021)

Volume 45 (2020)

Volume 44 (2019)

Volume 43 (2018)

Volume 42 (2017)

Volume 41 (2016)

Volume 40 (2015)

Volume 39 (2014)

Volume 38 (2013)

Volume 37 (2012)

Volume 36 (2011)

Volume 35 (2010)

Volume 34 (2009)

Volume 33 (2008)

Volume 32 (2007)

Volume 31 (2006)

Volume 30 (2005)

Volume 29 (2004)

Volume 28 (2003)

Volume 27 (2002)

Volume 26 (2001)

Volume 25 (2000)

Volume 24 (1999)

Volume 23 (1998)

Volume 22 (1997)

Volume 21 (1996)

Volume 20 (1995)

Volume 19 (1994)

Volume 18 (1993)

Volume 17 (1992)

Volume 16 (1991)

Volume 15 (1990)

Volume 14 (1988)

Volume 13 (1987)

Volume 12 (1986)

Volume 11 (1985)

Volume 10 (1984)

Issue 1-3

Volume 9 (1983)

Volume 8 (1982)

Volume 7 (1981)

Volume 6 (1980)

Volume 5 (1979)

Volume 4 (1978)

Volume 3 (1977)

Volume 2 (1976)

Journal Impact Factor	1.6	2022, Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2023)
5-year Journal Impact Factor	1.8	2022, Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2023)
Journal Citation Indicator	0.43	2022, Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2023)
CiteScore	1.8	2022, Scopus (Elsevier B.V., 2023)
SCImago Journal Rank	0.374	2022, SJR (Scimago Lab, 2023; Data Source: Scopus)
Source Normalized Impact per Paper	0.841	2022, CWTS Journal Indicators (CWTS B.V., 2023; Data Source: Scopus)

More information about journal rankings

Submit

Submission
Communications invites submissions from a broad thematic field of communication research. Manuscripts should represent original work, should not be published elsewhere or in another language, and should not be submitted to other journals simultaneously. Manuscripts for consideration in Communications should be submitted via the online submission system.

Your benefits of publishing with us

Increasing Impact Factor
SCImago Journal Rank
Decisions on your submission made as soon as possible
Every article easily discoverable because of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and comprehensive abstracting and indexing services
Secure archiving by De Gruyter and the independent archiving service Portico
Ahead-of-print publishing ensures faster processing of fully proof-read, DOI-citable articles

Submission process

Submit your paper via the online sumbmission system following the Instructions for Authors (The Instructions for Authors file can be found on this website on the 'Overview' tab, under the heading 'Supplementary files'.)
Double blind peer reviewing process
You will receive PDF proofs for correction
In case of any problems the editorial staff will make its best to answer all your queries

Please note

Submissions should be written in English. Contributors whose native language is not English should have their manuscripts read by a native speaker before submission
Examples not in English must have aligned interlinear glosses and an idiomatic translation
Before submitting your article please have a look at our Ethical Guidelines and our Copyright Transfer Agreement
Once your article is accepted you have the option to publish it open access
Our Repository Policy allows you to distribute 30 PDF copies of your published article to colleagues (the PDF has to include the information that it is an author's copy). Please also feel free to distribute the link to the online abstract
If you have any general questions please visit our FAQ page for authors

We look forward to receiving your manuscript!

Hybrid Open Access

In this journal, authors have the option to publish their article under an open access license. Open Access allows you as an author to retain copyright and share your findings with colleagues and interested parties worldwide without any restraints.
Please note that authors from institutions with which we have a transformative agreement can publish open access without paying an article processing charge (APC). More information on the eligible institutions and articles can be found under the "Funding and Support" tab here.

Editorial

Editors

Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz
Department of Political Science and Communication Studies, University of Greifswald, Germany

Leen d'Haenens
Centre for Media Culture and Communication Technology, K. U. Leuven, Belgium

Associate Editors
Denisa Hejlová, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Czechia
Philippe J. Maarek, Université Paris Est-UPEC, CECCOPOP, France
Tristan Mattelart, Université Paris-2, France
Hillel Nossek, Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Israel
Christian Pentzold, Universität Leipzig, Germany
Cristina Ponte, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal

Book Review Editors
Stijn Joye, University of Ghent, Belgium
Heidi Vandebosch, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Olivier Driessens, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 　

Editorial Management
Viviane Harkort, ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, University of Bremen, Germany

Editorial Board

Hanna Adoni, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel
Akiba Cohen, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Nicoleta Corbu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania
Andreas Hepp, University of Bremen, Gemany
John L. Hochheimer, Southern Illinois University, USA
Klaus Bruhn Jensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Leif Kramp, Universität Bremen, ZeMKI
†Klaus Krippendorff, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Friedrich Krotz, University of Bremen, Germany
Ivan Lacasa, International University of Catalonia, Spain
Ekkehard Mochmann, German Society for Communication Research (DGKF), Cologne, Germany
Beata Ociepka, University of Wrocław, Poland
Irena Reifová, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republich
Keith Roe, K. U. Leuven, Belgium
Jan Servaes, City University of Hong Kong, China
Laura Vandenbosch, K. U. Leuven, Belgium
Christian von Sikorski, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Katrin Voltmer, School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Cardiff University, UK

Editorial Assistance
Annalena Oeffner Ferreira, ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, University of Bremen, Germany

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 1613-4087
Print ISSN: 0341-2059
Type: Journal
Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
First published: January 1, 1976
Publication Frequency: 4 Issues per Year
Audience: Researchers and practitioners interested in communication studies, especially Scholars and Students in Communication and Media, Communication Sociologists, and Linguists