Introduction to Graduate Studies In Communication
Assignment Sheet – Journal Run Report

Objectives: By the end of this assignment, graduate students should feel comfortable with the scholarly journals in the discipline. By having familiarity with our journals, students should be able to locate specific articles or browse journals with ease.

Goals: (1) To familiarize graduate students with the formal publication outlets of the field; (2) to familiarize graduate students with the standard features of journals; (3) to introduce graduate students to the prominent names, departments, and themes in communication research.

Directions: Select a journal from the communication discipline. Spend time in the library visiting the journal, reviewing it since its inception. Consider the history, development, major players, subscription rates, publication information, acceptance/publication rates, style manual, editorial board, schools of contributors, kind of work contributed, what gets published, forums/ book reviews. Explore the current trends in topics. Who is the current editor, what is their term, their philosophy. Where is it being edited? Are there editorial prefaces? What do they say?

Submit a 5-7 page (typed) report.

Your report should follow the format below. Note, most of this information should be obtained from the most recent issues.

Part I:

Journal name

Call number

Years of publication and volume numbers (note title changes, if any)

Issues (quarterly? semi-annually?)

Years available in the library (specify if on line volumes are available and where)

Facts of publication (who owns/sponsors the journal, where is it published, cost of subscription

Current editor

Current style manual

Specifications for submissions (page limit, format (manuscript or electronic, etc.)

Anything else you think is relevant

Part II. Analysis

A. Please spend some time thumbing through or skimming the volumes of the journal. (Note: I recommend that you set a time limit on browsing and reading and then manage your time. It is easy to be diverted from this task by reading articles of interest instead of browsing the entire journal.) Keep notes on significant changes you see over the years of the journal’s existence. Watch for changes in editorial boards, schools that the contributors or editors come from, topic changes, name changes of the journal itself, etc. Note specifically if a journal has a change in format such as adding a book review section, a forum section, or editor’s introductory remarks. Pay attention to long-term trends.

B. After thumbing through the journal run, write a 3-5 page report that synthesizes and analyzes what you discovered. Your report should synthesize the content and content changes of the journal and identify the major trends that you find. Your report should speak to those changes in light of our discussions of Carey, Kuhn, and Berger and Luckmann.

Grading Criteria:

1. Ability to draw concepts from the reading material into your essay.

2. Ability to demonstrate understanding of concepts from course readings, lectures and discussions.

3. Fit between synthesis or analysis and illustrations.

4. Thoughtfulness and insightfulness of synthesis and analysis.

5. Coherence of essay–ability to organize ideas and create an argument.

6. Writing mechanics.