Spanish communication academia: Scientific productivity vs. Social activity

Abstract

At a time when academic activity in the area of communication is principally assessed by the impact of scientific journals, the scientific media and the scientific productivity of researchers, the question arises as to whether social factors condition scientific activity as much as these objective elements. This investigation analyzes the influence of scientific productivity and social activity in the area of communication. We identify a social network of researchers from a compilation of doctoral theses in communication and calculate the scientific production of 180 of the most active researchers who sit on doctoral committees. Social network analysis is then used to study the relations that are formed on these doctoral thesis committees. The results suggest that social factors, rather than individual scientific productivity, positively influence such a key academic and scientific activity as the award of doctoral degrees. Our conclusions point to a disconnection between scientific productivity and the international scope of researchers and their role in the social network. Nevertheless, the consequences of this situation are tempered by the non-hierarchical structure of relations between communication scientists. RESUMENEn un momento en que la actividad académica en el ámbito de la comunicación se valora principalmente por el impacto de las revistas y los medios de comunicación científica y por la productividad de los investigadores, surge la cuestión de si los factores sociales pueden condicionar la actividad científica con la misma fuerza que estos elementos objetivos. Esta investigación analiza la influencia de la productividad científica y de la actividad social en el ámbito de la comunicación. Se ha identificado la red social de los investigadores de comunicación a partir de las tesis doctorales; para los 180 investigadores más activos en los tribunales de tesis se ha calculado su producción científica. Se utiliza el análisis de redes sociales para estudiar las relaciones que se producen en los tribunales de tesis doctorales. Los resultados muestran que los factores sociales influyen positivamente en una actividad académica y científica tan relevante como la obtención del grado de doctor, mientras que la productividad científica individual no lo hace. Como conclusiones cabe señalar que existe una desconexión entre la productividad científica y la proyección internacional de los investigadores y su papel en la red social. Las implicaciones de este hecho están matizadas por una estructura no jerarquizada de las relaciones entre los científicos de comunicación.

Research on advertising in university. Characteristics and topics of doctoral theses (1976-2016)

“…Despite that, the meta-research studies based on the analysis of doctoral theses have been rather scarce; as a matter of fact, in the past years the study of research published on scientific journals has been prioritized because these constitute a fundamental element in the current scientific dissemination and even in the certification of the career of researchers. In the field of communication, there are worth mentioning the different studies that have recently dealt with the communicologic research in Spain since the study of the doctoral theses either about communication in general (Casanueva and Caro, 2013;Jones, 2000), or focusing instead on a specific geographic scope (Gallardo Vera, 2016;Gil Soldevilla, Galán Cubillo and Marzal Felici, 2016;Herrero Solana and Arboledas Márquez, 2011;Jones, 2007;Jones and Baró i Queralt, 1997;Landa Montenegro, 2004;Martínez García, 2016) or referring to some particular thematic area of communication (Díaz-Campo, 2016;Díaz-Campo, 2014; The changes in the Spanish regulation of doctorate studies are also positioned as background of the evolution in the analysis of doctoral theses. Currently, these studies are regulated by the Royal Decree 99/2011, 28 January, that govern the official doctorate studies.…”

Male Presence in Gender Research Networks in the Communication Field in Spain

“…Work has been done on quantitative or qualitative methods of journal articles in communication (Castillo, Almansa & Álvarez, 2013) on the provenance of authors and their points of reference in Spanish journals (Fernández, Masip & Bergillos, 2013), on co-citations (Piedra, 2010) or on the "Academy" itself through the components of the doctoral thesis committees in communication (Casanueva & Caro, 2013). Gender journals remain at the fringes of this kind of research on researchers, therefore, there is no work quantifying the gender of research in women's studies.…”

“…In view of the limited internationalization of publications from communication academics in Spain (Casanueva & Caro, 2013;Masip, 2011), it was decided to analyze the papers published in the Spanish journals of the area. SCOPUS was chosen against other standardized international databases as SSCI.…”

Tendencias y perspectivas de la cultura científica en Chile y América Latina. Siglos XIX-XXI

“…Se agrega a la vinculación entre ciencia basal y desarrollo tecnológico (I+D): una visión cada día más praxeológica 2 , una inversión del sector privado, y un tercer componente dado por la innovación (I+D+i). Esta innovación se lleva a efecto en una estructura de red, constituida por unos pocos nodos: incipientes, escasos, concentrados, costosos, frágiles, tanto humanos, como no humanos; pero que a su vez brindan un impacto de gran cobertura social (Acuña, 2008;Alcántara-Santuario, 2000;Alcíbar, 2009;Casanueva y Caro, 2013;Covarrubias-Villa, et al, 2009;Coca y Valero-Matas, 2010;Echeverría y González, 2009;Gómez-González et al, 2014;Lizcano, 1996).…”