Examining JAC: An Analysis of the Scholarly Progression of the Journal of Applied Communications

The peer-review process influences scholarly publication, authors, readers, and the direction of scientific research. In addition, this process may have a broader influence on society if policy implications are associated with scientific discovery (Hobart, Gonnell, & Caelleigh, 2003). As the Journal of Applied Communications ( JAC) is an outlet for scholarly, peer-reviewed publication by agricultural communicators, it must be analyzed and questioned to meet the needs of the profession (Miller, Stewart, & West, 2006). This study examined the content of JAC from 1990 to 2006 by reporting descriptive information about the content of JAC and examining the progression of published scholarly research within the framework of the peer-review process. In Volume 74(1) (1990) through Volume 90(4) (2006) of JAC, 222 research and non-research articles were published. About three-quarters (73.4%) of the articles published in JAC were research articles, and 18 methods were used and 64 populations were examined in those research articles. More than 300 authors published in JAC during the selected time period, representing more than 70 universities, agencies, and private business. Trends in the numbers of research and non-research articles were not identified, although co-authored papers were more likely to be research-based. The combined research and non-research structure of JAC provides resources for a variety of professionals in agricultural communications. Based on the results of this study, JAC does serve as a scholarly outlet for disseminating current knowledge, archiving disciplinal knowledge, controlling the quality of information, and assigning priority and credit to authors’ work (Rowland, 2002)