An analysis of prolific scholarship in speech communication, 1915–1985: Toward a yardstick for measuring research productivity

Using the journals listed in the most recent index to journals in communication studies, publication patterns of prolific authors in speech communication between 1915 and 1985 were analyzed. Publication of as few as six articles in the journals studied places an individual in the top ten percent of scholars on the all-time list. Publication of eleven articles places an individual in the top five percent. The data indicate publication early in a scholar’s career is very important, as is flexibility in selection of journals in which to publish.