Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2021

Identifying Commonalities and Divergences Between Technical Communication Scholarly and Trade Publications (1996–2017)

Erin Friess University of North Texas ; Ryan K Boettger

Abstract

More than 20 years ago, Elizabeth O. Smith published her points of reference that documented the research trajectory of technical communication from 1988 to 1997. Her results indicated a focus on rhetorical analyses, a decrease in collaborative research, and a disproportionate representation of male authors. This study builds on these points with a quantitative content analysis of 1,271 articles that were published in five leading technical communication journals and Intercom, the trade magazine for the Society for Technical Communication, from 1996 to 2017. The results show that both the research journals and Intercom have pivoted to process-driven rather than product-driven content. The results also suggest that the primary topics of communication strategy and collaboration might be the most likely places to foster future industry–academic ties and that the greatest division between the two populations is the primary topic of rhetoric. This study offers an updated baseline for future investigations by offering an evaluation of disparate content foci between the publication types.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2021-10-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519211021468
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Topics
rhetorical criticism collaborative writing assessment technical communication
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Bakke et al. (2024)
    Are Academia and Industry Listening to Each Other? A Citation Analysis of UX Re…
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  2. Hunter (2024)
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  3. Gallagher et al. (2023)
    The State of UX Pedagogy
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  4. Friess et al. (2023)
    Longitudinal Study of Usability and User Experience in Technical and Profession…
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  5. Berger et al. (2023)
    Peer-Led Professional Development: How One Technical Communication Team Learns …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 10 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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