Most cited in this index

What does the field treat as foundational — and is that different from what we assume? These rankings reflect citation counts within the discipline's own journals, not Google Scholar's cross-disciplinary totals. An article cited 200 times across CCC, College English, and Written Communication tells a different story than one cited 200 times from linguistics or education. This is the field citing itself — the closest approximation we have to what rhetoric and composition actually considers essential reading.

Full citation data available
JournalArticlesWith referencesCoverage
College Composition and Communication69376937100.0%
College English1067010670100.0%
Community Literacy Journal465465100.0%
Computers and Composition16491649100.0%
Journal of Business and Technical Communication10491049100.0%
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication15311531100.0%
Pedagogy11411141100.0%
Philosophy & Rhetoric691691100.0%
Poroi259259100.0%
Research in the Teaching of English16781678100.0%
Rhetoric & Public Affairs733733100.0%
Rhetoric Review13871387100.0%
Teaching English in the Two-Year College15131513100.0%
Technical Communication Quarterly11101110100.0%
Written Communication895895100.0%
Rhetoric Society Quarterly1764176399.9%
No DOIs (web-only journals)
JournalArticlesWith referencesCoverage
Basic Writing e-Journal5600
Composition Forum480
Composition Studies3250
Enculturation1650
Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics550
KB Journal: The Journal of the Kenneth Burke Society3390
Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy630
Literacy in Composition Studies1910
Praxis: A Writing Center Journal1990
Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society2410
Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric5530
The Peer Review260
Writing Center Journal1310
Writing Lab Newsletter3540

Citation data comes from CrossRef, which aggregates reference lists deposited by publishers. Some publishers in the index — particularly Sage and Taylor & Francis — deposit complete reference lists for their journals. Others, including some open-access and society-published journals, deposit DOIs but not reference lists. Web-only journals without DOIs cannot contribute citation data at all, though they can still appear as cited works when other journals reference them. The citation network and 'Most Cited' rankings therefore reflect a partial picture, weighted toward journals whose publishers participate fully in CrossRef's reference deposit system. This is a limitation of the available infrastructure, not a judgment about the value of any journal's scholarship.

Journal: Topic: Years:
2000s
  1. 1
    2005 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 115
1990s
  1. 1
    1997 Written Communication Cited by 108
2010s
  1. 1
    2016 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 106
  2. 2
    2012 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 99
1980s
  1. 1
    1984 College English Cited by 95
2010s
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 93
  2. 2
1990s
  1. 1
    1993 Written Communication Cited by 72
1980s
  1. 1
    1986 Written Communication Cited by 71
1990s
  1. 1
    1993 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 64
2000s
  1. 1
    2009 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 63
1990s
  1. 1
    1996 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 63
2000s
  1. 1
1990s
  1. 1
    1998 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 60
2010s
  1. 1
    2014 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 58
1990s
  1. 1
    1992 Written Communication Cited by 54
2000s
  1. 1
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 53
1990s
  1. 1
2000s
  1. 1
    2007 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 50
1980s
  1. 1
    1986 Written Communication Cited by 47
  2. 2
    1982 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 47
2000s
  1. 1
    2002 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 45
  2. 2
    2009 Computers and Composition Cited by 43
  3. 3
    2007 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 43
1980s
  1. 1
    1985 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 43
2000s
  1. 1
    2009 College Composition and Communication Cited by 42
  2. 2
    2005 Written Communication Cited by 41
1990s
  1. 1
    1990 Written Communication Cited by 41
2010s
  1. 1
    2011 College Composition and Communication Cited by 40
2000s
  1. 1
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 40
1980s
  1. 1
    1984 Written Communication Cited by 40
1970s
  1. 1
    1979 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 40
2020s
  1. 1
    2020 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 39
1990s
  1. 1
    1997 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 39
  2. 2
    1994 Written Communication Cited by 39
1980s
  1. 1
    1987 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 39
  2. 2
    1985 Written Communication Cited by 39
  3. 3
    1986 Rhetoric Review Cited by 38
2010s
  1. 1
    2010 Computers and Composition Cited by 37
2000s
  1. 1
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 37
  2. 2
  3. 3
    2001 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 36
2010s
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 35
  2. 2
    2011 College English Cited by 35
2000s
  1. 1
    2005 Computers and Composition Cited by 35
1990s
  1. 1
    1998 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 35
2000s
  1. 1
    2005 College Composition and Communication Cited by 34
1990s
  1. 1
    1994 College Composition and Communication Cited by 34
1980s
  1. 1
    1984 Rhetoric Review Cited by 34
2000s
  1. 1
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 32
  2. 2
    2005 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 32
  3. 3
    2005 Written Communication Cited by 32
  4. 4
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 32
1990s
  1. 1
    1993 Rhetoric Review Cited by 32
1980s
  1. 1
    1988 Written Communication Cited by 32
2010s
  1. 1
    2017 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 31
  2. 2
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 31
2000s
  1. 1
    2005 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 31
2010s
  1. 1
    2019 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 30
  2. 2
    2018 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 30
  3. 3
    2015 Computers and Composition Cited by 30
2000s
  1. 1
    2007 College Composition and Communication Cited by 30
  2. 2
    2007 Computers and Composition Cited by 30
  3. 3
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 30
1990s
  1. 1
    1999 Written Communication Cited by 30
  2. 2
    1993 Written Communication Cited by 30
2010s
  1. 1
    2010 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 29
2000s
  1. 1
    2008 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 29
  2. 2
    2005 College Composition and Communication Cited by 29
  3. 3
    2001 Written Communication Cited by 29
1980s
  1. 1
2010s
  1. 1
    2017 Philosophy & Rhetoric Cited by 28
  2. 2
    2016 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 28
1990s
  1. 1
    1994 Written Communication Cited by 28
  2. 2
    1993 Computers and Composition Cited by 28
1980s
  1. 1
    1982 Rhetoric Review Cited by 28
2010s
  1. 1
    2016 Computers and Composition Cited by 27
  2. 2
    2015 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 27
2000s
  1. 1
    2003 Computers and Composition Cited by 27
1980s
  1. 1
    1988 Rhetoric Review Cited by 27
2010s
  1. 1
  2. 2
    2017 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 26
  3. 3
  4. 4
    2010 Computers and Composition Cited by 26
2000s
  1. 1
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 26
1990s
  1. 1
    1990 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 26
1980s
  1. 1
    1982 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 26
2010s
  1. 1
    2017 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 25
  2. 2
    2015 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 25
  3. 3
    2014 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 25
  4. 4
2000s
  1. 1
    2009 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 25
  2. 2
    2007 College Composition and Communication Cited by 25
1990s
  1. 1
    1999 College Composition and Communication Cited by 25
  2. 2
    1993 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 25
1980s
  1. 1
    1989 Written Communication Cited by 25
2010s
  1. 1
  2. 2
    2017 Computers and Composition Cited by 24
  3. 3
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 24
  4. 4
    2012 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 24
2000s
  1. 1
    2009 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 24
  2. 2
    2007 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 24
  3. 3
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 24
  4. 4
1990s
  1. 1
    1993 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 24
  2. 2
    1991 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 24
1980s
  1. 1
    1989 College Composition and Communication Cited by 24
  2. 2
    1989 Written Communication Cited by 24
2010s
  1. 1
    2018 Rhetoric Review Cited by 23
  2. 2
    2015 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 23
  3. 3
    2011 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
2000s
  1. 1
  2. 2
    2007 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
  3. 3
    2006 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
  4. 4
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 23
  5. 5
    2000 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 23
1990s
  1. 1
    1999 Computers and Composition Cited by 23
  2. 2
    1997 Computers and Composition Cited by 23
  3. 3
    1996 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 23
  4. 4
    1994 Computers and Composition Cited by 23
  5. 5
    1993 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 23
1980s
  1. 1
    1987 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 23
  2. 2
    1981 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
2010s
  1. 1
    2013 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
2000s
  1. 1
    2009 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
  2. 2
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 22
  3. 3
    2006 Computers and Composition Cited by 22
  4. 4
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 22
  5. 5
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 22
1990s
  1. 1
    1999 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
1980s
  1. 1
    1986 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 22
  2. 2
    1985 Rhetoric Review Cited by 22
  3. 3
    1983 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
  4. 4
    1982 College English Cited by 22
2010s
  1. 1
    2012 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
  2. 2
    2012 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 21
  3. 3
    2012 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
2000s
  1. 1
  2. 2
    2005 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
  3. 3
    2004 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 21
  4. 4
    2004 Computers and Composition Cited by 21
  5. 5
    2004 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 21
  6. 6
  7. 7
    2001 Pedagogy Cited by 21
  8. 8
    2000 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
1990s
  1. 1
    1993 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
  2. 2
    1991 Written Communication Cited by 21
1980s
  1. 1
    1988 Computers and Composition Cited by 21
  2. 2
    1987 Written Communication Cited by 21
2010s
  1. 1
    2018 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 20
  2. 2
    2014 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 20
  3. 3
    2014 College Composition and Communication Cited by 20
  4. 4
    2014 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 20
  5. 5
    2012 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
  6. 6
  7. 7
2000s
  1. 1
    2007 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 20
  2. 2
  3. 3
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 20
  4. 4
    2002 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
  5. 5
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
1990s
  1. 1
    1999 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 20
  2. 2
    1996 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
  3. 3
    1994 Written Communication Cited by 20
  4. 4
1980s
  1. 1
    1989 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 20
2010s
  1. 1
    2017 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 19
  2. 2
    2015 Computers and Composition Cited by 19
  3. 3
    2015 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 19
  4. 4
  5. 5
    2014 College Composition and Communication Cited by 19
  6. 6
  7. 7
2000s
  1. 1
    2009 College Composition and Communication Cited by 19
  2. 2
    2008 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 19
  3. 3
    2008 Written Communication Cited by 19
  4. 4
    2008 Written Communication Cited by 19
  5. 5
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 19
  6. 6
    2002 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 19
  7. 7
    2002 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 19
  8. 8
1990s
  1. 1
    1998 Written Communication Cited by 19
  2. 2
    1997 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 19
1980s
  1. 1
    1989 Written Communication Cited by 19
  2. 2
2020s
  1. 1
    2022 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
2010s
  1. 1
    2018 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 18
  2. 2
    2017 Computers and Composition Cited by 18
  3. 3
    2014 Computers and Composition Cited by 18
  4. 4
    2014 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
  5. 5
    2012 College Composition and Communication Cited by 18
2000s
  1. 1
    2007 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
  2. 2
    2004 College Composition and Communication Cited by 18
  3. 3
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
  4. 4
    2000 Written Communication Cited by 18
1990s
  1. 1
    1999 Computers and Composition Cited by 18
  2. 2
    1998 Written Communication Cited by 18