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:
multimodality
  1. 1
    2005 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 115
genre theory
  1. 1
    1997 Written Communication Cited by 108
technical communication
  1. 1
    2016 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 106
qualitative research
  1. 1
    2012 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 99
technical communication
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 93
qualitative research
  1. 1
    1993 Written Communication Cited by 72
rhetorical theory
  1. 1
    1986 Written Communication Cited by 71
technical communication
  1. 1
    1993 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 64
  2. 2
    2009 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 63
  3. 3
    1996 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 63
empirical research
  1. 1
technical communication
  1. 1
    2014 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 58
  2. 2
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 53
multilingual writers
  1. 1
    2007 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 50
empirical research
  1. 1
    1986 Written Communication Cited by 47
writing pedagogy
  1. 1
    1982 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 47
technical communication
  1. 1
    2002 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 45
digital rhetoric
  1. 1
    2009 Computers and Composition Cited by 43
technical communication
  1. 1
    2007 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 43
qualitative research
  1. 1
    2009 College Composition and Communication Cited by 42
race and writing
  1. 1
    2005 Written Communication Cited by 41
transfer
  1. 1
    1990 Written Communication Cited by 41
rhetorical theory
  1. 1
    2011 College Composition and Communication Cited by 40
technical communication
  1. 1
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 40
multimodality
  1. 1
    1984 Written Communication Cited by 40
professional writing
  1. 1
    2020 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 39
technical communication
  1. 1
    1997 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 39
genre theory
  1. 1
    1994 Written Communication Cited by 39
writing across the curriculum
  1. 1
    1987 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 39
revision
  1. 1
    1985 Written Communication Cited by 39
discourse analysis
  1. 1
    1986 Rhetoric Review Cited by 38
multimodality
  1. 1
    2010 Computers and Composition Cited by 37
  2. 2
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 37
  3. 3
    2001 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 36
qualitative research
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 35
translingualism
  1. 1
    2011 College English Cited by 35
technical communication
  1. 1
    1998 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 35
writing pedagogy
  1. 1
    2005 College Composition and Communication Cited by 34
multimodality
  1. 1
    2005 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 32
  2. 2
    2005 Written Communication Cited by 32
service learning
  1. 1
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 32
argument
  1. 1
    1993 Rhetoric Review Cited by 32
technical communication
  1. 1
    2017 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 31
multimodality
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 31
genre theory
  1. 1
    2005 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 31
technical communication
  1. 1
    2019 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 30
  2. 2
    2018 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 30
public rhetoric
  1. 1
    2007 College Composition and Communication Cited by 30
genre theory
  1. 1
    1999 Written Communication Cited by 30
  2. 2
    1993 Written Communication Cited by 30
multimodality
  1. 1
    2010 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 29
  2. 2
    2008 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 29
  3. 3
    2005 College Composition and Communication Cited by 29
genre theory
  1. 1
    2001 Written Communication Cited by 29
multimodality
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 28
qualitative research
  1. 1
empirical research
  1. 1
    1994 Written Communication Cited by 28
rhetorical theory
  1. 1
    1982 Rhetoric Review Cited by 28
technical communication
  1. 1
    2017 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 26
multimodality
  1. 1
  2. 2
    1990 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 26
qualitative research
  1. 1
    2017 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 25
quantitative research
  1. 1
    2015 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 25
social media
  1. 1
    2014 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 25
first-year composition
  1. 1
technical communication
  1. 1
    2009 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 25
first-year composition
  1. 1
    2007 College Composition and Communication Cited by 25
empirical research
  1. 1
    1999 College Composition and Communication Cited by 25
graduate education
  1. 1
    1993 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 25
multimodality
  1. 1
    1989 Written Communication Cited by 25
empirical research
  1. 1
social media
  1. 1
    2017 Computers and Composition Cited by 24
multimodality
  1. 1
    2016 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 24
translingualism
  1. 1
    2012 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 24
technical communication
  1. 1
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 24
qualitative research
  1. 1
technical communication
  1. 1
    1993 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 24
  2. 2
    1991 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 24
affect and writing
  1. 1
    1989 Written Communication Cited by 24
technical communication
  1. 1
    2015 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 23
first-year composition
  1. 1
    2011 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
writing across the curriculum
  1. 1
    2007 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
translingualism
  1. 1
    2006 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
technical communication
  1. 1
    2006 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 23
qualitative research
  1. 1
    2000 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 23
writing across the curriculum
  1. 1
    1999 Computers and Composition Cited by 23
multimodality
  1. 1
    1997 Computers and Composition Cited by 23
writing pedagogy
  1. 1
    1996 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 23
technical communication
  1. 1
    1993 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 23
revision
  1. 1
    1987 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 23
composition theory
  1. 1
    1981 College Composition and Communication Cited by 23
writing pedagogy
  1. 1
    2013 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
  2. 2
    2009 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
technical communication
  1. 1
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 22
multimodality
  1. 1
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 22
revision
  1. 1
    1983 College Composition and Communication Cited by 22
technical communication
  1. 1
    2012 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
digital rhetoric
  1. 1
    2012 Research in the Teaching of English Cited by 21
technical communication
  1. 1
    2012 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
multimodality
  1. 1
    2005 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
genre theory
  1. 1
    2004 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 21
technical communication
  1. 1
    1993 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 21
voice and style
  1. 1
    1991 Written Communication Cited by 21
scientific writing
  1. 1
    1987 Written Communication Cited by 21
technical communication
  1. 1
    2014 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 20
multimodality
  1. 1
    2014 College Composition and Communication Cited by 20
  2. 2
    2014 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 20
genre theory
  1. 1
    2012 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
multilingual writers
  1. 1
social media
  1. 1
multimodality
  1. 1
technical communication
  1. 1
    2002 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
scientific writing
  1. 1
    2001 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 20
rhetorical theory
  1. 1
    1999 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 20
writing across the curriculum
  1. 1
    1994 Written Communication Cited by 20
technical communication
  1. 1
    2017 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Cited by 19
multimodality
  1. 1
    2015 Computers and Composition Cited by 19
technical communication
  1. 1
    2015 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 19
multimodality
  1. 1
first-year composition
  1. 1
    2009 College Composition and Communication Cited by 19
service learning
  1. 1
    2008 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 19
qualitative research
  1. 1
    2008 Written Communication Cited by 19
digital rhetoric
  1. 1
    2008 Written Communication Cited by 19
service learning
  1. 1
    2002 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 19
multilingual writers
  1. 1
    2002 Rhetoric Society Quarterly Cited by 19
multimodality
  1. 1
  2. 2
    1998 Written Communication Cited by 19
writing program administration
  1. 1
    1997 Journal of Business and Technical Communication Cited by 19
affect and writing
  1. 1
technical communication
  1. 1
    2022 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
social media
  1. 1
    2017 Computers and Composition Cited by 18
writing pedagogy
  1. 1
    2014 Computers and Composition Cited by 18
multilingual writers
  1. 1
    2012 College Composition and Communication Cited by 18
technical communication
  1. 1
    2007 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
multimodality
  1. 1
    2004 College Composition and Communication Cited by 18
  2. 2
    2004 Technical Communication Quarterly Cited by 18
rhetorical theory
  1. 1
    1998 Written Communication Cited by 18