Study finds Grady College Advertising/Public Relations excels in advertising research productivity

Faculty and doctoral graduates in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in Grady College were the most visible authors or co-authors in the three leading peer-reviewed advertising research journals from 2008-2019, according to a study in Journal of Business Research that was published July 27.

The study, “A Decade (2008-2019) of Advertising Research Productivity: A Bibliometric Review,” involved two reference and citation reviews: one of 818 articles published in Journal of Advertising (JA), Journal of Advertising Research (JAR), and Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising (JCIRA), and the second of 1,532 articles published in those journals plus 15 other journals where scholarly research in advertising is frequently published. In the first bibliometric review, the University of Georgia was ranked number one, with Grady AD/PR faculty members authoring or co-authoring 49 articles in the three journals. In the second review, the University of Georgia was the number one United States institution, with Grady AD/PR faculty members authoring or co-authoring 82 articles in the decade examined. The University of Amsterdam was ranked number one overall in the assessment that involved 18 peer-reviewed journals.

“This study demonstrates empirically what we’ve long known: our advertising research leads the nation,” said Charles Davis, dean of Grady College. “The depth and breadth of the research in the department underscores its vitality, and really highlights the amazing faculty, who excel in and out of the classroom.”

The visibility and sustained success of the Grady College Ad/PR faculty was the result of many faculty members publishing in the journals that were reviewed as well as some faculty frequently publishing in the three leading advertising journals. Faculty members making contributions that were noted in the article include Professor Emeritus Leonard Reid with 14 publications, Associate Professor Hye Jin Yoon with 11 publications, Professor Emeritus Karen Whitehill King with five publications, and Associate Professor Nathaniel Evans with four publications. Grady Ad/PR doctoral graduates featured prominently in the three journals included Eric Haley (ABJ ’87, MA ’89, PhD ’92), currently a professor at University of Tennessee, and Jisu Huh (MA ’00, PhD ’03), currently a professor at the University of Minnesota, each with 19 articles.

“I am particularly proud of our faculty’s sustained leadership in advertising research and scholarship, said Bryan Reber, the C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. “My advertising colleagues are remarkably successful in being published in the leading journals in their field. Given there are many large U.S. research universities with prominent advertising programs, we are very pleased to be at the top of the lists in advertising research productivity.”

The lead author of the study in the Journal of Business Research was John B. Ford, in the College of Business at Old Dominion University.