Discourse &
Society: Criteria for Preferred Papers
Contributions that share (more) of the following criteria
will be preferred:
1. Systematic communication study. Discourse &
Communication is
first of all a journal for the global community of communication
scholars. Its articles should therefore primarily deal with current
theories, aims, issues and problems of communication in their social,
political and cultural contexts.
2. Systematic discourse analysis. Discourse &
Communication is
at the same time a discourse analytical journal. That is, articles
should provide a detailed, systematic and theoretically based analysis
of communication 'messages' defined in terms of text, talk, verbal
interaction or semiotic practices. It is insufficient to merely quote,
summarize or paraphrase such discourse, or to comment only on their
'content' without paying attention to any kind of non-trivial discourse
structures. The journal aims to contribute significantly to the study
of communication issues through an analysis of the discourses involved
in communication. At the same time, such a contribution will be
relevant for our understanding of the roles and functions of discourse
in communication and society.
3. Empirical basis. Papers in Discourse &
Communication feature
detailed and systematic discourse analysis of a specific corpus of
discourses. D&C does not publish exclusively theoretical
papers, although each paper should of course feature a prominent
theoretical section and a critical review of the relevant literature as
a foundation for empirical research. Theoretical notes or short
discussion pieces are welcome for the D&C Forum/Discussion
section. It goes without saying that both theory and analysis should
make an original contribution to the field.
4. Explicit social analysis. Discourse &
Communication
stimulates and welcomes articles that critically study the social,
political and cultural contexts of discourse and communication, and
that focus on specific social issues and problems.
5. A sizeable corpus of data. Articles are preferred that
are based on
a sizeable corpus of interesting discourses collected by the author(s)
themselves, and not merely on a single or few discourses. Authors are
expected to have a thorough knowledge of, and experience with, the
corpus, domain or genre of discourse being analyzed, for instance as a
result of an extended research project, so as to facilitate empirical
generalizations. Analyses should be illustrated by several extracts
quoted in the text.
6. Multidisciplinary, multicultural, international. The
study of the
relations between discourse and communication takes place in several
disciplines, in many countries and by women and men from many different
cultural backgrounds. Discourse & Communication highly values
this diversity and particularly invites contributions which reflect
such diversity in their authorship, theories, methods, data and the use
of scholarly literature.
5. Accessibility. Discourse & Communication aims
to be
accessible to readers from a broad range of disciplines, and of various
levels of specialization and expertise, especially including students.
For theoretical, methodological, pedagogical and social reasons,
therefore, contributions should be well-organized, have a clear style,
avoid esoteric jargon, and explain unfamiliar or new technical concepts.