Agenda Setting Journal

Aims & Scope

Agenda-setting theory, the most popular theory in mass communication, has expanded to other areas beyond communication including business, history, finance, politics and sports.

Dr.

Maxwell McCombs (University of Texas at Austin) and his research partner, Dr.

Donald Shaw (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), introduced the theory in 1972.

The original article has been cited in more than 6,000 studies.

Originally, McCombs and Shaw’s term “agenda setting” showed a correspondence between the order of importance given in the media to issues and the order of significance attached to the same issues by the public and politicians.

While the essence of the definition remains the same, the idea has exploded into an internationally-recognized, maturing and expanding theory.

A research tradition focused on the interface of the mass media agenda and the public agenda has been used by scholars/academics, industry professionals and think tanks globally to explain political, economic, historical, social, sociological, psychological, sports-centric, health-related, medicinal, business-oriented, technological and more concepts.

The Agenda Setting Journal: Theory, Practice, Critique focuses on the theoretical developments that continue in agenda setting and how the theory is applied to areas outside of mass communication.

The journal also represents the growth and maturity of the communication field as it is also the first and only to-date theory-based journal in the communication discipline.

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	0.322

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q2

Journal Rank

Year	Value
2024	15950

Journal Citation Indicator

Year	Value
2024	17

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Social Sciences, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• Theoretical and methodological trends of agenda-setting theory

  Citation: 25

  Authors: Yeojin, Youngju, Shuhua

• Redirecting the agenda

  Citation: 24

  Authors: Gabriel, Hans-Bernd

• The agenda-setting function of mass media1 2

  Citation: 22

  Authors: Maxwell E., Donald L.

• Fifty years of agenda-setting research

  Citation: 13

  Authors: Chris J.

• Agenda-setting in a social media age

  Citation: 11

  Authors: Carolina

• Election-related talk and agenda-setting effects on Twitter

  Citation: 11

  Authors: Shannon C., Chris J.

• Mapping the intermedia agenda setting (IAS) literature

  Citation: 10

  Authors: Yan, Xizhu

• Disruptor-in-chief?

  Citation: 10

  Authors: Eric C., Joshua M.

• Why politicians react to media coverage

  Citation: 9

  Authors: Luzia, Peter

• Diffusion as a future perspective of agenda setting

  Citation: 8

  Authors: Hans-Bernd, Mario, Gabriel

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