The price of internationality: Duality in publication patterns of Spanish communication researchers

This article characterizes publication patterns of Spanish communication scholars in scientific journals. Different parameters are analyzed: institution of origin, number of authors, typology of collaborations and the number and target of references. In order to achieve its objectives, three samples were studied: non-SSCI Spanish journals, SSCI Spanish journals and SSCI international journals. The results reveal a dual behaviour for these authors depending on the national or international destination of their articles. Publishing in an international journal is usually done by authors from younger universities and implies multiple authorship, collaboration with foreign scholars and a high number of references to international journals. Just the contrary can be said of Spanish journals. SSCI Spanish journals are more defined by their nationality than by their inclusion in this internationally prestigious bibliographic index. © 2013 CSIC.