Prof. Jonathan Zhu’s New Publication Revealed Gold Standard Data for Communication Research

05 Mar 2026 (Thu)

Prof. Jonathan Zhu, Chair Professor of the Department of Media and Communication at City University of Hong Kong and his coauthors recently published an article in Journal of Communication (JOC), the flagship journal of International Communication Association (ICA). Their study shows that longitudinal research accounts for only 10% of communication studies but significantly outperforms cross-sectional and other designs. Of longitudinal studies, those based on panel data, serve as the gold standard for the field. Reflecting on the findings, Prof. Zhu noted, “quality research is expensive but worth the efforts.” 



Prof. Zhu is a Chair Professor of Computational Social Science in Dept. of Media & Communication and Dept. of Data Science, and Director of Centre for Communication Research (CCR). His team included PhD students Wei Lin and Jingwei Gao, as well as CCR researcher Dr. Heng Lu. Over two years, they collected and analyzed a random sample 1,080 articles published in SSCI communication journals over the past 50 years. During this process, they developed several innovative tools, including a four-dimensional scheme for defining what longitudinal data are and a typology for determining what role time plays in hypothesis testing, both introduced for the first time in the literature. At a moment when more academic and applied researchers are interested in longitudinal designs to better capture communication processes, this study offers timely insights and practical guidance to advance future research.

The article, entitled “Conceptualization, operationalization, and performance of longitudinal studies in communication research: A systematic review,” marks Prof. Zhu’s second recent publication in JOC. In 2024, he and two former students, Jiaying Hu (now a PhD student at Ohio State University) and Jeffry Oktavianus (currently a faculty member at Hong Kong Polytechnic University) published “Is communication a dependent or involuted discipline?” in the same journal.  

A classification scheme of empirical data in communication research.



Comparison of five roles of time in longitudinal studies of communication research.



Cite:
Zhu, J. J. H., Lin, W., Gao, J., & Lu, H. (2026). Conceptualization, operationalization, and performance of longitudinal studies in communication research: A systematic review. Journal of Communication, 76, 92-106. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaf047