Evolution of Mobiles Research: Analysis of an Epistemic Community of Academic Articles

• In Event: So Far, So Good, Part 1: Organizational Communication Research Escalator

Abstract

This study uses evolutionary theory as a means of investigating change in the way in which an epistemic community of scientific research articles use concepts to communicate standards for publishable papers. Scientific research communities, unlike typical organizational settings, communicate primarily through platforms, such as research symposiums and publications of various forms. From an organizational point of view, the value of organizational outputs is judged based on the discovery and evaluation of new knowledge that are produced and evaluated by those within the community. There is evidence that the unique processes and concepts by which epistemic communicates operate are not sufficiently understood from an organizational point of view. In attempting to fill this gap in research, this study articulates and tests variation-selection-retention mechanisms that operate within an epistemic population of articles submitted for journal publications. Looking specifically at the evolution of mobiles for development research, this study looks at research articles submitted to an interdisciplinary journal in the information and communication technology for development arena.

Author

• Komathi Ale, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication