Educommunication and Media Literacy: Scientific Dissemination Spaces in the Spanish-Speaking World

What is this article about?

This article explains the landscape of academic dissemination on educommunication and media literacy in the Spanish-speaking Ibero-American context. Aguaded, Castillo-Abdul, and Romero-Rodríguez conduct a bibliometric and institutional review of indexed journals, historical publications, and leading academic conferences, identifying where and how this knowledge is being produced, published, and shared.

Why is it important?

The study shows that Spanish-language research on media literacy faces structural barriers, such as:

• Scarce publishing spaces in high-impact journals.

• Language disadvantages for non-English-speaking researchers.

• Underrepresentation in international databases.

At the same time, the article highlights key journals, research networks, and academic events that sustain the visibility of educommunication in the region.

Key Findings

1. High-impact journals offer limited space in Spanish

• Only a few journals (e.g., Comunicar, El Profesional de la Información) publish regularly in Spanish.

• High rejection rates exist due to oversaturation and language bias.

2. Emerging journals and historical platforms fill the gap

• Journals like Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación, Revista Conrado, and Chasqui play critical roles.

• ESCI-indexed journals have become accessible alternatives for Ibero-American scholars.

3. There’s a regional publication bottleneck

• Most articles on media education are published in English in journals from psychology and pedagogy fields.

• Ibero-American scholars face challenges with methodological training and translation costs.

4. Academic conferences build scientific communities

• Events like Alfamed, IBERCOM, ALAIC, and CICID foster knowledge exchange and networking in educommunication.

Key Journals and Rankings

• Comunicar (Q1, Education and Communication)

• Estudios Pedagógicos (Chile), Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico (Spain), Prisma Social, Pixel-Bit

• Indexes analyzed: JCR, Scopus, ESCI

• Notable language gap: Only 2.47% of Scopus documents on “Media Education” are in Spanish

FAQs

Q: What is educommunication?
A: A transdisciplinary field connecting communication, education, and media literacy to foster critical thinking and active citizenship.

Q: Why is Spanish-language research underrepresented?
A: Due to structural language bias, limited access to translation services, and reduced visibility in international indexing systems.

Q: How can this be improved?
A: By supporting multilingual publication policies, funding translation services, and promoting regional research networks.

Q: Are there international spaces for Spanish-language research?
A: Yes. Alfamed, ALAIC, and ESCI-indexed journals provide platforms for visibility and collaboration.