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COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management cover

COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management

(Since 2007)
Hybrid ·Peer-reviewed·ISSN (Online): 2168-930X·ISSN (Print): 0973-7766

WoS  JIF 2026 : 0.6 (Q3)

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Half-Yearly Journal: Publishes research and articles on scientometrics and information management, including bibliometric analysis and quality assurance models.

Issues up to 2022 co-published with and available at:Taylor & Francis Online
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COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management
Open Access Research Article

Dissecting university press releases  : Direct announcements and news coverage

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pp. 141–148Vol. 19Issue 1June 2025DOI: 10.47974/CJSIM-2025-03003XML
Published Online:
01 Jul 2025
Article type:
Research Article
Language:
EN
Article no.:
CJSIM-2025-03003
Pages:
141–148

Abstract

Traditionally our analysis has relied on press releases retrieved from a newspaper company-produced database, NikkeiTelecom21. In recent years, however, there has been a notable increase in press releases issued directly by universities, with only a portion included in this database. Our comparative study between NikkeiTelecom21 and the Nikkei Shimbun website revealed that, while the number of press releases in the former has declined since 2019, the latter has maintained a steady output. Furthermore, our investigation of press releases directly collected from the websites of four universities registered with the Science Portal showed substantial variation in their inclusion in Nikkei press releases—for example, while the University of Tokyo had an estimated coverage rate of over 80%, Hokkaido University’s rate was below 15%. This discrepancy points to potential biases in the dissemination of university press releases and highlights the need for broader representation and more comprehensive analysis in understanding how academic research is publicly communicated.

Keywords

University press releasesPress release databaseBibliometricspublication ratioJapanese universitiesNewspaper

References

[1] Masaki Nishizawa and Yuan Sun, “Exploring the relation between press releases and media coverage of Japanese university research outputs,” Proc. COLLNET and WIS 2019, Macau, China (2018). [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.22032/dbt.39326
[2] Nikkei Telecon21. [Online]. Available: http://t21.nikkei.co.jp/. Accessed: Jun. 2023. (in Japanese)
[3] Nikkei Press Release. [Online]. Available: https://www.nikkei.com/pressrelease/. Accessed: Jun. 2023. (in Japanese)
[4] Science Portal. [Online]. Available: https://scienceportal.jst.go.jp/release-university/. Accessed: Apr. 2023. (in Japanese)
[5] Masaki Nishizawa and Yuan Sun, “How does the newspaper describe scientific research result?---Attention to correlation of Press Releases and a newspaper article,” Proc. COLLNET and WIS 2013, Tartu, Estonia (2013).
[6] Masaki Nishizawa and Yuan Sun, “How well do newspapers describe scientific research?---Comparison between Press Releases and two different national newspapers in Japan,” Proc. COLLNET and WIS 2014, Ilmenau, Germany, pp. 263–270 (2014). [Online]. Available: https://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbt_derivate_00030829/ilm1-2014200150.pdf
[7] Masaki Nishizawa and Yuan Sun, “How is scientific research announced in press release? --Focusing on its relationships with journal indicators,” Proc. COLLNET and WIS 2016, Nancy, France (2016).

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