"What makes a story successful?"

Character networks may provide an answer according to @GongXuanjun, Allison Eden, Frederic R Hopp, Anna W Wolfe, and Matthew Grizzard's most recent HCR publication.

Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

💡HCR Research Spotlight💡

How do we choose our news? It may be influenced by how many articles pop up in our feeds.

New from October '26 issue - The power of context: how choice set size and composition influence overall and cross-cutting news exposure

doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

💡Research Spotlight💡

Recent HCR paper examines how Latino families separated by borders use technology to communicate with their loved ones.

Full article: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

Thank you Hyojin Lee, Jennifer Lam, Nancy Molina-Rogers, Ricardo Delgado Solis, & Amy Gonzales

October 2026 issue has been released! Huge thanks to all contributors.

💡Research Spotlight💡

Alicia Ernst et al. highlight shortcomings of Mood Management Theory in predicting algorithmically curated music streaming.

Read the full paper here doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

We are happy to welcome our new editorial assistant, Jay Rose, to the HCR team. We extend huge thanks to our former EA, Hee Jung Cho, for her service. Jay will be assisting Dr. Peng in addressing HCR questions and issues, and the editorial contact email will remain the same.

🚨 26 days left!

Submit an extended abstract for the special issue:
"Who Are We Studying in Communication Research? Revisiting Audience in a Transforming Media Environment"

Deadline: Aug. 31, 2026
Full papers: March 2027

More info: academic.oup.com/hcr/pages/spec…

Call for Papers - Human Communication Research

We're now accepting submissions for a special issue: "Who Are We Studying in Communication Research? Revisiting Audience in a Transforming Media Environment"

Extended abstract deadline: August 31, 2026

academic.oup.com/hcr/pages/spec…

New in HCR: Stewart M. Coles (2026) finds that social media endorsements from co-partisans increased exposure intentions for a fictitious television program. This co-partisan endorsement effect was stronger among White participants.

Read more: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

New in HCR: Zhu et al. (2026) show that larger choice sets increased overall and cross-cutting news selection, while choice set composition shaped cross-cutting exposure. Attitudes and behavioral intentions did not significantly change in the short term.

doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

We’re excited to announce that HCR is now on LinkedIn!

Stay connected with us: linkedin.com/company/human-…

New @HCR_Journal issue out now!

Featuring research on interparental conflict and parent-child triangulation, body-positive and fitspirational influencers, communicated sense-making in social groups, and digital panopticon/dataveillance.

academic.oup.com/hcr/issue/52/2…

New in HCR: In a 3-week longitudinal study, Breves et al. (2025) show that body-positive influencer content (vs. fitspirational content) fostered stronger parasocial relationships and increased wishful identification and body satisfaction over time.

doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

Great work by Priska L. Breves, Sophie C. Boerman, Jan-Philipp Stein, Carolin Ischen, and @ZephMCvanBerlo on this study!

New in HCR: Across two experiments, Appel et al. (2025) show that congeniality bias persisted regardless of fiction vs. non-fiction labeling, emerging for positive portrayals but not for negative ones, with non-fiction slightly preferred overall.

Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

New in HCR: @wliao229, Ya-Ching Lee, @haoning_xue, and @EmilyKMcKinley find that AI use (N = 2,187) is driven by self-agency and machine-communion, highlighting how trait perceptions operate within relational schemas and evolve with trust over time. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

New in HCR: Meier & Masur (2025) study the "digital panopticon" via a 3-wave longitudinal experiment. While dataveillance links to privacy resignation between-person, critical privacy literacy is the key within-person predictor of self-inhibition.

Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

📢 New in HCR by @R_AmandaCooper & @alice_fanari:

Returning Christian missionaries use metaphors, memorable messages & personification filtered through Christian in-group vernacular to make sense of their experiences and post-missionary identity.

Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

📢 New in HCR by @y_anthony_chen & @catalina_toma:

Two preregistered experiments show Instagram self-presentation is self-affirming and, when it comes before upward social comparison, can buffer envy; well-being effects may depend on activity sequence.

doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…

📢 New in HCR: Influencers can mobilize!

In two experiments and a field study, influencer posts with collective response efficacy increased collective efficacy beliefs and action intentions, especially among followers with strong parasocial bonds.

Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hq…