封面论文是否有助于提升学术影响力？——基于四本新闻传播学核心期刊的实证研究

Purposes] To explore the differences in academic influence between cover papers and non-cover papers in core journals of journalism and communication science in terms of download volume, citation volume, etc., in order to provide reference for improving the communication and influence of academic journals of journalism and communication science. [Methods] An empirical study was conducted on the download and citation of 450 cover papers and 821 non cover papers published in four core journals of journalism and communication science, including journalism and communication, including Journalism & Communication, Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, Modern Communication (Journal of Communication University of China), and Journalism Research, in 2018 and 2019. [Findings] The four journal cover papers were generally significantly higher than non-cover papers in terms of download volume, total citation volume, citation volume by core journals, and citation volume by core journals from other disciplines. There was a positive correlation between download volume and various indicators of citation volume. [Conclusions] Cover papers can help enhance the influence of academic journals. Journalism and communication journals should pay attention to selecting cover papers, enhancing cover integration design, striving to expand the communication channels of cover papers, increasing social media communication efforts, exploring full media integration publishing, and enhancing the academic influence of cover papers and journals.