Journal of Communication ISSN 0021-9916 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Structure of Knowledge and Dynamics of Scholarly Communication in Agenda Setting Research, 1996–2005 Zixue Tai School of Journalism and Telecommunications, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506 By conducting a citation analysis of bibliographic references in combination with a network analysis of cocitation referencing in 56 journal publications in the area of agenda-setting research from 1996 to 2005, this paper aims to identify current exemplary publications and authoritative works in the knowledge production and dissemination process and to examine the nature of knowledge-sharing networks among the community of scholars who contribute to the growth of common knowledge in the study of agenda setting. The findings shed light on the intellectual history of agenda-setting scholarship and offer insight on subspecialties and intellectual linkages among key literature in this vigorous and ever-evolving field of inquiry. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01425.x Agenda-setting research has had a distinct history in mass communication scholarship in the 20th century, and it continues to evolve into new territories as we enter the new millennium. While the vitality of this line of research remains strong, a better understanding of the intertwining relationships of this body of literature is essential for communication scholars to eye for the future. This study fulfills a twofold purpose in the systematic study of the network of knowledge and the dynamics of scholarly communication in this research tradition. First, it sets out to identify current exemplary publications and authoritative works in the knowledge production and dissemination process through analysis of citation practice among major journal publications in recent years. Second, it examines the nature of knowledge-sharing networks among contributing researchers by conducting a social network analysis of cocitation referencing among major communication scholarly publications in a 10-year period from 1996 to 2005. Corresponding author: Zixue Tai; e-mail: ztai2@uky.edu Journal of Communication 59 (2009) 481–513 c  2009 International Communication Association 481