BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SPANISH DOCTORAL THESES ON PUBLIC RELATIONS (2006-2021)

Objective: The aim of this article is to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of doctoral theses in the field of public relations carried out at public universities in Spain between 2006 and 2021. This analysis seeks to identify and understand the main dimensions researched, the thematic and methodological evolution, and the contribution of these studies to both the professional practice and theoretical framework of public relations. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework is built upon the historical evolution of public relations in both the academic and professional spheres. It acknowledges changes in social demands for greater effectiveness and rigor in research outcomes in this field. Previous studies documenting the transition in methods and approaches used in public relations will be reviewed, emphasizing those that have marked milestones in the integration of theory and practice. Additionally, prevailing theoretical models and how they have been challenged and expanded by recent research will be analyzed. Method: The study employs an exploratory and descriptive methodological design. Content analysis was used to dissect and categorize information systematically for analyzing the doctoral theses. Theses were selected through a purposive sampling of documents available in Spanish academic databases, ensuring that these studies encompass various dimensions and approaches within the field of public relations. Variables such as thematic focus, methodologies employed, and the theoretical and practical contributions of each thesis were assessed. Results and Discussion: This bibliometric study reveals a predominance of doctoral theses in public relations in Spain focused on practical applications, demonstrating a primarily instrumental view of the discipline as a marketing tool. There is a marked imbalance towards applied research, with limited interest in theoretical development, suggesting a lack of exploration of public relations as a strategic and executive function. The scarcity of works that integrate public relations into global marketing strategies and their operational focus highlight an opportunity to expand its strategic role. These findings indicate the need to strengthen theoretical and strategic research in the field, which could enrich both the practice and teaching of public relations, strengthening its position as an essential discipline in organizational management. Originality/Value: This article contributes originality to the field of public relations by providing one of the first exhaustive systematizations of doctoral theses in this area in Spain. The review covers a significant fifteen-year period, allowing for observation of trends and changes in academic research in public relations. The value of this study lies in its ability to identify how demands for rigor and empirical relevance have shaped academic research, thus contributing to a better understanding of the field's evolution and offering a solid foundation for future research aimed at effectively integrating theory and practice.


INTRODUCTION
The construction of a theoretical body for public relations has evolved as society itself demanded an improvement in its actions and a contribution that is both rigorous and empirically verifiable, as noted by Grunig and Hunt (1984).Initially, the pioneers of public relations acted without any theoretical foundation, relying on intuition and instinct.Over time, as its use became more generalized in both private and public spheres, the discipline developed (Grunig and Hunt, 1984).
Initially, public relations adhered to the research criteria of other disciplines to undertake rigorous actions.Notably, Edward L. Bernays turned to psychology and, primarily, sociology.
However, his theoretical contribution remained largely external to the management sciences, focusing on public opinion.A fundamental aspect of public relations is the relational element between the organization and its publics.Later, other researchers began to delve deeper into its study and research based on a systemic model in which organizations are perceived as a whole composed of various interrelated parts (Long and Hazelton, 1987;Grunig and Hunt, 1984).The element that holds these parts together in achieving common objectives is communication.
From then on, the significance of organizations, both internally and externally, was theorized.
One essential aspect of public relations is the relational element between the organization and the public.Research on the relationships between organizations and their publics has recently gained new momentum (Ledingham and Bruning, 2000;Kent and Taylor, 2002), although it was the subject of the first research work on public relations theory (Ferguson, 1984).
However, research in public relations that has led to theory formulation has been conducted, essentially in the first stage, through studies focused on the professional dimension (applied research) to improve the behaviors and strategies of professionals, leaving aside basic research.This situation in Spain has been exacerbated by the delay in incorporating the discipline into university curricula.

PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH IN SPAIN
Since the emergence of public relations as a profession in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, Spain has always been lagging in terms of its incorporation into the university as a discipline and, consequently, also in terms of the development of its study.This was not an exception, as research on communication in our country was characterized during the nearly four decades of Francoism (1939Francoism ( -1975) ) by evident theoretical poverty, explicit ideological and political censorship, and the primacy of the State apparatus (Jones, 1997).Indeed, these characteristics could apply to any discipline, but, as can be easily assumed, the same control exerted over the communication industry (press, radio, cinema, and television, mainly) was applied to the nascent theoretical studies on this social phenomenon, primarily because of the regime's need to perpetuate itself in the doctrinal and ideological field.
Due to this censorship and primacy, Spanish research during Francoism, except for some cases in the field of advertising and public relations, was characterized by a lack of scientific and academic rigor and "were reduced to mere editions of conferences, colloquia, or doctrinal speeches" (Jones, 1997, p. 104).In the field of public relations, Spanish research has been conducted mainly in the academic sphere, and this has only been possible once the discipline was included as a university subject.The first antecedents of its presence in university-level studies were found in the Curriculum of the Official School of Journalism, which included a third-year subject called "Foundations of Psychology and Theory and Technique of Propaganda and Public Relations" (Ministerial Order of April 20, 1967).This However, the consolidation of university education in public relations did not arrive until the end of the 1990s, with the process initiated from the Bologna Declaration.A new program in Advertising and Public Relations was recognized as one of the degree titles offered by Spanish universities.However, as suggested at the time, the application of the EU Bologna process did not help to strengthen the contents of public relations in the curricula of communication careers.Only a fifth of the number of credits is entirely dedicated to specific public relations courses (Moreno et al., 2014).This may be one of the reasons that several postgraduate programs in corporate communication and public relations were introduced to cover the lack of specific training in public relations in undergraduate programs.
Another consequence of the growth of public relations in higher education is that this period was equally fruitful in doctoral research compared to previous periods.As evidenced by Xifra and Castillo (2006), the period from 1995 to 2004 witnessed the largest increase in research theses on the subject: 37 doctorates, that is, 60 percent of those presented in the 50- The first doctoral thesis on public relations was presented in 1965 (that is, nine years before the establishment of the first Degree in Advertising and Public Relations).As its title indicates, Public Relations in Administration, it dealt with communication strategies carried out in public administration.This data reveals that, in a country with an administration in the process of creation and heavily ideologically influenced by Francoism, studies were already being conducted on how to communicatively manage that bureaucratic structure.And in these studies, the American public management model, with a significant presence of public relations officers, was the example to follow (Rodríguez Salcedo and Xifra, 2015).The first doctoral thesis after the appearance of communication degrees in three universities (Complutense of Madrid, Navarra, and Autonomous of Barcelona) was presented in 1975.It was not presented in the Faculty of Information Sciences, but it was done in the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid, which also evidences a concurrence with the managerial perspective of public relations that was dominant at that time.Subsequently, in the decade between 1985 and 1995, and based on the legislative reform of the old studies in Information Sciences by converting them into three degrees, there was a significant increase in doctoral theses in public relations (Xifra and Castillo, 2006).
With this background, the present study aims to be an extension of the previous one by Xifra and Castillo (2006), complementing it to offer the state of the art once the degrees in Advertising and Public Relations have been consolidated, as well as the official postgraduate and master's programs in different universities.Therefore, the same parameter of the original research is used: the review of doctoral theses presented at Spanish universities, both private and public.All this based on the purpose established in the regulatory norm of postgraduate studies (third cycle) as the "initiation into specialized research in a specific scientific, technical, or artistic field."In this way, our contribution will be specified in the diachronic analysis of all the doctoral theses publicly defended at Spanish universities in the period from 2006 to 2021, as an exponent of the degree of research and the modalities and typologies of studies in the context of communication in organizations.

METHODOLOGY
Bibliometrics is the application of mathematics and statistical methods to any written source based on communication facets that consider elements such as authors, publication title, document type, language, abstract, and keywords or descriptors (Pritchard, 1969).It is, therefore, the application of quantitative techniques to the study of the bibliographic characteristics of documents, which in our case are the doctoral theses presented in Spain between 2006 and 2021, whose object of study is public relations in its various dimensions.This analysis of the scope, structure, and characteristics of the research covers the presentation dates of the theses, the universities where they have taken place, and the themes of the studies.
The existence of 57 doctoral theses on the discipline of public relations has been confirmed, and the selection criterion has attempted to disregard linguistic parameters to focus on analytical activity.Thus, the denominations of the field range from "public relations," "strategic communication," "corporate communication," "organizational communication," "communication cabinets," "press offices," or "image."The terminological weakness of public relations, which leads to conceptual confusion that is rooted not only in the professional but also in the academic field, compels us to consider other words and expressions when categorizing whether a thesis addresses the discipline or not.Hence, all theses containing the term public relations have been studied, as well as those that expressly refer to its historical, theoretical, structural, instrumental, strategic, technical, and tactical aspects, even if the term public relations is not explicitly mentioned.The theses have been consulted through three online  (Sallot et al., 2003), and which already served as a methodological foundation in previous research (Xifra and Castillo, 2006), which through content analysis classified the body of knowledge of public relations, in turn based on the analysis by Ferguson et al., (1984) on the state of the theoretical elaboration of public relations.With this background, the three variables were: introspective doctoral theses, theses on the application and practice of public relations, and theses related to the theoretical development of public relations.After coding the theses and once the categories that remained unfilled were eliminated, the so-called introspective ones include the following subcategories: pedagogy/education; ethics and social responsibility; history; the profession; international practice, and image/reputation/impression management.The theses that deal with the practice and application of public relations are subclassified in the following way: management/decision-making/conflict resolution; implementation of programs and campaigns; organizational communication; social issues and management of potential conflicts; new technologies; legal issues, and crisis communication.Finally, the theses on the theoretical development of public relations were classified into these subgroups: the theory of excellence/symmetric communication/models of Grunig and Hunt (1984), and fundraising.The other units of analysis were the title, the abstract (from the theses contained in the TESEO database), and the index.The names of the authors, the universities where they were presented, and the date of presentation were recorded.All the theses were cataloged by three independent coders to determine intercoder reliability.The intercoder agreement was 93.85% concerning the content of the thesis.This process gave a Scott Pi reliability coefficient (1955) of 0.844, which is considered acceptable if it is equal to or greater than 0.75 (Wimmer and Dominick, 1996).The verification of the reliability of the other variables was not necessary since the coding process only required a methodical transcription of each doctoral thesis.

LOZANO, Natalia 2015
Critical PR in fool communication and social media.The case of European food safety and promotion authorities.

MAMIC, Lilia Ivana 2014
Communication of larga corporation on Twitter: public relations' models, interactivity patterns and tools, and the impact of corporate social responsibility contents on their publics.Las relaciones públicas de los despachos de abogados: análisis de la comunicación de los bufetes en España.

PÉREZ, Antonia 2017
Modelos y técnicas de relaciones públicas aplicables a las agencias de empleo y desarrollo local en el marco de la gestión y promoción turística en la provincia de A Coruña.
In the course of the interval between 1965 and 2005, content analysis aimed at thematic categorization of doctoral theses reveals a significant predominance of applied research, which constitutes 72.31% of the total.On the other hand, 18.46% of these theses are identified as introspective, in sharp contrast to a modest 3.08% that focuses on theoretical research, as detailed in Table 2. Observing the subsequent period, which spans from 2006 to 2021, a similar trend is evident in terms of thematic preference.Theses exploring topics related to practice and application within the field of public relations represent 70.18% of the total.However, there is a decrease in theses categorized as introspective, which represent 12.28%, while theoretical research increases to 17.54%.The results obtained show a notable imbalance in favor of theses on the application of public relations.There is not an excessive interest among Spanish doctoral candidates in the consider their key function to be media relations, a result not found in other programs such as internal communication (50%), governmental relations (46.7%), investor relations (40%), or fundraising (6.7%).A phenomenon that is not exclusive to Spain, as this distortion has always been a constant in the rest of the world (Zoch & Molleda, 2006).
One of the most negative effects on the theoretical development of public relations is its instrumental consideration, as a set of techniques linked to the service of marketing (Xifra, 2003).The content analysis of the indexes of the theses related to the implementation of programs and campaigns is very revealing: of the 19 theses in this category, ten approach public relations through the prior analysis of marketing strategy.The same occurs with two theses in the subcategory on the profession, and with five more theses in the category "Practice/Application of Public Relations" classified in categories other than the one referring to the implementation of programs and campaigns.
Another indicator of what we have just discussed is that, of the 65 theses analyzed, only 24 (36.92%)use the word "public relations".This aspect has influenced the scarce theoretical basis of public relations since the absence of verbal and academic recognition of this discipline implies a scarce description of its academic and scientific domain (Hutton, 1999).
A more detailed analysis of the results highlights the breadth of applied research.From this perspective, the classification covers different aspects, especially highlighting the theses on the role of public relations in public institutions.These data suggest the interest that has awakened among researchers the adaptation of public organizations to the new democratic system that emerged after the end of Francoism.Indeed, as Tilson & Pérez (2003) declared, the impressive transition to democracy first, and the country's subsequent economic and social development, favored the emergence of new models of communication management that the government quickly and effectively adopted.In this context, it is not strange that the main area of applied research has been the function of public relations in the public sector.This absence of contributions to the theoretical development of the discipline is also observed by the absence of theses in some of the subcategories that Sallot et al., (2003) included in the category "Theoretical Development of Public Relations".Specifically, Spain has not produced any doctoral research on topics as relevant to the theoretical construction of public relations as models of professional roles, rhetorical approach to public relations, situational theory of publics, ethics, or the contingent theory of public relations, among others.

CONCLUSIONS
Firstly, the influence of the tradition and scale of the university center where the degree and doctoral qualifications are offered is observed.This is the case with the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Malaga in the production of doctoral research.The university in Madrid was the first to offer, along with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, a degree in Advertising and Public Relations.For this reason, and because it is located in the capital of the country, it is today the university with the most faculty and the highest number of doctoral students in public relations.This ratio between the number of teachers, students, and doctoral theses presented is clearly observed in the cases of Madrid and Barcelona, but also in Malaga, where having an official Master's degree in Organizational Communication leads to a higher number of doctoral theses linked to public relations than in other peripheral universities without such postgraduate programs.
public relations subject was continued more generally and completely with the creation of the Higher School of Public Relations in 1968 at the University of Barcelona, officially recognized by the Order of July 28, 1969.In 1971, Decree 2070 of August 13 regulated journalism studies and other social communication media in the university, empowering universities to request the creation of Faculties of Information Sciences.These centers could offer "teachings corresponding to Journalism, Cinematography, Television, Broadcasting, and Advertising," grouped into three sections or branches: Journalism, Visual and Auditory Image Sciences, and Advertising (article 2).Subsequently, based on this regulatory provision, the Complutense University of Madrid and the Autonomous University of Barcelona requested the creation of respective Faculties of Information Sciences.Thus, Decree 2478 of September 17, 1971, authorized the creation of these Faculties.In the case of the Complutense University of Madrid, the branches of Journalism, Visual and Auditory Image Sciences, and Advertising were authorized, while at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, only the branch of Journalism was initially taught.This branch was expanded with Decree 2140/1972, of July 20, which allowed the inclusion of Advertising.In turn, in 1974, the government provisionally approved the Study Plan for the Degree in Advertising and Public Relations, expanding the previous Degree in Advertising (Baladrón-Pazos et al., 2022).

Bibliometric
Analysis of Spanish Doctoral theses on Public Relations (2006-2021) ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-20 | e06696 | 2024.6 year period from 1956 to 2006.This indicates a considerable increase in research on public relations and organizational communication during those years, in proportion to the increase in the number of universities offering degrees in Advertising and Public Relations (Álvarez-Nobell et al., 2022).
databases.First, the TESEO database.The Secretariat of the University Council of the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain has, among other functions, that of establishing a file of doctoral theses and publishing an annual report of those that have been favorably graded (Royal Decree 1504/2003, of December 6).To this end, in 1976, the TESEO database of the University Coordination Council was created, which collects and allows retrieving information from doctoral theses read and considered apt at Spanish universities since 1976.The information on the thesis record included in TESEO, in addition to the author's and tribunal's data, includes a detailed summary of it and the fundamental concepts to which it alludes.Regarding the systematization of the contents, the analysis began with the development of a classification of themes and categories in which to include each of the theses studied.Doctoral research must contribute to the development of the theory of the field studied.This grants them an added theoretical value concerning master's theses that prepare professionals to become public relations directors(Heath and Coombs, 2006).In 2022, the report of the American Commission Bibliometric Analysis of Spanish Doctoral theses on Public Relations (2006-2021) ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-20 | e06696 | 2024.8 on Public Relations Education on university education in public relations emphasized that a doctoral program in public relations is a course in theory and research.Also, among the desirable results of a doctoral program, the aforementioned commission establishes (p.30): to prepare students to: 1) develop and contribute to the body of knowledge through research, 2) develop the necessary competence to convey information to academic and professional communities through conferences and professional publications, and 3) develop paradigms of public relations based on metatheoretical or philosophical foundations in response to the maturation of the field.Consequently, doctoral theses should be the first indicator of the evolutionary state of the theoretical development of public relations and constitute the origin of future articles in scientific journals.From this dimension, the coding consisted of establishing three categories and 38 subcategories based on the classic work by ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-20 | e06696 | 2024.15 theoretical development of public relations.Of the 19 theses coded in the subcategory "Implementation of Programs and Campaigns," six refer, directly or indirectly, to press relations.Similar results are found in the subcategory "Public Relations Profession" within the Introspective category, where out of the four theses coded as such, three refer to press offices.These findings highlight the existing confusion in our country regarding the distinction between public relations and media relations, considering the part as the whole.According to the study of the sector in Spain conducted by the professional association DIRCOM, titled "The State of Communication in Spain 2021-2022" (DIRCOM, 2022), 100% of public relations firms

Bibliometric
Analysis of Spanish Doctoral theses on Public Relations (2006-2021) ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-20 | e06696 | 2024.16From this analytical perspective, the new Spanish democratic scenario has also influenced the momentum that research on the role of public relations in political communication has gained in recent years.The political system of the State of Autonomies has meant the structuring of the different public administrations at multiple levels whose leaders access their positions through electoral processes: government, autonomous communities, and municipalities.Thus, the field of application of public relations has expanded considerably.On the other hand, the scarcity of theses in the category "Theoretical Development of Public Relations" is a good example of the absence of structural consideration of public relations.Only 6.56% of all theses refer to the evolution of the theory of public relations in the United States, the country where the main dominant paradigms of the field have been generated.But only 3.07% try to conceptualize or reconceptualize public relations and verify the usefulness of a particular theory.None develop a new perspective that helps to explain, understand, or predict the practice of public relations.
, 35 Spanish universities offer a Degree in Advertising and Public Relations, according to data from the Ministry of Education and Science.We find an almost absolute predominance of the University of Malaga as the venue for the presentation of doctoral theses (29.9%).At a great distance is the Complutense University of Madrid, hosting 14% of the theses presented, followed by Ramon Llull University with 8.8%, and the University of Seville, Rovira i Virgili University, and Rey Juan Carlos University, each with 5.3%.It is noteworthy that, although there is no specific doctorate in public relations in Spain, the University of Malagawhich also publishes the only Spanish academic journal on the discipline, the International Journal of Public Relationsoffers one of the few doctoral programs in organizational communication, a field that coincides with that of public relations.Spanish Doctoral Theses on Public Relations Defended During the Period 2006-2021 La evaluación en los modelos de planificación estratégica de las relaciones públicas.Análisis comparativo del uso de la evaluación de la comunicación en las redes hospitalarias de los modelos sanitarios de España, el Reino Unido y Estados Unidos.

Table 3
Categorization of Doctoral Theses