School Successfully Holds Lecture on “Misinformation Dissemination Research: Topics and Directions”

On the morning of December 3, 2022, the lecture titled “Misinformation Dissemination Research: Topics and Directions” was successfully held. The keynote speaker was Dr. Louisa Ha, an Eminent Scholar Professor and Graduate Director at Bowling Green State University, former Editor-in-Chief of Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (the oldest SSCI journal in the field of journalism and mass communication, established in 1924), and founding Editor-in-Chief of the new academic journal Online Media and Global Communication. The lecture was hosted by Professor Su Linsen from the School of Languages and Communication Studies, Beijing Jiaotong University.

The primary aim and content of the lecture were to introduce comprehensive research topics, enhance researchers’ capabilities, and assist participants in writing diverse types of academic articles. By reviewing Misinformation Research and its future agenda, the lecture covered methods and tools for handling extensive literature and conducting literature searches.

Professor Louisa Ha compared and distinguished the four major categories of misinformation, namely Misinformation, Conspiracy Theory, Disinformation, and Fake News, across four dimensions: definition, whether the publisher knows the information is false or inaccurate, whether there is an intent to mislead, and the reasons and consequences of disseminating false information. She summarized the three research areas of Misinformation as the “3C”: Creation, Curation, and Correction. Professor Ha emphasized that conducting quality research first requires understanding existing studies and proposed ten specific research directions.

Regarding how to handle vast amounts of literature and find useful resources for research, Professor Ha first highlighted the importance of literature searches in academic research and addressed three challenges in using keywords for literature retrieval. She then elaborated on the characteristics of five search systems: Summon, Web Crawler, Library Databases, Journal websites, and Special journals on misinformation. Next, Professor Ha proposed two methods for comparing literature search systems: categorizing literature based on relevance and documenting user experiences during the search process. Finally, she compared the advantages and disadvantages of different search systems in terms of Relevance, Recall, Duplication, Similarities and Differences in Ranking, and Use experience, offering guidance on selecting appropriate databases for literature searches.

The online lecture attracted over 200 participants, including students and researchers from various universities and institutions worldwide. During the Q&A session, attendees actively posed questions, which Professor Ha addressed with critical insights.

In conclusion, the host, Professor Su Linsen, provided a brief commentary on Professor Ha’s presentation. He noted that the “3C” framework and ten research directions summarized by Professor Ha had clarified the mind for navigating the vast body of misinformation literature. He once again expressed gratitude to Professor Ha and encouraged everyone to stay tuned for future lectures in the series organized by the School of Languages and Communication Studies, Beijing Jiaotong University.

编译：梁昱卓