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February 24, 2026
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Article

Deconstructing the Hype: A Critical Literature Review on AI in Journalism

Publicated to: Review of Communication Research. 14 32-53 - 2026-01-01 14(), DOI: 10.52152/RCR.V14.3

Authors:

Cervi, Laura; Catanzaro, Michele; Jimenez-Jacinto, Juan Francisco; Calvo, Santiago Tejedor
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Affiliations

Autonomous Univ Barcelona, Dept Journalism & Commun Studies, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Autonomous Univ Barcelona, Dept Journalism & Commun Studies, Bellaterra, Spain - Author
CEU Univ, Abat Oliba CEU Univ, Fac Commun Educ & Humanities, Barcelona, Spain - Author
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Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of scholarly literature on artificial intelligence (AI) in Journalism published between 2020 and 2024. The objective of the study is to critically examine academic production from this period. Specifically, it aims to identify prevailing research trends, dominant analytical approaches, and persistent gaps in the field. This review responds to the need to systematize a prolific yet fragmented body of work. Such fragmentation reflects a lack of theoretical integration that hinders a consolidated understanding of the phenomenon. The review follows PRISMA guidelines to conduct a structured search across major academic databases (Web of Science and Scopus), applying well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The analysis reveals a predominance of descriptive and exploratory studies. In contrast, empirical and longitudinal investigations remain limited. Notable gaps are also identified regarding the impact of AI on editorial transparency and audience trust. By providing a PRISMA-based mapping of the field and identifying key blind spots such as editorial transparency, audience trust, and the lack of longitudinal evidence-this review contributes to a more critical and systematic understanding of the impact of artificial intelligence on Journalism. The findings of this systematic review contribute to clarifying the current state of knowledge on the application of artificial intelligence in Journalism and offer guidance for future research agendas and critical reflection within both academic and professional communities. The findings contribute to clarifying the current state of knowledge on AI in Journalism and offer guidance for future research and critical reflection within academic and professional communities. These findings also provide practical guidance for policymakers and newsrooms facing ethical, organizational, and technological challenges.
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Keywords

Artificial intelligenceArtificial-intelligenceImpactJournalismMedia innovationPrismaSystematic review

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Review of Communication Research due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2026, it was in position 37/227, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Communication.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-04:

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 40.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 3 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 5 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Jiménez-Jacinto, Juan Francisco.

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