Does public relations scholarship need better PR? practitioners’ perspectives on academic research

Articles in academic public relations journals often provide recommendations for public relations practitioners. The purpose of this study is to gain a practitioner perspective on that work and to determine if a potential disconnect between public relations practitioners and scholars exists. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 22 public relations practitioners, this study examines knowledge, readership, and applicability of public relations scholarship in industry. Participants indicated they have a general awareness of and assigned value to academic scholarship; however, they do not actively consider it or use it in their professional lives due to issues of access, time, and relevance. Many appeals have been made within the academy to make scholars’ work more “public,” and these results reflect this need. Based on these findings, recommendations are made to increase the accessibility and relevance of scholarly work for professionals. •This study examines practitioner perspectives on academic research.•Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 professionals.•Practitioners note value to academic research but report very little use of it.•Issues of access, time, perceived relevance were main themes in lack of use.•Recommendations are made to improve practitioner access to and use of research.