The status of public relations research addressing Latin America: A content analysis of published articles from 1980 to 2020

•A total of 109 articles were drawn from 29 journals addressing public relations in Latin America.•Whereas 13 % of the articles were published between 1980 and 2000, 87 % were published between 2001 and 2020.•Most articles were authored by researchers based in one country and 42.2 % were published in Public Relations Review.•The increase in the number of theories used in recent years suggests the field's growing sophistication. This study aims to examine the trends of public relations research on Latin America through a quantitative content analysis of published articles in public relations and other communication journals. Research topics, theoretical frameworks, methodology, and authorship information were analyzed using 109 articles. The results indicate a substantial increase in the number of public relations studies published since 2010. This increase became even more substantial between 2016 and 2020. Although almost half of the authors were based in the United States, the published researchers were based in 27 countries. Implications for ongoing public relations research addressing Latin America are discussed.