2025 Best Papers and Best Reviewer Award Winners
On the occasion of its annual Congress, the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) has awarded authors for their excellent research and the best reviewer for their contribution. This year, the annual Congress was hosted by Lund University in Lund, Sweden.
EUPRERA Best Paper Awards
The Awards were given to the authors of the three papers with the highest rankings in a blind peer-review process performed by experienced reviewers from the EUPRERA community, under the guidance of the Heads of the Scientific Committee, Martina Topić-Rutherford and Sarah Marschlich. The winning papers were selected for their conceptual contribution, methodological quality, and relevance to contemporary challenges in the field.
The three winning papers are:
The Diversity Washing Dilemma: How Diverse Corporate Self-Presentation and Product Communication Enhance Image and Credibility – And How Misalignment Can Backfire
by Sandra Mechler, Thomas Koch, Nora Denner

The study provides valuable insights into diversity communication and how it affects organisational credibility. By comparing self-presentation and product communication, it offers unique evidence on how diversity messaging shapes consumer perceptions and highlights the critical role of authenticity.
Reviewers praised the work as “well-executed and highly relevant”, noting its clear structure, theoretical depth, and robust dual experimental design. The paper investigates a strategic communication dilemma that is both timely and practically significant: how misalignment between corporate messages and reality can backfire.
Triangulating Narrative Alignment: An AI- and API-Driven Approach to Issue Detection Across Reddit, News, YouTube, and Brand Web Content
by Grazia Murtarelli, Stefania Romenti, Elanor Colleoni

This paper was described by the reviewers as “focused on a really interesting issue, presenting an original approach and achieving relevant results”. It is methodologically advanced and highly relevant for current strategic communication challenges.
The reviewers highlighted its strong theoretical grounding and sophisticated combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis. The study contributes conceptually and practically, bringing forward a scientifically and practically valuable tool for detecting narrative alignment in real time across digital platforms.
Ayn Rand in Tech Leadership: Critical Perspectives on Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover and the Erosion of Communication and Stakeholder Principles
by Philipp Bachmann, Diana Ingenhoff

This paper “problematizes the established normative assumptions of communication theory and calls for new, critical reflection”. Reviewers noted its potential for interdisciplinary contribution and its relevance to ongoing debates in leadership and technology communication.
The study advances critical PR research, offering a reflective and theoretically grounded perspective on communication, ideology, and stakeholder relations in tech leadership contexts.
Special recognition to the best reviewer
The Best Reviewer Award recognises exceptional dedication, quality, and collegiality in the peer-review process, key values that uphold the academic standards of the EUPRERA Congress. This year’s winner is:
Michał Chmiel
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Michal Chmiel received five-star scores from the authors he reviewed. Reviewees praised his writing, insightful advice, and fairness, noting that his feedback was both supportive and highly constructive.
In addition to his review excellence, he also supported the Congress by reviewing a high number of papers at the last moment, helping the Congress run smoothly and ensuring that all participants received timely, high-quality feedback. His reliability and collegial approach are deeply appreciated and reflect the values that make EUPRERA’s review process both rigorous and supportive.
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This paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of an important area that is less studied, investor relations and financial communication. It uses a bibliometric approach that draws on big data analysis and opportunities for different forms of analysis that technology/AI allows. Through the historical review, it nicely positions itself in relation to previous literature, highlighting similarities, differences, and relationships. It is a well-designed and methodologically sound interdisciplinary paper that significantly contributes to the under-developed study of investor relations and financial communication as part of strategic communication.

This paper significantly contributes to the realm of public affairs by providing valuable insights into how politicians and lobbyists in Norway use the concept of public interest to advocate for or against energy and environmental issues. The paper is well constructed, rigorous and well-argued. It offers a comprehensive, relevant, and coherent theoretical framework that thoroughly examines the utilization of “topos” in the communicative interactions of these influential social actors. The theoretical framework is highly valuable in that it can be used to analyze a diverse set of advocacy initiatives beyond the ones in focus in this study. Overall, this study constitutes a significant advancement in the understanding of lobbyism and rhetoric within the political sphere and offers a theory-driven tool to dissect the quality of argumentations of those in power and the role of communication in affecting democratic processes.
This paper explores the frequently used, yet ambiguously defined concept of VUCA, aiming to provide a conceptual and empirical analysis that sheds light on its impact on strategic communication and outlines effective responses to its challenges. The study is backed by qualitative data gathered in Austria. A commendable aspect of this research is the authors’ intention to enhance our comprehension of VUCA while contributing to the theoretical understanding of current public relations in both internal and external environments. To aid professionals in navigating complex and volatile situations, the paper introduces a valuable tool called the VUCA RADAR. Overall, the study stands out as an intriguing, innovative, pertinent, and ambitious contribution to the field.
This paper proposes an integrative approach for future research in public relations and communication management. The methodological approach integrates insights from research developments in society, management, and technology and integrates insights from professionals. There is a nice dialectical engagement between theory and practice-based experiences which positions this work as one highly commented for its practical implications and contribution in expanding our knowledge for conducting formative research. Overall, the paper suggests an innovative integrative methodological perspective, that can become an important practical toolkit for professionals and their research efforts in identifying key trends.
Dr. Johnson’s review stands at an exceptional level of quality. Her feedback is thorough, comprising in-depth and comprehensive comments, along with practical suggestions that effectively aid authors in enhancing their papers. Notably, her constructive and encouraging remarks prompt authors to introspect on their arguments and research decisions. Moreover, the review exhibits attentive feedback and a profound respect for diverse academic cultural traditions and perspectives, making it truly commendable.
“Navigating Moral Minefields in a VUCA-World: The Contribution of Moral Foundations Theory to Research on Issues Management, Risk and Crisis Communication” by Timo Lenk
“Polarized Stakeholders and Crisis Communication” by Michael Etter
“Prospects and Risks of Digitalization in Public Relations Research: Mapping Recurrent Narratives of a Debate in Fragmentation (2010-2021) ” by Jannik Kretschmer and Peter Winkler
“Knowing Thy Enemy and Fighting the Good Fight: A Framework for Organizational Preparation for and Response to AI-driven Disinformation Campaigns” by Elise Maria Karinshak and Yan Jin
Vibeke Thøis Madsen for her chapter “Communicative Leadership on Internal Social Media: a Way to Employee Engagement?”, published in the volume Joy. Using Strategic Communication to Improve Well-being and Organizational Success.
Maria Isaksson from BI Norwegian Business School, Norway, who has contributed to careful, thorough and useful reviews.
“Small But Mighty. Communication Strategies Of Dutch Local Energy Initiatives” by Petrus ter Halle, Pascal de Vries, Liesbeth Hermans.
“The Democratic Success of Twitter as a Lobbying tool” by Øyvind Ihlen, Ketil Raknes, Anders O. Larson.
“Building Community Resilience: Strategic Communication in Disaster Management”, by Gayadini Imesha Dharmasena Madho Kandage, Margalit Toledano, Kay Weaver.
“Happy or End: The Role of Strategic Communication in Start-ups”, by Markus Wiesenberg, Alexander Hagen Godulla, Katharina Tengler, Inga-Marit Noelle, Julia Kloss, Natalie Klein and David Eeckhout.
EUPRERA Best Reviewer Award recognizes the work done by the reviewer because it is an essential contribution to the quality and the success of the annual congress. The scientific committee identified as this year’s winner:
““Big Ideas“ Emerging From a Microscopic Perspective. The Why and How of Conversation Analytic Thinking for Strategic Communication” by Christian Schwägerl.
“The Conceptual Heritage of Public Relations: Using Public Memory to Explore Constraints and Liberation” by W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry Holladay.
“Controlling Conversations: The Effects of Moderation Strategies in Online Stakeholder Dialogues”, by Alexander Buhmann, Kateryna Maltseva, Christian Fieseler, Matthes Fleck.
“Communicating the Corporate Strategy: An International Benchmark Study in the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany”, by Karolin Köhler, Ansgar Zerfass.
EUPRERA Best Reviewer Award recognizes the work done by the reviewer because it is an essential contribution to the quality and the success of the annual congress. The scientific committee identified as this year’s winner: