Peer-reviewed publications by topic
Science Communication, (Social) Media, and Public Deliberation
Chen, A., Chen, K., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2023). When national identity meets conspiracies: the reinforcement loop of identity language on public participation and discourse of COVID19 conspiracies on Weibo. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(1), 1-12. [co-first author]
Chen, A., Lu, Y., Chen, K., & Ng, A. (2023). Pandemic nationalism: How exposure to government social media affects people's belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories in China. International Journal of Press/Politics. Online First.
Kim, S., & Chen, K. (2022). How conspiracy and debunking videos use emotions to engage publics on YouTube. New Media & Society. Online First. [co-first author]
Chen, K., Molder, A., Duan, Z., Boulianne, S., Eckart, C., Mallari, P., & Yang, D. (2022). How youth activists and news media frame climate change and strike: Evidence from analyzing Twitter and Newspaper Discourse. International Journal of Press/Politics. Online First.
Chen, K., & Jin, Y. (2022). How issue entrepreneurs shape public discourse of controversial science on social media: A case study of GMO discussion on a popular Chinese Q&A platform (forthcoming). Journal of Science Communication. talk link
Chen, K., Jin., Y., & Shao, A. (2022). Science factionalism: How group identity language affects public engagement with misinformation and debunking narratives on a popular Q&A platform in China. Social Media + Society, 8(1), 1-15. link.
Chen, K., & Shaw, B. (2022). Public communication of soil conservation practice: A large-scale content analysis of Wisconsin's agricultural trade publications. Online First in Feb 2022. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.
Wirz, C.D., Cate, A., Brauer, M., Brossard, D., Brown, L.D., Chen, K., Ho, P., Luter, D.G., Madden, H., Schoenborn, S., Shaw, B., Sprinkel, C., Stanley, D., & Sumi, G. (2022). Science Communication during COVID-19: When theory meets best practices and best practices meet reality. Journal of Science Communication, 21(3).
Chen, K., Jeon, J., & Zhou, Y. (2021). A critical appraisal of diversity in digital knowledge production: Segregated inclusion on YouTube. New Media & Society. Ungated, Media Coverage, OnlineFirst.
Chen, K., & Tomblin, D. (2021). Using data from Reddit, Public Deliberation, and Surveys to measure public opinion about autonomous vehicles. Public Opinion Quarterly, 85(S1), 289-322.
Freiling, I., Krause, N.M., Scheufele, D.A. & Chen, K. (2021). The science of open (communication) science: Toward an evidence-driven understanding of quality criteria in communication research. Journal of Communication, 71(5), 855-874.
Chen, K. (2021). How deliberative designs empower citizens’ voices: A case study on Ghana’s Deliberative Poll on agriculture and the environment. Public Understanding of Science, 30(2), 179-195. PDF preprint, video, supplementary
Chen, K. & Burgess, M.M. (2021). Narratives in public deliberation: Empowering gene-editing debate with storytelling. The Hastings Center Report, 51(S2), 85-91.
Wirz, C.D., Shao, A., Bao, L., Monroe, H., Howell, E., & Chen, K. (2021). Media systems and attention cycles: Trends and topics in news coverage of COVID-19 in the U.S. and China. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. OnlineFirst.
Molder, A.L., Lakind, A., Clemmons, Z.E., & Chen, K. (2021). Framing the global youth climate movement: A qualitative content analysis of Greta Thunberg's moral, hopeful and motivational framing on Instagram. The International Journal of Press/Politics. OnlineFirst.
Chen, K., Chen, A., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2020). Conspiracy and debunking narratives about COVID-19 origin on Chinese social media: How it started and who is to blame. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. PDF, op-ed in Conversation
Chen, K., Bao, L., Shao, A., Ho, P., Yang, S., Wirz, C.D., Brossard, D., Brauer, M., & Brown, L.D. (2020). How public perceptions of social distancing evolved over a critical time period: Communication lessons learnt from the American State of Wisconsin. Journal of Science Communication, 19(5). PDF, News Coverage
Lin, M., & Chen, K. (2020). Participation effectiveness of citizen participatory budgeting: The case of Yanjin county in China. Chinese Public Administration Review, 11(1), 6-24. PDF
Boulianne, S., Chen, K., & Kahane, D. (2020). Mobilizing mini-publics: The causal impact of deliberation on civic engagement using panel data. Politics, 40(4), 460-476. PDF
Computational Communication and Digital Crowdsourcing
Chen, K., Kim, S.J., Gao, Q., & Raschka, S. (2022). Visual framing of science conspiracy videos: Integrating machine learning with communication theories to study the use of color and brightness. Computational Communication Research, 4(1), 98-134. PDF
Chen, K., Duan, Z, & Yang, S. (2021). Twitter as research data: Tools, costs, skillsets and lessons learnt. Politics and the Life Sciences. OnlineFirst. Chinese Translated Version
Hou, X., Gao, S., Li, Q., Kang, Y., Chen, N., Chen, K., Rao, J., Ellenberg, J., & Patz, J. (2021). Intra-county modeling of COVID-19 infection with human mobility: Assessing spatial heterogeneity with business traffic, age and race. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 118(24). NSF Award Description, News Coverage.
Ho, P., Chen, K., Shao, A., Bao, L., Ai, A., Tarfa, A., Brauer, K., Brossard, D., & Brown, L.D. (2021). A mixed methods study of public perception about social distancing: Integrating qualitative and computational analyses for text data. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 15(3), 374-397. [co-first author]
Hiaeshutter-Rice, D., Chinn, S., & Chen, K. (2021). Platform effects on alternative influencer content: Understanding how features and affordances shape misinformation online. Frontiers in Political Science, May 31st, 2021.
Meijer, A.J., …Chen, K.,... (2020). The COVID-19-Crisis and the information polity: An overview of responses and discussions in twenty-one countries from six continents. Information Polity, 25(3), 243-274. PDF
Meijer, A. J., Lips, M., & Chen, K. (2019). Open governance of cities: A new paradigm for understanding urban collaboration. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 1(3). PDF, Translated Chinese Version
Chen, K., & Aitamurto, T. (2019). Barriers for crowd’s impact in crowdsourced policymaking: Civic data overload and filter hierarchy. International Public Management Journal, 22(1), 99-126. PDF
Pan, J., & Chen, K. (2018). Concealing corruption: How Chinese officials distort upward reporting of online grievances. American Political Science Review, 112(3), 602-620. [co-first author] PDF
Aitamurto, T., & Chen, K. (2017). The value of crowdsourcing in public policymaking: Epistemic, democratic and economic value. The Theory and Practice of Legislation, 5(1), 55-72. PDF
O’Halloran, S., Maskey, S., McAllister, G., Park, D. K., & Chen, K. (2016). Data science and political economy: Application to financial regulatory structure. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2(7), 87-109. PDF
Aitamurto, T., Chen, K., Cherif, A., Galli, J. S., & Santana, L. (2016, October). Civic CrowdAnalytics: Making sense of crowdsourced civic input with big data tools. In Proceedings of the 20th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, 86-94. PDF
O'Halloran, S., Maskey, S., McAllister, G., Park, D. K., & Chen, K. (2015, August). Big data and the regulation of financial markets. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining, 1118-1124.
Public Engagement with AI and Immersive Technologies (Human-Computer Interaction)
Aitamurto, T., Boin, J. B., Chen, K., Cherif, A., & Shridhar, S. (2018, July). The impact of augmented reality on art engagement: Liking, impression of learning, and distraction. In International Conference on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, 153-171. Springer, Cham. PDF
Chen, A., Chen, K., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2023). When national identity meets conspiracies: the reinforcement loop of identity language on public participation and discourse of COVID19 conspiracies on Weibo. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(1), 1-12. [co-first author]
Chen, A., Lu, Y., Chen, K., & Ng, A. (2023). Pandemic nationalism: How exposure to government social media affects people's belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories in China. International Journal of Press/Politics. Online First.
Kim, S., & Chen, K. (2022). How conspiracy and debunking videos use emotions to engage publics on YouTube. New Media & Society. Online First. [co-first author]
Chen, K., Molder, A., Duan, Z., Boulianne, S., Eckart, C., Mallari, P., & Yang, D. (2022). How youth activists and news media frame climate change and strike: Evidence from analyzing Twitter and Newspaper Discourse. International Journal of Press/Politics. Online First.
Chen, K., & Jin, Y. (2022). How issue entrepreneurs shape public discourse of controversial science on social media: A case study of GMO discussion on a popular Chinese Q&A platform (forthcoming). Journal of Science Communication. talk link
Chen, K., Jin., Y., & Shao, A. (2022). Science factionalism: How group identity language affects public engagement with misinformation and debunking narratives on a popular Q&A platform in China. Social Media + Society, 8(1), 1-15. link.
Chen, K., & Shaw, B. (2022). Public communication of soil conservation practice: A large-scale content analysis of Wisconsin's agricultural trade publications. Online First in Feb 2022. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.
Wirz, C.D., Cate, A., Brauer, M., Brossard, D., Brown, L.D., Chen, K., Ho, P., Luter, D.G., Madden, H., Schoenborn, S., Shaw, B., Sprinkel, C., Stanley, D., & Sumi, G. (2022). Science Communication during COVID-19: When theory meets best practices and best practices meet reality. Journal of Science Communication, 21(3).
Chen, K., Jeon, J., & Zhou, Y. (2021). A critical appraisal of diversity in digital knowledge production: Segregated inclusion on YouTube. New Media & Society. Ungated, Media Coverage, OnlineFirst.
Chen, K., & Tomblin, D. (2021). Using data from Reddit, Public Deliberation, and Surveys to measure public opinion about autonomous vehicles. Public Opinion Quarterly, 85(S1), 289-322.
Freiling, I., Krause, N.M., Scheufele, D.A. & Chen, K. (2021). The science of open (communication) science: Toward an evidence-driven understanding of quality criteria in communication research. Journal of Communication, 71(5), 855-874.
Chen, K. (2021). How deliberative designs empower citizens’ voices: A case study on Ghana’s Deliberative Poll on agriculture and the environment. Public Understanding of Science, 30(2), 179-195. PDF preprint, video, supplementary
Chen, K. & Burgess, M.M. (2021). Narratives in public deliberation: Empowering gene-editing debate with storytelling. The Hastings Center Report, 51(S2), 85-91.
Wirz, C.D., Shao, A., Bao, L., Monroe, H., Howell, E., & Chen, K. (2021). Media systems and attention cycles: Trends and topics in news coverage of COVID-19 in the U.S. and China. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. OnlineFirst.
- Covered by Nieman Journalism Lab
Molder, A.L., Lakind, A., Clemmons, Z.E., & Chen, K. (2021). Framing the global youth climate movement: A qualitative content analysis of Greta Thunberg's moral, hopeful and motivational framing on Instagram. The International Journal of Press/Politics. OnlineFirst.
Chen, K., Chen, A., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2020). Conspiracy and debunking narratives about COVID-19 origin on Chinese social media: How it started and who is to blame. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. PDF, op-ed in Conversation
- Covered by Nieman Journalism Lab, Channel News Asia, Snopes, Fast Company
Chen, K., Bao, L., Shao, A., Ho, P., Yang, S., Wirz, C.D., Brossard, D., Brauer, M., & Brown, L.D. (2020). How public perceptions of social distancing evolved over a critical time period: Communication lessons learnt from the American State of Wisconsin. Journal of Science Communication, 19(5). PDF, News Coverage
Lin, M., & Chen, K. (2020). Participation effectiveness of citizen participatory budgeting: The case of Yanjin county in China. Chinese Public Administration Review, 11(1), 6-24. PDF
Boulianne, S., Chen, K., & Kahane, D. (2020). Mobilizing mini-publics: The causal impact of deliberation on civic engagement using panel data. Politics, 40(4), 460-476. PDF
Computational Communication and Digital Crowdsourcing
Chen, K., Kim, S.J., Gao, Q., & Raschka, S. (2022). Visual framing of science conspiracy videos: Integrating machine learning with communication theories to study the use of color and brightness. Computational Communication Research, 4(1), 98-134. PDF
Chen, K., Duan, Z, & Yang, S. (2021). Twitter as research data: Tools, costs, skillsets and lessons learnt. Politics and the Life Sciences. OnlineFirst. Chinese Translated Version
Hou, X., Gao, S., Li, Q., Kang, Y., Chen, N., Chen, K., Rao, J., Ellenberg, J., & Patz, J. (2021). Intra-county modeling of COVID-19 infection with human mobility: Assessing spatial heterogeneity with business traffic, age and race. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 118(24). NSF Award Description, News Coverage.
Ho, P., Chen, K., Shao, A., Bao, L., Ai, A., Tarfa, A., Brauer, K., Brossard, D., & Brown, L.D. (2021). A mixed methods study of public perception about social distancing: Integrating qualitative and computational analyses for text data. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 15(3), 374-397. [co-first author]
Hiaeshutter-Rice, D., Chinn, S., & Chen, K. (2021). Platform effects on alternative influencer content: Understanding how features and affordances shape misinformation online. Frontiers in Political Science, May 31st, 2021.
Meijer, A.J., …Chen, K.,... (2020). The COVID-19-Crisis and the information polity: An overview of responses and discussions in twenty-one countries from six continents. Information Polity, 25(3), 243-274. PDF
Meijer, A. J., Lips, M., & Chen, K. (2019). Open governance of cities: A new paradigm for understanding urban collaboration. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 1(3). PDF, Translated Chinese Version
Chen, K., & Aitamurto, T. (2019). Barriers for crowd’s impact in crowdsourced policymaking: Civic data overload and filter hierarchy. International Public Management Journal, 22(1), 99-126. PDF
Pan, J., & Chen, K. (2018). Concealing corruption: How Chinese officials distort upward reporting of online grievances. American Political Science Review, 112(3), 602-620. [co-first author] PDF
Aitamurto, T., & Chen, K. (2017). The value of crowdsourcing in public policymaking: Epistemic, democratic and economic value. The Theory and Practice of Legislation, 5(1), 55-72. PDF
O’Halloran, S., Maskey, S., McAllister, G., Park, D. K., & Chen, K. (2016). Data science and political economy: Application to financial regulatory structure. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2(7), 87-109. PDF
Aitamurto, T., Chen, K., Cherif, A., Galli, J. S., & Santana, L. (2016, October). Civic CrowdAnalytics: Making sense of crowdsourced civic input with big data tools. In Proceedings of the 20th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, 86-94. PDF
O'Halloran, S., Maskey, S., McAllister, G., Park, D. K., & Chen, K. (2015, August). Big data and the regulation of financial markets. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining, 1118-1124.
Public Engagement with AI and Immersive Technologies (Human-Computer Interaction)
Aitamurto, T., Boin, J. B., Chen, K., Cherif, A., & Shridhar, S. (2018, July). The impact of augmented reality on art engagement: Liking, impression of learning, and distraction. In International Conference on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, 153-171. Springer, Cham. PDF
Under Review
Kim, S., Villanueva, I., & Chen, K. (2023). Beyond affective polarization: How emotional and identity cues are used in anti-vaccination conspiracies on TikTok (revised and resubmitted). Political Communication.
Chen, K., Cate, A., & Cheren, H. (2023). Communicating agriculture AI technology: Lessons from empirical examination into American farmers' trust, risk perception, and the likelihood of adopting artificial intelligence in food systems (revised and resubmitted). Environment Communication.
Chinn, S., Hiaeshutter-Rice, D., & Chen, K. (2023). How digital science influencers polarize supportive and skeptical communities around politicized science: A cross-platform and over-time comparison (revised and resubmitted). Political Communication.
Chang, S., & Chen, K. (2023). Authoritarian deliberation? Examining deliberative reasoning in Macau’s Deliberative Poll (revise and resubmit). Journal of Deliberative Democracy.
Chen, K., Lu, Y. & Wang, Y. (2023). Toward an evidence-driven understanding of digital trace data and quality assessment criteria in Chinese Communication Research (under review).
Kim, Y., Chen, K., Brandsma, E., Hall, E., Zheng, Z., Korney, M., & Heinrich, R. (2023). Election fraud and extremism on social media platforms (under review).
Chen, K., Molder, A., & Villanueva, I. (2023). Uncovering how Black and Latinx communities perceive environmental justice: Integrating a public deliberation quasi-experiment and computational methods (extended abstract accepted). Public Relations Review.
Chen, K., Duan, Z., & Kim, S. (2023). How moral judgements are used with gendered languages in controversial science discourse: Evidence from computational text analyses across digital platforms (extended abstract accepted). Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Sheng, Z. & Chen, K. (2023). Making science intersectional through identity performance: Minoritized women as STEM content creators on social media and constrictive empowerment (under review).
Giurini, L., Chen, K., & Molder, A. (2023). Hearing from the more deprived communities: Examining the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and public opinion on environmental issues from two public deliberation forums among the Black and Latinx communities (extended abstract under review)
Chen, K., Cate, A., & Cheren, H. (2023). Communicating agriculture AI technology: Lessons from empirical examination into American farmers' trust, risk perception, and the likelihood of adopting artificial intelligence in food systems (revised and resubmitted). Environment Communication.
Chinn, S., Hiaeshutter-Rice, D., & Chen, K. (2023). How digital science influencers polarize supportive and skeptical communities around politicized science: A cross-platform and over-time comparison (revised and resubmitted). Political Communication.
Chang, S., & Chen, K. (2023). Authoritarian deliberation? Examining deliberative reasoning in Macau’s Deliberative Poll (revise and resubmit). Journal of Deliberative Democracy.
Chen, K., Lu, Y. & Wang, Y. (2023). Toward an evidence-driven understanding of digital trace data and quality assessment criteria in Chinese Communication Research (under review).
Kim, Y., Chen, K., Brandsma, E., Hall, E., Zheng, Z., Korney, M., & Heinrich, R. (2023). Election fraud and extremism on social media platforms (under review).
Chen, K., Molder, A., & Villanueva, I. (2023). Uncovering how Black and Latinx communities perceive environmental justice: Integrating a public deliberation quasi-experiment and computational methods (extended abstract accepted). Public Relations Review.
Chen, K., Duan, Z., & Kim, S. (2023). How moral judgements are used with gendered languages in controversial science discourse: Evidence from computational text analyses across digital platforms (extended abstract accepted). Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Sheng, Z. & Chen, K. (2023). Making science intersectional through identity performance: Minoritized women as STEM content creators on social media and constrictive empowerment (under review).
Giurini, L., Chen, K., & Molder, A. (2023). Hearing from the more deprived communities: Examining the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and public opinion on environmental issues from two public deliberation forums among the Black and Latinx communities (extended abstract under review)
Working Papers
Chen, K., Shao, A., Burapacheep, J., & Li, Y. A critical appraisal of equity in conversational AI: Evidence from auditing GPT-3's dialogues with different publics on climate change and Black Lives Matter. Preprint.
Chen, K., Shao, A., & Jin, Y. I am better than you: How nationalism strengthens science misperception. Preprint, talk link
Molder, A. & Chen, K.. The global climate movement's discourse on Twitter: Examining blame and responsibility attribution, mobilization outcomes, and user engagement.
Chen, K., Newman, T., & Zhou, Y. When science meets digital branding: Examining content creators and hyperlinks in climate change YouTube videos from 2015-2019.
Chen, K., Yang, S., & Kancharla. From click to engage on YouTube: Exploring the impact of channel and content factors on science videos.
Chen, K., Jee, H., & Pan, J. Authoritarian responsiveness and competition over the spoils of patronage.
Chen, K., Lee, N., & Marble, W. Is social media an effective platform for constituency communication? A conjoint survey experiment with elected officials in the United States. PDF
Chen, K., Shao, A., & Jin, Y. I am better than you: How nationalism strengthens science misperception. Preprint, talk link
Molder, A. & Chen, K.. The global climate movement's discourse on Twitter: Examining blame and responsibility attribution, mobilization outcomes, and user engagement.
Chen, K., Newman, T., & Zhou, Y. When science meets digital branding: Examining content creators and hyperlinks in climate change YouTube videos from 2015-2019.
Chen, K., Yang, S., & Kancharla. From click to engage on YouTube: Exploring the impact of channel and content factors on science videos.
Chen, K., Jee, H., & Pan, J. Authoritarian responsiveness and competition over the spoils of patronage.
Chen, K., Lee, N., & Marble, W. Is social media an effective platform for constituency communication? A conjoint survey experiment with elected officials in the United States. PDF