Boulianne, Shelley

Misinformation is discussed as one of the most pressing challenges of the digital age, potentially shaping public opinion and influencing political behaviour across the globe. In this introduction to a special issue, we report on the analysis of Scopus search results documenting increasing attention to misinformation (and related topics) over the past twenty-five years and a focus on the US context. The contributions to this special issue consider the US context (Gomez & Jenkins 2025; Littrell et al. 2025), but also consider Brazil (Bastos et al. 2025), Germany (Unger et al. 2025), and several cross-national studies that include other countries in Europe, the US, and Canada (Holt & Bechmann 2025; Hoffmann & Boulianne 2025; Morosoli & Humprecht 2025). The contributions offer overlapping insights on the themes of misinformation as a socially constructed phenomenon; misinformation exposure and engagement; and the power and limitations of misinformation. We connect these new findings with recently published meta-analyses and systematic literature reviews on misinformation. We conclude with suggestions for future research that addresses contextual and cultural specificity; examines the motivations for engagement; explores new angles for the study of polarisation and partisanship; and new methodologies.