Introduction. Over the past 25 years, the number of communication researchers in Spain has doubled, and has probably modified some of its characteristics and research practices. Objectives and method. This paper analyses the transformation experienced by this scientific community using as an indicator the evolution of authorship patterns (gender distribution of authors, number of authors, university, etc.) in Spanish communication research. Data were collected from a sample of 1000 articles published between 1990 and 2014 by five peer-reviewed journals edited in Spain. Results and conclusions. The results show the growth of the presence of women in the research activity, the increase in the number of universities of the signing authors, the modest contribution of authors affiliated to private universities, and the progressive consolidation of the research developed by the collaboration of multiple authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]