Public Emotions and Rumors Spread During the COVID-19 Epidemic in China: Web-Based Correlation Study

Wei Dong   ^{1 *} , PhD ;   Jinhu Tao   ^{1 *} , MA ;   Xiaolin Xia   ^{1 *} , BA ;   Lin Ye   ^{2 *} , MA ;   Hanli Xu   ³ , PhD ;   Peiye Jiang   ⁴ , PhD ;   Yangyang Liu   ¹ , PhD

¹ School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

² School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China

³ College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, School of Science, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China

⁴ Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

*these authors contributed equally