China’s Research Evaluation Reform: What are the Consequences for Global Science?

Abstract

In the 1990s, China created a research evaluation system based on publications indexed in the Science Citation Index (SCI) and on the Journal Impact Factor. Such system helped the country become the largest contributor to the scientific literature and increased the position of Chinese universities in international rankings. Although the system had been criticized by many because of its adverse effects, the policy reform for research evaluation crawled until the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, which accidently accelerates the process of policy reform. This paper highlights the background and principles of this reform, provides evidence of its effects, and discusses the implications for global science.

Understanding the growing contributions of China to leading international higher education journals

“…Finally, it is imperative to monitor the potential changes brought about by the recent research evaluation reform in China (Shu et al, 2022). Although previous research policies are effective in boosting international publications, it also yielded inadvertent consequences.…”

“…Although previous research policies are effective in boosting international publications, it also yielded inadvertent consequences. Issues of research quality and ethical concerns have surfaced, highlighting the potential pitfalls of a system that heavily incentivizes publication output (Shu et al, 2022). Furthermore, the reliance on SSCI journals, predominately English-language and Westernmanaged, poses a risk of perpetuating Western hegemony in the intellectual discourse (Xu, 2020).…”

Exploring the Relationship between Academic Challenge Stress and Self-Rated Creativity of Graduate Students: Mediating Effects and Heterogeneity Analysis of Academic Self-Efficacy and Resilience

“…Therefore, improvement of graduate student creativity is also considered as an important indicator for evaluating the quality of higher education ( Chan and Ngok 2011 ). How to cultivate and stimulate graduate student creativity and thus enhance the innovation capacity and performance of universities has gradually become the focus of universities ( Shu et al 2022 ). However, creativity as an important feature of graduate student performance has received little academic attention ( Frick and Brodin 2020 ).…”

Russian experience with national rankings of academic journals: Mistakes, challenges, and prospects

“…, которые обратились к МНБД, как и Россия, гораздо позднее. К сожалению, в России не удалось своевременно просчитать риски прямой зависимости от МНБД и внедрить механизмы, способные полноценно заменить глобальные индексы, как это делается сейчас в Китае, где смещение приоритетов на распространение научных результатов на национальном уровне вызвало стремительную трансформацию системы, привязанную к метрикам базы данных WoS (Shu et al, 2022;2023;Zhang and Sivertsen, 2020).…”