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

• DOI: 10.1007/s11024-022-09468-7
• Publication Date: 2022-04-30T02:02:32Z
• Authors: Fei Shu; Sichen Liu; Vincent Larivière
• Keywords: Science Policy; Citation impact; Position (finance)

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 a 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 accidentally 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.