IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/infome/v9y2015i3p555-569.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

China's global growth in social science research: Uncovering evidence from bibliometric analyses of SSCI publications (1978–2013)

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Weishu
  • Hu, Guangyuan
  • Tang, Li
  • Wang, Yuandi

Abstract

The phenomenon of China's rise as an emerging scientific power has been well documented, yet the development of its social science is less explored. Utilizing up-to-date Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) publication data (1978–2013), this paper probes the patterns and dynamics of China's social science research via bibliometric analyses. Our research indicates that despite the national orientation of social science research and the linguistic obstacle of publishing for an international audience, China's publications in the SSCI dataset have been rising in terms of volume, world share, and global ranking. But China is still not yet a major player in the arena of social sciences, as is evidenced by the number of Chinese journals indexed in SSCI and the lack of Olympic players. Team research features China's international publishing in social science, but the research outputs are highly unbalanced at regional and institutional levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Weishu & Hu, Guangyuan & Tang, Li & Wang, Yuandi, 2015. "China's global growth in social science research: Uncovering evidence from bibliometric analyses of SSCI publications (1978–2013)," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 555-569.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:9:y:2015:i:3:p:555-569
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2015.05.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157715000528
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joi.2015.05.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blaise Cronin & Debora Shaw & Kathryn La Barre, 2003. "A cast of thousands: Coauthorship and subauthorship collaboration in the 20th century as manifested in the scholarly journal literature of psychology and philosophy," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 54(9), pages 855-871, July.
    2. Tianwei He & Jinglin Zhang & Lirong Teng, 2005. "Basic research in biochemistry and molecular biology in China: A bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 62(2), pages 249-259, January.
    3. Ju-fang Shao & Hui-yun Shen, 2012. "Research assessment and monetary rewards: the overemphasized impact factor in China," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 199-203, June.
    4. Li Tang & Philip Shapira & Jan Youtie, 2015. "Is there a clubbing effect underlying Chinese research citation Increases?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 66(9), pages 1923-1932, September.
    5. Lidiya Kavunenko & Vladimir Khorevin & Katerina Luzan, 2006. "Comparative analysis of journals on social sciences and humanities in Ukraine and the world," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 66(1), pages 123-132, January.
    6. Blaise Cronin & Debora Shaw & Kathryn La Barre, 2004. "Visible, less visible, and invisible work: Patterns of collaboration in 20th century chemistry," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 55(2), pages 160-168, January.
    7. Qinghua Zhai & Jing Su & Minghai Ye, 2014. "Focus on China: the current status of entrepreneurship research in China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(3), pages 1985-2006, March.
    8. Peter Ingwersen, 2000. "The International Visibility and Citation Impact of Scandinavian Research Articles in Selected Social Science Fields: The Decay of a Myth," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 49(1), pages 39-61, August.
    9. Rodrigo Costas & Thed N. Leeuwen, 2012. "Approaching the “reward triangle”: General analysis of the presence of funding acknowledgments and “peer interactive communication” in scientific publications," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(8), pages 1647-1661, August.
    10. Feng Li & Yong Yi & Xiaolong Guo & Wei Qi, 2012. "Performance evaluation of research universities in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: based on a two-dimensional approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 90(2), pages 531-542, February.
    11. Ping Zhou & Bart Thijs & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2009. "Is China also becoming a giant in social sciences?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(3), pages 593-621, June.
    12. Feicheng Ma & Yating Li & Baitong Chen, 2014. "Study of the collaboration in the field of the Chinese humanities and social sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 439-458, August.
    13. Anton J. Nederhof, 2006. "Bibliometric monitoring of research performance in the Social Sciences and the Humanities: A Review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 66(1), pages 81-100, January.
    14. Li Tang & Philip Shapira, 2011. "Regional development and interregional collaboration in the growth of nanotechnology research in China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 86(2), pages 299-315, February.
    15. Ping Zhou & Bart Thijs & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2009. "Regional analysis on Chinese scientific output," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(3), pages 839-857, December.
    16. Philip Shapira & Jue Wang, 2010. "Follow the money," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7324), pages 627-628, December.
    17. Diana Hicks & Jian Wang, 2011. "Coverage and overlap of the new social sciences and humanities journal lists," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(2), pages 284-294, February.
    18. Li Zhai & Xiangbin Yan & Joshana Shibchurn & Xiaohong Song, 2014. "Evolutionary analysis of international collaboration network of Chinese scholars in management research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1435-1454, February.
    19. Weishu Liu & Mengdi Gu & Guangyuan Hu & Chao Li & Huchang Liao & Li Tang & Philip Shapira, 2014. "Profile of developments in biomass-based bioenergy research: a 20-year perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(2), pages 507-521, May.
    20. Bihui Jin & Ling Li & Ronald Rousseau, 2004. "Long‐term influences of interventions in the normal development of science: China and the Cultural Revolution," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 55(6), pages 544-550, April.
    21. Weishu Liu & Li Tang & Mengdi Gu & Guangyuan Hu, 2015. "Feature report on China: a bibliometric analysis of China-related articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 503-517, January.
    22. Ping Zhou & Xinning Su & Loet Leydesdorff, 2010. "A comparative study on communication structures of Chinese journals in the social sciences," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(7), pages 1360-1376, July.
    23. Li, Feng & Miao, Yajun & Yang, Chenchen, 2015. "How do alumni faculty behave in research collaboration? An analysis of Chang Jiang Scholars in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 438-450.
    24. Hong, Wei, 2008. "Decline of the center: The decentralizing process of knowledge transfer of Chinese universities from 1985 to 2004," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 580-595, May.
    25. Zhou, Ping & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2006. "The emergence of China as a leading nation in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-104, February.
    26. Tang, Li, 2013. "Does “birds of a feather flock together” matter—Evidence from a longitudinal study on US–China scientific collaboration," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 330-344.
    27. Waltman, Ludo & Tijssen, Robert J.W. & Eck, Nees Jan van, 2011. "Globalisation of science in kilometres," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 574-582.
    28. Diana Hicks & Jian Wang, 2011. "Coverage and overlap of the new social sciences and humanities journal lists," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(2), pages 284-294, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang Liu & Jinyuan Ma & Huanyu Song & Ziniu Qian & Xiao Lin, 2021. "Chinese Universities’ Cross-Border Research Collaboration in the Social Sciences and Its Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Weishu Liu & Li Tang & Mengdi Gu & Guangyuan Hu, 2015. "Feature report on China: a bibliometric analysis of China-related articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 503-517, January.
    3. Jinyuan Ma & Fan Jiang & Liujian Gu & Xiang Zheng & Xiao Lin & Chuanyi Wang, 2020. "Patterns of the Network of Cross-Border University Research Collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Nicola Grassano & Daniele Rotolo & Joshua Hutton & Frédérique Lang & Michael M. Hopkins, 2017. "Funding Data from Publication Acknowledgments: Coverage, Uses, and Limitations," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(4), pages 999-1017, April.
    5. Yi Zhang & Mingting Kou & Kaihua Chen & Jiancheng Guan & Yuchen Li, 2016. "Modelling the Basic Research Competitiveness Index (BR-CI) with an application to the biomass energy field," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1221-1241, September.
    6. Karaulova, Maria & Shackleton, Oliver & Liu, Weishu & Gök, Abdullah & Shapira, Philip, 2017. "Institutional change and innovation system transformation: A tale of two academies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 196-207.
    7. Csomós, György, 2018. "Reprint of “A spatial scientometric analysis of the publication output of cities worldwide”," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 547-566.
    8. Nadine Desrochers & Adèle Paul‐Hus & Jen Pecoskie, 2017. "Five decades of gratitude: A meta‐synthesis of acknowledgments research," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(12), pages 2821-2833, December.
    9. Katherine W. McCain, 2018. "Beyond Garfield’s Citation Index: an assessment of some issues in building a personal name Acknowledgments Index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 605-631, February.
    10. Weishu Liu & Mengdi Gu & Guangyuan Hu & Chao Li & Huchang Liao & Li Tang & Philip Shapira, 2014. "Profile of developments in biomass-based bioenergy research: a 20-year perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(2), pages 507-521, May.
    11. Zhenyue Zhao & Xuelian Pan & Weina Hua, 2021. "Comparative analysis of the research productivity, publication quality, and collaboration patterns of top ranked library and information science schools in China and the United States," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 931-950, February.
    12. Liu, Weishu & Hu, Guangyuan & Tang, Li, 2018. "Missing author address information in Web of Science—An explorative study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 985-997.
    13. Maria Karaulova & Abdullah Gök & Oliver Shackleton & Philip Shapira, 2016. "Science system path-dependencies and their influences: nanotechnology research in Russia," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(2), pages 645-670, May.
    14. Alberto Baccini & Eugenio Petrovich, 2022. "Normative versus strategic accounts of acknowledgment data: The case of the top-five journals of economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 603-635, January.
    15. Yutao Sun & Cong Cao, 2020. "The dynamics of the studies of China’s science, technology and innovation (STI): a bibliometric analysis of an emerging field," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1335-1365, August.
    16. Ekaterina Dyachenko, 2013. "Internationalization of academic journals: is there still a gap between social and natural sciences?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 28/HUM/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    17. Ekaterina L. Dyachenko, 2014. "Internationalization of academic journals: Is there still a gap between social and natural sciences?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 241-255, October.
    18. Weishu Liu & Li Tang & Guangyuan Hu, 2020. "Funding information in Web of Science: an updated overview," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1509-1524, March.
    19. Weishu Liu & Yishan Ding & Mengdi Gu, 2017. "Book reviews in academic journals: patterns and dynamics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(1), pages 355-364, January.
    20. Chi Mai Nguyen & Jae-Yong Choung, 2020. "Scientific knowledge production in China: a comparative analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1279-1303, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:9:y:2015:i:3:p:555-569. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.