China's Global Growth in Social Science Research: Uncovering Evidence from Bibliometric Analyses of SSCI Publications (1978–2013)

Journal of Informetrics, 9(3): 555-569.

15 Pages Posted: 7 Sep 2015

See all articles by Weishu Liu

Weishu Liu

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) - Antai College of Economics and Management

Guangyuan Hu

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics - School of Public Economics & Administration

Li Tang

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics - School of Public Economics & Administration

Yuandi Wang

Hasselt University - Department of Economics and Business

Date Written: 2015

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.

Keywords: Large-scale bibliometric analysis, Research evaluation, Social sciences development, China, Science and technology policy

JEL Classification: O2, O3

Suggested Citation

Liu, Weishu and Hu, Guangyuan and Tang, Li and Wang, Yuandi, China's Global Growth in Social Science Research: Uncovering Evidence from Bibliometric Analyses of SSCI Publications (1978–2013) (2015). Journal of Informetrics, 9(3): 555-569. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2656954

Weishu Liu (Contact Author)

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) - Antai College of Economics and Management ( email )

Antai College of Economics and Management
Shanghai 200030, Shanghai 200052
China

Guangyuan Hu

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics - School of Public Economics & Administration ( email )

Shanghai, 200433
China

Li Tang

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics - School of Public Economics & Administration ( email )

Shanghai, 200433
China

Yuandi Wang

Hasselt University - Department of Economics and Business ( email )

Agoralaan - building D
Gebouw D
Diepenbeek, 3590
Belgium

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