Development of Sci-Tech Journals in China Stimulated by the China Sci-Tech Journal Excellence Action Plan

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the influence of the China Sci-Tech Journal Excellence Action Plan (CJEAP) on the development of Chinese science and technology (sci-tech) journals. The performance of bibliometric indicators of these journals before and after the implementation of this plan is examined. In particular, a discipline richness algorithm is employed to evaluate whether and how the funding plan affected the disciplinal coverage of publications. The results show that the influence of CJEAP funding in sci-tech journals published in China is not evenly distributed. Highly funded journals appear to have expanded both the range of research areas and disciplines, and the article volume, while poorly funded journals mainly focus on attracting manuscripts with higher scientific impact but display less expanded disciplinal range. New journals funded by CJEAP are characterised with high scientific levels focusing on highly sophisticated fields, but initially featuring a relatively small article volume. Notably, a positive relationship exists between the international collaboration rate and citation ranking score, and thus the expansion of article volume with manuscripts mainly from Chinese scholars may not be conducive for enhancing the international influence of journals published in China. In summary, our results indicate that CJEAP funding has elicited powerful influence in promoting sci-tech journals published in China, suggesting continuous funding support should be both necessary and efficient for further promoting the development of sci-tech journals published in China.