Journal Evaluation Systems: Evolution and Practices in China’s Social Sciences

Journal evaluation systems play an important role in academic evaluation. With many papers published in high-ranking journals, one can expect greater success in grant applications, higher internal resource allocations, faster promotions, and access to many other trappings of academic life. The expansion of China’s research and development systems and its rise as a significant contributor to global innovation have seen journal evaluation become a significant and much-scrutinized issue. Thus, in this chapter, we offer a comprehensive analysis of the current state-of-the-art in journal evaluation systems and practices. The review begins with a history of social science journal evaluation in China. We then systematically compare the two most influential journal lists of the present day: the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI) and the “Attraction, Management and Influence” Comprehensive Evaluation Report (AMI). A small selection of influential lists produced by universities, research institutions, and professional associations are also discussed. The material presented provides deep insights into how social sciences research in China is assessed. These findings may also reveal some information about the journal evaluation activities of other countries. Overall, our aim is to make a valuable contribution to the theory and practice of journal evaluation so as to promote the sustainable and healthy development of journal management and evaluation systems both in China and abroad.

Facing the Future

This chapter examines Young’s work as founding chair of the Social Science Research Council between 1965 and 1968 in the Labour government led by Harold Wilson. It describes how Young responded to increasing anxieties about the nature of planning and expertise in the British civil service by arguing that the social sciences should play a more prominent role in government policy making. The chapter focuses mainly on Young’s Committee on the Next Thirty Years, and his proposals for an Institute of Forecasting Studies, which he unsuccessfully sought to develop as part of a transnational forecasting movement with the support of foreign intellectuals such as the American sociologist Daniel Bell and the French futurologist Bertrand de Jouvenel. The chapter also discusses the intellectual networks associated with the popular social science journal New Society, showing that this group promoted libertarian and state-critical perspectives on urban planning, and radical economic ideas like negative income tax. While the Next Thirty Years Committee was short-lived, it reflected Young’s career-long conviction that public policy should be guided by interdisciplinary social science.

Introducing PSSJ Maiden Issue

I am extremely delighted to introduce the maiden issue of the Philippine Social Science Journal (PSSJ) published by Recoletos de Bacolod Graduate School. It publishes full articles, abstracts, and book reviews. As a peer-reviewed journal, PSSJ aims to provide a mentoring space for researchers and writers to publish original and quality papers. This first issue of the journal features six insightful papers on psychology, education, and Augustinian Recollect history. The articles on psychology explored the lived experiences of the HIV positive men and the effect of pastoral counseling on the psycho-spiritual well-being of the seminarians. Moreover, the articles on education covered assessment studies on the quality of Catholic education in a Diocesan School using the Philippine Catholic Schools Standards (PCSS); compliance with the standard principles of School-Based Management and its implication to the quality of life among the learners beyond basic education; and teaching standards competence and performance of teachers using the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) and School’s Teacher Performance Evaluation, respectively. Furthermore, a separate article talked on the contribution of the Augustinian Recollects to the Church history and cultural patrimony of Palawan. It is our desire that the salient findings of these featured researches will foment a better understanding of the various issues discussed in the paper and enhance the quality of life in terms of their utilization. To the pioneer contributors and peer-reviewers of PSSJ maiden issue, our heartfelt thanks!

Multiple regression and nonlinear models

This chapter covers multiple regression and links statistical inference to general topics such as lurking variables that arose earlier. Many examples can be used to illustrate multiple regression, but we have found it useful to come to class prepared with a specific example, with computer output (since our students learn to run the regressions on the computer). We have found it is a good strategy to simply use a regression analysis from some published source (e.g., a social science journal) and go through the model and its interpretation with the class, asking students how the regression results would have to differ in order for the study’s conclusions to change. The chapter includes examples that revisit the simple linear model of height and income, involve the class in models of exam scores, and fit a nonlinear model (for more advanced classes) for golf putting.

Research Output

This chapter maps the present status of social science research (SSR) output under various disciplines and their respective subcategories. For this, the study explores social science journal articles and books to understand thematic focus of research in India. All articles published during the period of eleven years, 2005–15, and all books published over five years, 2010–14, were chosen for analyses. All together a total of 7235 books and 22309 articles published in 1113 journals were included for analysis. It was observed that the major share of research output comes from the discipline of economics, followed by sociology and political science.

Opportunities From the Digital Revolution

In the 1990s, the term “online” research emerged as a new and vibrant suite of methods, focused on exploitation of sources not collected by traditional social science methods. Today, at least one part of the research life cycle is likely to be carried out “online,” from data collection through to publishing. In this article, we seek to understand emergent modes of doing and reporting qualitative research “online.” With a greater freedom now to term oneself a “researcher,” what opportunities and problems do working with online data sources bring? We explore implications of emerging requirements to submit supporting data for social science journal articles and question whether these demands might disrupt the very nature of and identity of qualitative research. Finally, we examine more recent forms of publishing and communicating research that support outputs where data play an integral role in elucidating context and enhancing the reading experience.