Chinese Social Science Research Articles

The reporting completeness of observational systematic reviews and meta-analysis in social science could be improved: a cross-sectional survey

ObjectiveTo evaluate and compare the reporting quality of observational systematic reviews and meta-analyses (OSRMA) published in Chinese and English-language social science journals using the Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guideline. Study design and settingWe searched the Social Science Core Index (SSCI) via Web of Science and the Chinese Social Science Core Index (CSSCI) via China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases for OSRMAs published from 2012 to 2022 (before December 2022). The process of literature search, selection, and data extraction were performed double blind. ResultsWe identified 634 OSRMAs, of which 349 were in English-language journals and 285 in Chinese-language journals. The mean reporting completeness rate was 54.6%, and reviews in English had higher reporting completeness than those in Chinese (55.2% vs. 53.9%). All the reviews reported well on background, method, and conclusion, with average reporting rates of 68.1%, 65.2%, and 88.8%, respectively. However, the reporting of search strategy was ignored, with an average rate of 42.9% for reviews in English and 25.8% for reviews in Chinese, especially on the qualifications of searchers, effort to include all available studies, search-software used, handling unpublished studies, and contact with authors. The reporting transparency of these reviews was statistically significantly influenced by multiple review factors, including the language of journals, year of publication, the number of authors, the reporting guideline followed, and the declaration of funding source. ConclusionOSRMAs in social science demonstrate low reporting quality, especially in Chinese-language journals. We suggest adapting the MOOSE guideline to the social science context and promoting its use among researchers and reviewers in this field.

Evolution of agricultural carbon emission research in China: a historical analysis and emerging trends

Agricultural activities constitute the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Proactively mitigating agricultural carbon emissions is crucial for safeguarding the ecological en-vironment, improving agricultural productivity, and fostering long-term ecological sustainability. This paper employs bibliometric analysis to examine the research status, hot topics, and devel-opment trends of agricultural carbon emissions in China over the past 2 decades. Based on Citespace software, the study primarily conducts visual analysis on 660 academic articles on ag-ricultural carbon emissions collected from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) between 2001 and May 2023, including publications indexed in Peking University Chinese Core Journals (PKU Core), Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index and Chinese Science Citation Database. The analysis covers publication quantity, author cooperation, institution cooperation, keyword co-occurrence, keyword clustering, keyword burst, keyword timeline, and keyword timezone. Research results indicate: (1) From the annual publication volume changes perspective, research on China’s agricultural carbon emissions demonstrates a rapid upward trend in the new era, with increasing research interest. (2) The core net-work of research authors has been established, primarily concentrated in agricultural and forestry universities, and the core network of institutions in this field is gradually forming. However, collaboration networks between authors and research institutions are relatively dispersed, necessitating strengthened collaboration among institutions. (3) Current research on agricultural carbon emissions predominantly focuses on the challenges of reducing agricultural carbon emissions in China under the “dual carbon” goals, measures, and pathways to achieve agricultural carbon emission reductions; performance evaluation of agricultural carbon emissions, factors affecting these emissions, and their reduction potential; as well as the relationship between agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural economic growth. Future research should delve deeper into the precise accounting of agricultural carbon emissions under the “dual carbon” goals, their underlying mechanisms, and issues related to precise and differentiated agricultural carbon reduction strategies. (4) The development trajectory of domestic agricultural carbon emissions research shows a period of germination from 2001 to 2009, a development stage from 2010 to 2015, and a deepening stage from 2016 to 2023, with a notable increase in publications in 2021, signifying a new upward phase in research output.

Exploring the Influence of Internet Usage Attitudes on Educational Equity among Chinese Migrant Workers: A Regional Analysis

As urban builders, migrant workers (rural residents working in cities) should fairly enjoy urban educational resources. However, due to their social status, they face numerous educational challenges. This study explores how Chinese migrant workers' attitudes towards Internet usage influence educational equity, particularly in an environment where the Internet has become indispensable for learning, work, and daily life among Chinese residents. Using ANOVA and correlation analysis, the study investigates the relationship and influencing factors between migrant workers' attitudes towards Internet usage and educational equity. The research data were obtained from a 2020 survey conducted by the Peking University Chinese Social Sciences Survey Center, focusing primarily on Chinese migrant workers. The findings reveal that migrant workers' attitudes towards Internet usage significantly impact educational equity; groups that place greater emphasis on Internet usage exhibit better educational equity than others. Although the statistical differences in Internet usage attitudes among different regions are not significant, educational equity disparities among regions remain statistically significant. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided at the family, school, and government levels, aiming to address the digital divide, establish remote open education platforms, and improve the household registration system to enhance educational equity for migrant workers.

Unveiling novelty evolution in the field of library and information science in China

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the distribution of novelty among scholarly papers in the field of library and information science (LIS) in China. Specifically, this study explores the distribution of novelty of papers in various journals, research topics and different periods. It is possible to understand the characteristics of LIS research in China and what factors have influenced it.Design/methodology/approachThis paper collects articles published in Chinese library science journals indexed by the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index from 2000 to 2022. The BERTopic model is used based on abstracts of the papers and to obtain the topic of each paper. Based on the combination innovation theory of reference pairs cited by focal papers, novelty scores of all papers are calculated. Next, this paper analyzes the novelty of papers under different topics. Finally, this paper analyzes the differences in author collaboration patterns across various topics, aiming to explain how these differences relate to the novelty of papers from a collaborative perspective.FindingsThis study shows that archival research topics have lower novelty than papers on journal evaluation and patent technology in Chinese LIS. Research papers in this field are gradually becoming more novel over time. Papers on different topics and with varying degrees of novelty exhibit distinct author collaboration patterns, with low-novelty topics more frequently featuring solo authorship, while high-novelty topics tend to involve a higher percentage of inter-institutional collaboration.Originality/valueThis study investigates the novelty characteristics of research papers on different topics in the field of LIS in China. The authors’ contribution includes visualizing research hotspots and trends in the field and analyzing authors’ collaboration patterns at the level of research topics, thereby providing new perspectives on the factors affecting the novelty of these papers.

Talent agglomeration research within digital economy development: Trend analysis and research prospects

Talent is important for development and innovation across fields. Further, in this era of digital economy, primarily driven by modern information networks, how to attract talent and effectively leverage talent’s agglomeration effect is a crucial research topic. Thus, this paper reviewed studies from the China Knowledge Network in the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index and from the Web of Science Core Collection. By combining cluster analysis based on keyword co-occurrence with a review of highly relevant literature, this paper determines and compares mainstream directions in both domestic Chinese and international studies on talent agglomeration effects and digital economy talent research, thereby constructing a two-dimensional analytical framework. This paper recommends four research paths for the effects of talent agglomeration, namely, talent management, enterprise–industry development, industry–regional development, and industry–regional level of talent agglomeration. Meanwhile, considering the digital economy’s key role in future national economic strategies, its human resources studies should be included in these same paths for studying talent aggregation effects. Introducing public sector strategic manement theories into research on digital-economic talent aggregation could prove an extremely valuable subject matter in the future.

Improving the Learning Experience of Chinese Masters’ students in UK higher education

ABSTRACT Both challenges and opportunities are inherent with a growth in Chinese international students in UK Higher Education. However, teachers from the West may not understand the differences in Chinese educational practices, which can lead to negative stereotyping of these students as passive and problematic. This paper rejects this deficit perspective, focusing on the views of Chinese students as to what might need to change about the UK teaching and campus environment to improve their learning experience. Two focus groups were held with Chinese social science Masters’ students in a UK university. Some of their key requests included to reduce class sizes; to provide more guidance around study skills; to offer more timely and accessible information; to provide a more flexible range of services and learning support; and to create more social time with staff and other students. The discussions particularly brought out the importance of ‘relational pedagogy’. These requirements will need more staff time and institutional flexibility which will necessitate adequate funding. The authors conclude that, despite Chinese students’ significant contribution to the local economy and to University finances, there does not seem to be a commensurate investment in protecting their wellbeing and ensuring they receive a quality education. We consider it is important to listen to and act on the students’ suggestions outlined here if UK Higher Education is to remain the destination of choice for many Chinese and other international students.

Visualizing the construction of subject librarianship in chinese higher education libraries: A knowledge graph-based analysis

This study investigates the evolution and current status of subject librarianship in Chinese higher education spanning the past 25 years. Utilizing scientometric analysis, we construct knowledge graphs, encompassing publication trends, co-citation and co-occurrence networks, and the burstiness of keywords. The data are drawn from 504 articles in the Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) database. The analysis sheds light on knowledge domains, evolutionary routes, and research hotspots within this field. The graphs delineate intricate connections among subject librarianship in Chinese higher education, involving universities, faculties, students, cooperative enterprises, and government. Significantly, these services play pivotal roles in information resource construction, scientific research, intellectual property support, and propaganda. The progression of subject librarianship in Chinese higher education is driven by innovations in information technology, user demands and policy advocacy. The knowledge graph-based exploration of subject librarianship holds substantial implications for libraries further constructions, particularly in enriching content and enhancing quality, aligning with the criteria of the new education public policy outlined by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China.

The dual dimension of scientific research experience acquisition and its development: a 40-year analysis of Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences Journals

The dual dimension of scientific research experience acquisition and its development: a 40-year analysis of Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences Journals

Transdisciplinary fine-grained citation content analysis: A multi-task learning perspective for citation aspect and sentiment classification

The diffusion of citation knowledge is an important measure of transdisciplinary scientific impact and the diversity of transdisciplinary citation content (sentences). Moreover, combining citation sentiment (CS) and citation aspect (CA) can help researchers identify the attitudes, ideas, or positions reflected in the evolution of scientific elements (e.g., theories, techniques, and methods). This is because of their use by scholars from different disciplines, paving the way toward transdisciplinary penetration and the development of domain knowledge through the proliferation of cited knowledge. However, most studies mainly address citation aspect classification (CAC) and citation sentiment classification (CSC) separately, ignoring their shared features of interactions. In this study, we construct a dataset for transdisciplinary citation content analysis using citations and academic full texts from the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI), which includes 14,832 manually-annotated citations. Thereafter, we utilized the developed dataset to conduct a transdisciplinary fine-grained citation content analysis by combining CAC and CSC. The objective of the CAC task was to classify transdisciplinary citations into theoretical concepts (TC), methodological techniques (MT), and data information (DI), whereas the CSC task classified citations into positive, negative, and neutral classes. Furthermore, we leveraged a multi-task learning (MTL) model to perform CAC and CSC jointly and then compared its performance to those of several widely-used deep learning models. Our model achieved 83.10 % accuracy for CAC and 80.46 % accuracy for CSC, demonstrating its superiority to single-task systems. This indicates the strong correlation between the CAC and CSC of transdisciplinary citation tasks, benefiting from each other when learned concurrently. This new method can be used as an auxiliary decision support system to extend the analysis of transdisciplinary citation content.

International Mobility and Knowledge Exchange Between China and the West: A Study of Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences Scholars

Purpose This study examines the impact of international academic mobility on knowledge exchange between China and the West, including its potential benefits and risks, specifically in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) fields. Design/Approach/Methods This study employed qualitative research methods; specifically, data were collected through interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings With increasing knowledge flows in global academia, Chinese HSS scholars are benefiting from international academic mobility. They engage in various activities, such as international visits, conferences, and research collaborations, and praise the role of mobility in building an understanding of Western culture and knowledge, including research dynamics, embodied and encultured knowledge, and location-specific textual materials. However, international mobility has inadvertently exacerbated global knowledge asymmetries, with some Chinese scholars uncritically adopting Western paradigms. Nonetheless, pioneering Chinese HSS scholars aim to promote a two-way knowledge exchange between China and the West by fostering cultural reflexivity and enhancing their global visibility. Originality/Value Chinese HSS scholars serve as an illuminating example in the context of global knowledge asymmetries dominated by the Anglo-American West. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for fostering equitable and inclusive knowledge exchange between Western and non-Western societies through international academic mobility.

Influence of Female Educational Level on Consumption of Family Education

As education becomes more and more important, more and more families pay attention to education, and the proportion of education consumption in family consumption is increasing. According to the data of the Seventh National Census Bulletin, with the popularization of basic education, women 's level of education is increasing. This study uses the Chinese Family Tracking Survey completed by the Chinese Social Science Survey Center of Peking University in 2020. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of female educational level on family education consumption by means of linear regression. It is concluded that there is a significant positive correlation between female education level and family education consumption. It suggests that the higher the level of education for women, the higher the consumption of family education, and the level of education for women has an increasing impact on the level of consumption of family education. The education level of women has become an important factor affecting the consumption of family education.

Do scientific research funds support emerging topic research in Chinese humanities and social sciences?

Abstract Although the research funding policy has promoted the output and effect of research, whether it can identify innovative research topics and promote discipline development is worth investigating in depth. Taking Chinese humanities and social sciences (HSS) as an example, this study uses the latent Dirichlet allocation topic model to identify the topics of the HSS projects and papers funded by China’s national research funds. The analysis reveals the effect of research funding policy on research topics in both topic selection and funding intensity: (1) the types of projects with strict restrictions on topics significantly guide the direction of research topics; (2) projects with less funding are more likely to result in emerging topic research; and (3) compared with social sciences and key universities, the funded projects of humanities and other institutions are more likely to focus on emerging topics.

How do they become globally high achieving? Trajectories, struggles, and achievements of ethnic Chinese humanities and social sciences scholars

On the world stage of the humanities and social sciences (HSS), ethnic Chinese scholars and their scholarship as a whole are arguably not yet considered mainstream. However, a growing number of ethnic Chinese HSS scholars have become internationally recognized in their respective fields, producing scholarship of global and lasting influence. These scholars are referred to in this study as globally high-achieving scholars. Enquiring into how certain ethnic Chinese HSS scholars become globally high achieving, this study aims to unravel the trajectories, struggles, and achievements of these scholars; contribute to the literature on scholars’ academic development and on Chinese scholars; and provide recommendations for scholarly training in higher education in and beyond Greater China. It uses a narrative research design to explore the life and academic trajectories of globally high-achieving scholars, and reveals reasons associated with their achievements. In particular, the article highlights the scholars’ possession of strong resilience, engagement with Chinese traditional cultures and knowledges, development of multiple lenses, and realization of the state of ‘zide (自得)’, meaning staying true to oneself. This study is one of the first empirical attempts to explore this topic, and it makes both conceptual and practical contributions to the field.

Exploring the diverse definitions of ‘evidence’: a scoping review

ObjectivesTo systematically collect and analyse diverse definitions of ‘evidence’ in both health and social sciences, and help users to correctly use the term ‘evidence’ and rethink what is the definition...

Twenty years of Chinese social sciences towards internationalization (1998–2017): a knowledge sources perspective

Twenty years of Chinese social sciences towards internationalization (1998–2017): a knowledge sources perspective

Measuring the knowledge transfer efficiency of social science in Chinese universities from a think tank perspective

This paper aims to observe the transformation of Chinese universities into think tanks and the adoption of new forms of promoting knowledge transfer in the social sciences, addressing the current lack of quantitative research on this topic in academia. The study introduces a two-stage network DEA and Malmquist index to analyze the transfer of social sciences in universities. The transfer process is divided into scientific research and knowledge transfer stages, and their changes from 2011 to 2019 are measured. The findings are as follows: Firstly, from 2011 to 2019, the global efficiency of universities increased from 0.415 to 0.469. Research efficiency improved from 0.506 to 0.597, and transfer efficiency increased from 0.117 to 0.218. This indicates intensified competition in both research and transfer stages, although knowledge transfer is still at a relatively low level. Secondly, the overall efficiency of universities declined by an average of 1.5 % per year. Research efficiency declined by 2.8 % per year, while transformation efficiency improved by 9.6 % per year. Thirdly, the decline in efficiency is not due to a reduction in the academic competence of the university but is influenced by publishing factors. Additionally, the potential for improvement in transfer efficiency is limited by the number of senior officials and their attention resources. Lastly, due to the regulation that research reports are equivalent to journal papers in Chinese universities, there may be signs of knowledge transfer replacing basic research in a few universities. This could potentially harm the basic research of Chinese social sciences. The experience of Chinese universities can provide a reference for promoting the knowledge transfer of social sciences in other countries.

A comparative study of international and Chinese digitization from the perspective of mapping knowledge domains

As a powerful tool to promote sustainable development, digitization profoundly impacts economic and social development. Systematically reviewing and performing econometric analyses of the literature in the digitization field can provide reference for the next stage of research. Based on the theory of bibliometric citation analysis and the knowledge domain mapping method, this study takes Web of Science United States (WOS) and Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) as data sources and uses CiteSpace analysis tools to carry out data mining and visual comparative analysis on Chinese and international research hotspots, knowledge structure, and scientific research co-operation in the digitization field. The results show that (1) Chinese research hotspots and frontiers focus on digitization practice, while international research hotspots and frontiers focus on digitization theory, (2) that there is an ageing fault in the classic Chinese digitization literature, and the classic international digitization literature constantly changes with research hotspots, (3) and that the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom are at the centre of the international digitization scientific research cooperation network. There is close cooperation among international institutions and authors. There are few contacts between Chinese institutions. Chinese authors have less cooperation with authors from other countries in the world.

A CiteSpace-based Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Research in China

This paper applies CiteSpace, a visualization analysis tool, to analyze the inner relationship among documents collected from “Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index”, to unveil the present situation and future orientation of studies on corporate social responsibility in China.

How is the development of library and information science in China?

PurposeThe research in this paper aims to investigate the development of Library and Information Science in Chinese universities. Specifically, it focuses on understanding the spatial and temporal aspects of subject knowledge output and providing a more comprehensive explanation of the imbalance in subject research.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies the bibliometric method to analyze 131,112 papers published by 51 universities in mainland China from 1977 to 2021, as recorded in the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI). The study classifies the evolution trends of the discipline and quantifies the published article data of the universities using the index of published articles. Additionally, it examines the development status, structural situation, influencing factors and prospects of universities in different categories and regions.FindingsThe field of Library and Information Science is gaining momentum in Chinese universities, but there are significant differences in its development. While the relative gap among universities in a regional context is diminishing, the absolute gap in the category perspective is increasing. The development of Library and Information Science is influenced by various factors, including the academic environment, geographical position, scientific research projects and academic traditions. The uneven development of the discipline is maintained in the short term.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new quantitative index of discipline development, the university publication index. This index allows for an examination of the temporal and spatial trends of discipline development using domestic universities as the subject of research. The paper presents an overview of discipline development through four aspects: academic participation practice, discipline governance mechanisms, education and teaching systems and discourse construction within the discipline. The theoretical support provided by this study can help facilitate innovative development in the discipline.

Comparing Chinese and Western classroom learning environment research: a bibliometric analysis and visualization.

A comprehensive cross-national understanding of the classroom learning environment (CLE) is critical to advancing CLE's development. This study compares the English and Chinese CLE literature to enhance a complete understanding of CLE. We conducted bibliometric analysis on 3,130 English literature from Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and 1,261 Chinese literature from the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI). The results show that both Chinese and English literature focus on the influence of CLE on students' cognitive and affective learning outcomes and the incorporation of information technology in CLE. The results also reveal the differences between Chinese and English literature from two perspectives: (1) Chinese CLE research mainly focuses on English education, and English CLE research mainly focuses on science education and (2) Chinese CLE research mainly analyzed the pedagogical aspect of CLE, while English CLE research focused on CLE's social and psychological aspects. We also discussed that future research should focus on (1) the balance of analyzing CLE from the perspective of students and other educational stakeholders such as teachers and school leaders, (2) student differences from the pedagogical level, (3) the physical level of CLE, (4) the use of statistical methods such as structural equation modeling that can analyze the mechanisms underlying the effects of CLE on student learning, and (5) the interdisciplinary research on CLE.