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Measuring recent research performance for Chinese universities using bibliometric methods

Author

Listed:
  • Jia Zhu

    (South China Normal University)

  • Saeed-Ul Hassan

    (Information Technology University- Punjab)

  • Hamid Turab Mirza

    (COMSATS Institute of Information Technology)

  • Qing Xie

    (KAUST)

Abstract

This paper focuses on measuring the academic research performance of Chinese universities by using Scopus database from 2007 to 2010. We have provided meaningful indicators to measure the research performance of Chinese universities as compared to world class universities of the US and the European region. Using these indicators, we first measure the quantity and quality of the research outcomes of the universities and then examine the internationalization of research by using international collaborations, international citations and international impact metrics. Using all of this data, we finally present an overall score called research performance point to measure the comprehensive research strength of the universities for the selected subject categories. The comparison identifies the gap between Chinese universities and top-tier universities from selected regions across various subject areas. We find that Chinese universities are doing well in terms of publication volume but receive less citations from their published work. We also find that the Chinese universities have relative low percentage of publications at high impact venues, which may be the reason that they are not receiving more citations. Therefore, a careful selection of publication venues may help the Chinese universities to compete with world class universities and increase their research internationalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Jia Zhu & Saeed-Ul Hassan & Hamid Turab Mirza & Qing Xie, 2014. "Measuring recent research performance for Chinese universities using bibliometric methods," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 429-443, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:101:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-014-1389-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-014-1389-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Teodoro Luque-Martínez & Salvador Barrio-García, 2016. "Constructing a synthetic indicator of research activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1049-1064, September.
    2. Marcel Clermont & Alexander Dirksen & Barbara Scheidt & Dirk Tunger, 2017. "Citation metrics as an additional indicator for evaluating research performance? An analysis of their correlations and validity," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 10(2), pages 249-279, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Guo Chen & Lu Xiao & Chang-ping Hu & Xue-qin Zhao, 2015. "Identifying the research focus of Library and Information Science institutions in China with institution-specific keywords," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(2), pages 707-724, May.
    5. José M. Merigó & Christian A. Cancino & Freddy Coronado & David Urbano, 2016. "Academic research in innovation: a country analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 559-593, August.
    6. Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Belingheri, Paola & Secondi, Luca, 2021. "The research productivity of universities. A multilevel and multidisciplinary analysis on European institutions," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2).
    7. Yasir Javed & Shakil Ahmad & Shabir Hussain Khahro, 2020. "Evaluating the Research Performance of Islamabad-Based Higher Education Institutes," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    8. Fei Shu & Wen Lou & Stefanie Haustein, 2018. "Can Twitter increase the visibility of Chinese publications?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 505-519, July.
    9. Gerhard Reichmann & Christian Schlögl, 2022. "On the possibilities of presenting the research performance of an institute over a long period of time: the case of the Institute of Information Science at the University of Graz in Austria," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3193-3223, June.
    10. Zewen Hu & Angela Lin & Peter Willett, 2019. "Identification of research communities in cited and uncited publications using a co-authorship network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(1), pages 1-19, January.

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