"We can't know the resources of some circles!" Why is it difficult for young teachers to publish in high -level Chinese journals?

Wen ｜ Jiang Xiahua

In the current academic circles, although the "five only" has become the general trend, the problem of "not being published" is still serious.

Among university teachers, young teachers are in a stage of occupation. In order to strive for stable academic positions and climb higher academic ladder, they must continue to pursue the publication of high -level journal papers.

At present, the humanities and social sciences of most colleges and universities in my country have included Chinese social sciences (referred to as CSSCI) as an important basis for the evaluation of academic achievements.

However, in recent years, academic circles have generally reflected that young teachers have published high -level Chinese journals, especially the difficulty of CSSCI journals.

In order to analyze the difficulties of young teachers, the author recently conducted in -depth interviews with the 20 university teachers in the social sciences. I hope that the relevant conclusions can bring some inspiration.

The number of journals has been reduced and the proportion of contracts increases

With the growth of my country's scientific research teams and the continuous improvement of scientific researchers' papers, the demand for the academic circles for CSSCI journal papers is increasing. However, the number of CSSCI journals has remained unchanged in the past 20 years.

Take education as an example, mainland education journals have been maintained in 37 years for many years. Because the influencing factor is the core criterion for selecting the CSSCI journal of the China Social Science Research and Evaluation Center of Nanjing University, in order to improve its influence factors and stand out in fierce competition, most of the journals will adopt the number of essays of each journal, increase the length of a single paper, Improve the quality requirements of thesis and increase the total number of catering.

According to the author's statistics, in the 37th educational CSSCI journals, 84%of the number of journals in 2010 ~ 2020 declined, and nearly 50%of the number of journal annual journals decreased by 30%.

For example, the number of annual journals of "Modern Education Technology" decreased by 60%, the number of annual journals of "distance education magazine" decreased by 54.7%, and "Journal of Hunan Normal University" decreased by 51.8%.

In addition, in order to increase the total number of journals, the CSSCI journal is increasingly inclined to make a draft and formation of well -known scholars. From the perspective of journal editors, the academic level and academic radiation of well -known scholars are stronger than ordinary authors. They can grasp cutting -edge issues and attract more well -known scholars to submit.

However, it is precisely due to the increase in journal contracts and the proportion of manuscripts that young scholars, especially young teachers with no team support, are becoming more and more difficult to publish independently.

As some teachers said in the interview, "I feel that the CSSCI journal has rarely accepted articles that submitted separately, and more articles are published in the form of a manuscript. In fact, we do not know this group manuscript information. The journals have not been foreign in advance It is announced. Therefore, the CSSCI journal has become a resource that can only be known in some communities and circles. We cannot know this information. "

In June 2021, the editor -in -chief of the Journal of Xinjiang Normal University revealed in an article that more than 90%of the annual publishing volume of experts and manuscripts accounted for more than 90%of the publication.

It is precisely because of the above -mentioned factors that the CSSCI journal has become scarce resources, and it has also increased the difficulty of the publication of young scholars without academic fame, it is difficult to accumulate academic reputation, and obtain the opportunity to draft and formulate, and fall into a vicious circle.

A distinctive intergenerational differences

Most foreign social scientific journals focus on empirical research. Taking observable and experimental content as the research object, the prominent feature is based on evidence to draw conclusions, and to ensure the reliability of the conclusion through the authenticity and effectiveness of the evidence.

In contrast, the research of some disciplines (such as psychology, economics, sociology, etc.) has gradually shifted to an empirical research paradigm, but the CSSCI journals in many social sciences such as education, journalism, and books and intelligence Surprising research.

This kind of research is stronger than the restraint of real experience. Based on concepts and principles, it uses logical derivation to establish a theoretical discussion.

Take the first -class journal "Education Research" as an example. According to the author's statistics, the journal has remained at about 70%in the past 10 years.

Liao Shengqing, dean of the School of Journalism of Yunnan University, inspected the papers published in the academic journal of 9 journalism from 1998 to 2017, and found that only 21.5%of the papers adopted an empirical research orientation. 90.9%of the papers did not have research. Specific research is still the mainstream.

Many scholars believe that there are roughly two reasons for the reason why these journals in these social sciences are biased towards speculative research.

On the one hand, the current knowledge of knowledge in the academic community is in the hands of the editor -in -chief of journals and academic elites. Many academics are more inclined to traditional speculative research, instead of recognizing the significance of empirical research. Either I think quantitative research is "using a bunch of very complicated formulas or numbers to prove a simple reason", or it is considered to be a quality research method. The reliability is not strong, and both studies cannot achieve the depth of knowledge thinking.

On the other hand, in order to ensure the reference rate of the paper and enhance the social influence, the CSSCI journal is more inclined to the research of hot topics or practical issues.

For example, the education semester journals are biased towards the hot topic of education policy and macro issues in education reform, and the research of journalism and communication is closely concerned about major realistic issues. Such studies are based on speculation, without having to spend a lot of time collecting first -hand data, more timely time.

Because the academic growth and training of researchers in different times show clear intergenerational differences, compared with older generations of scholars, young scholars tend to be more inclined to empirical research or data -based experience research, and they are not good at speculative research. The reason is that most of the academic rules received by young teachers during the doctoral period are empirical paradigms. The academic accumulation is relatively insufficient, and it is difficult to carry out a profound academic analysis and academic expression on hot issues.

This has made it difficult for them to write the favor of the CSSCI journal.

As an interviewed teacher said, "I am more preferred to empirical and data support, because I think as a youth doctor, it is difficult for me to grasp this macro -speculative article. What I can do may be a case research ... For more macro issues, the professor may be more high. Now the journals generally like this kind of macro issue, so I think it is difficult to grasp ... "

It is difficult to get detailed review feedback

In response to the rejection of the submission, some teachers said in an interview that they very much hope that they can understand the reasons for being rejected and obtained from the paper writing through the feedback of the journal review. Although the journals are generally given detailed repairs for the manuscript that decides to be hired, no matter whether the manuscript is reviewed or not, the journals often provide detailed feedback, which makes it difficult for young scholars to obtain academic academics growing up.

The reason is that on the one hand, the publishing unit in my country is implemented by the supervisor and the responsibility system.

The journal is funded by the organizer of the organizer, and the editor is a full -time personnel who have stable preparation in terms of identity.

Disabled by the number of preparations, most of the CSSCI journal editors have a small scale and simple structure, and the lack of manpower makes it difficult for journal editors to feedback each article.

On the other hand, unlike international journals that take "peer evaluation" as a necessary measure to ensure the quality of journals, my country's journals implement the "three instance system" in the middle and long -term review, that is, the preliminary review and editorial office of the editorial department within the editorial department will complete the review. The final trial of the editor (chief editor).

In recent years, although more and more journals have begun to be included in the second stage to improve the quality of the review, most of the journals have been used to control the cost of control review, and only a few high -quality naturally manuscripts are sent to the foreign trial.

Faced with massive manuscripts and imperfect anonymous review mechanisms, it is difficult for journals to provide detailed feedback from the manuscripts.

Improve the academic situation of young scholars should be multi -pronged

Young teachers are the successors of academic careers and the vital army of academic teams in colleges.

However, in the face of the predicament of the above factors, they are generally confused about academic development, and many teachers even choose to "lie down" in academic research.

In order to promote my country's academic prosperity and improve the academic situation of young scholars, in 2021, the Ministry of Propaganda, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Prosperity and Development of Academic Journals". The author provides the author with high -level professional review opinions.

The author believes that in order to truly achieve these reform goals, the CSSCI journal should improve the existing review mechanism, restrict the proportion of contracting and open the information of the draft to the entire academic community, allowing all academic personnel to compete fairly, so that more excellent young scholars stand out and stand out. Essence

In addition, journals should accept more research paradigms. Although the research of macro narrative's speculation can increase the systemicity of knowledge, it lacks solid arguments and strict proofs.

Empirical research can clarify, confirm and correct speculative research. In the current research of the journals in the field of social sciences, the proportion of empirical research is low, which greatly restricts the practical effect of speculative research.

Therefore, my country's high -level journals should take into account the theoretical and method preferences of academic circles in terms of manuscripts, and give young scholars who are good at empirical research.

In terms of academic communities, the relevant academic community should actively review the documents and assume public academic responsibilities as scholars.

A good peer evaluation mechanism can not only improve the quality of academic journals, improve the fairness and legitimacy of the review, but also provide the author with practical improvement opinions, thereby promoting the academic growth of scholars.

With the increase in the needs of the academic circles and the significant increase in the number of academic personnel, the China Social Science Research and Evaluation Center of Nanjing University should also appropriately increase the number of CSSCI journals to match the supply and demand relationship of the CSSCI journal layout, otherwise it will make the "inside of the academic circles inside the inside "Volume" is even more serious, and the specialism of reviewing the draft is not conducive to the long -term benign development of the journal.

For young teachers, the probability of publishing the papers can be enhanced through multiple measures. In addition to improving your own scientific research ability and the quality of each article, you should also understand the topic selection and paradigm preferences of the journal to ensure that the thesis of the investment is in line with the journal style.

At the same time, a lot of participation in high -quality academic conferences, while obtaining experts' opinions on the dissertation, can also allow more journal editors to understand its research level and ability, so as to obtain more submission channels and recommendation opportunities.

(Author Unit: School of International Education, Shanghai University of Foreign Studies)

"China Science News" (2022-07-12 Observation of the 3rd Edition of the University)

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