China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
1–10 of 309 posts
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#2>They document a rapid expansion between 2000 and 2016, as the Chinese share of global publications in physical sciences, engineering and math quadrupled.
I really hate to risk being the guy who says "they will never best us," until they do, but in my field and many others Chinese papers are known to be of a lower quality standard and a lot more mill-like. This may come as a surprise to many, but the simple fact is that integrity issues are common in Chinese academia - a pattern not specific to China, but repeated almost everywhere. Globally, a high-quality academia with a strong sense of integrity is the exception rather than the rule.
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#3[deleted]
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#4Good, competition and more spending is always welcome.
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#5> They document a rapid expansion between 2000 and 2016, as the Chinese share of global publications in physical sciences, engineering and math quadrupled. I really hate to risk being the guy who says "they will never best us," until they do, but in my field and many others Chinese papers are known to be of a lower quality standard and a lot more mill-like. This may come as a surprise to many, but the simple fact is…
What I've read is that whereas Western academics and scientists are paid by salary or grant, Chinese scientists are paid substantially by number of papers published. So $500 for a paper in a top-tier journal, etc.
Thus scientific papers provide indirect benefits in the West, but direct benefits in China - encouraging the "paper mill."
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#6There isn't much secret source here, more investment == more output.
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#7> They document a rapid expansion between 2000 and 2016, as the Chinese share of global publications in physical sciences, engineering and math quadrupled. I really hate to risk being the guy who says "they will never best us," until they do, but in my field and many others Chinese papers are known to be of a lower quality standard and a lot more mill-like. This may come as a surprise to many, but the simple fact is…
What I've read is that whereas Western academics and scientists are paid by salary or grant, Chinese scientists are paid substantially by number of papers published. So $500 for a paper in a top-tier journal, etc. Thus scientific papers provide indirect benefits in the West, but direct benefits in China - encouraging the "paper mill."
This or another similar article on HN said $40k in a top tier journal. Also companies produce 'research' and then offer it to scientist to have their name on it.
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#8> They document a rapid expansion between 2000 and 2016, as the Chinese share of global publications in physical sciences, engineering and math quadrupled. I really hate to risk being the guy who says "they will never best us," until they do, but in my field and many others Chinese papers are known to be of a lower quality standard and a lot more mill-like. This may come as a surprise to many, but the simple fact is…
What I've read is that whereas Western academics and scientists are paid by salary or grant, Chinese scientists are paid substantially by number of papers published. So $500 for a paper in a top-tier journal, etc. Thus scientific papers provide indirect benefits in the West, but direct benefits in China - encouraging the "paper mill."
Publishing papers in the West provides a pretty direct benefit - there's a reason behind the saying 'publish or perish'.
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
What I've read is that whereas Western academics and scientists are paid by salary or grant, Chinese scientists are paid substantially by number of papers published. So $500 for a paper in a top-tier journal, etc. Thus scientific papers provide indirect benefits in the West, but direct benefits in China - encouraging the "paper mill."
Publishing papers in the West provides a pretty direct benefit - there's a reason behind the saying 'publish or perish'.
I agree that the incentives behind "publish or perish" are quite problematic. However, this does not seem equivalent to directly earning cold hard cash for each individual paper.
Re: China now the most prolific contributor to physical sciences, engineering, math
#10> They document a rapid expansion between 2000 and 2016, as the Chinese share of global publications in physical sciences, engineering and math quadrupled. I really hate to risk being the guy who says "they will never best us," until they do, but in my field and many others Chinese papers are known to be of a lower quality standard and a lot more mill-like. This may come as a surprise to many, but the simple fact is…
What I've read is that whereas Western academics and scientists are paid by salary or grant, Chinese scientists are paid substantially by number of papers published. So $500 for a paper in a top-tier journal, etc. Thus scientific papers provide indirect benefits in the West, but direct benefits in China - encouraging the "paper mill."
This 2017 study[1] found the average payout for Nature or Science was $44k in 2016. Much less for others but still more like 2-3k per publication. Average professor salary: $8,600.
[1] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608266/the-truth-about-ch...