Scholarly Communication At The Crossroads In China

Scholarly Communication at the Crossroads in China follows the dichotomy paradox to focus on both achievements and challenges at every step of the scholarly communication process, highlighting Insights and trends in academic infrastructure and scholarly behaviors within the context of local economic, political, and technological development. Since China adopted an open-door policy in the late 1970s, it has experienced a dramatic economic transformation. With a growth rate around 10% over the past three decades, China is now the second largest economy by nominal gross domestic product and by purchasing power parity in the world. Economic success has impelled restructurings in almost all aspects of the social and cultural settings. Among other changes, the new pursuits of education, research, and scholarship have redefined the academic community with its development across generations and ideologies. Provides a large picture of scholarly communication in China, with official data, interviews, and personal observations Includes the latest multidisciplinary information, covering education, library science, and information science Contains diverse formats, including charts and tables, with dichotomy examples Presents historical and contemporary coverage, analyzing data from 1978 onwards in a cultural, economic, social, and political context Focuses on changes by taking readers through the complex process of scholarship transformation

This is one of the very few books that systematically explores the characteristics of scholarly communication outside the West. Over the last decade the advances in information technology have remodelled the foundation of scholarly communication. This book examines how countries/regions in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan) have reacted to the innovations in the conduct of research and in the exchange of ideas. It outlines the traditional systems of scholarly exchange in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and then concentrates on the efforts of these countries/regions to provide revolutionary ways of writing, publishing, and reading of information produced by members of the academic community. It also discusses the achievements as well as challenges in the process of technology innovations, highlighting the uniqueness of practices in scholarly communication in this part of the world. The first book on this topic Chapters written by experts from each country and region covered Comprehensive introduction with historical view and critical perspective

Scientific research is communicated, organized, financed, governed, and evaluated through the process of publication. The result of this process is a highly competitive academic environment that rewards researchers for high volume publication, preferably in high-impact journals, leading to the popularised expression 'publish or perish'. Universities and other scientific institutions are under similar pressure, with their aggregated research output being under constant scrutiny. This innovative text provides a detailed introduction to the origin and development of the scholarly metrics used to measure academic productivity, and the effect they have upon the quality and diversity of scientific research. With its careful attention to both the positive and negative outcomes of research evaluation and their distinct expressions around the globe, The Evaluation Game guides the way to a more grounded understanding of metrics, and the diverse academic cultures they give rise to.

This volume offers unique interdisciplinary views on issues in communication and culture with a central focus on Chinese perspectives as China and the world face the 21st century. These perspectives are based upon comparative data and East-West cross-cultural experience. Seventeen chapters, plus an introductory chapter that places the topics in perspective, report and interpret data here for the first time. The majority of the contributors are Chinese scholars from various disciplines, who now share their research on communication with Western as well as Eastern readers. The common thread of the essays is the way in which communication influences culture and cultural dimensions impact the processes of communication. The authors represent scholars from education, communication studies, mass communication, intercultural communication, sociology, rhetoric, literature, law, linguistics, telecommunications, international relations, journalism, and sociolinguistics. Part I presents cultural perspectives on ethics, East-West relations, translation issues, cross-cultural competence, persuasion, journalistic acculturation, and gender representation in advertisements. Part II addresses international and intercultural communication as seen in comparative campus cultures, cross-cultural interaction between Chinese and Americans, the practice of taijiquan, the media depiction of watching, the legal implications of the internet, and the issues of nation building. Part III focuses on mediated communication issues in Chinese films, China's media campaign for the olympics, Chinese youth's use of Western media, talk radio in China, and the use of new technologies in the post-Cold War era.

China has made remarkable and rapid progress in the area of science communication, both in theory and practice. This book critically examines all aspects of science communication practices in China. Dealing with major turning points since the introduction of the ‘Science and Technology Popularization Law’ and the ‘Outline of the National Scheme for Scientific Literacy’, the book tells a success story by scrutinizing structural changes in science communication policies, education system, construction and efficacious utilisation of science popularisation facilities, and creative use of a mix of traditional and modern channels of communication. The book also gives an in-depth analysis of the monitoring and evaluation mechanism, which constitutes the backbone of the national science communication project. The historical roots of science communication in China include shifts in methodologies, policy instruments, effectual approaches and resultant practices since the days of initial efforts to popularise modern scientific ideas. However, the primary focus of the book remains on the initiatives launched at the turn of the present century. Without losing sight of the national dimensions, each chapter of the book draws from provincial as well as grassroots level experiences. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to analyse strengths, weaknesses, hurdles and the efficacy of corrective measures. This book offers a remarkable insight to anyone who is interested in probing the causal relationship between science communication and China’s transformation into a modern society. The primary objective of the book is to analyse the nature of ‘science communication with Chinese characteristics’ and the specificity of the socio-cultural environment in which Science and Technology is located. Though the book is of particular interest to scholars, researchers, students and practitioners of science communication, the narrative style makes it accessible to the general reader who is interested in science-society relationship.

This book examines science and technology policies in China over time and explores the development of scholarly communication through the lens of the political economy of communication. Despite political censorship and restrictions on the production of academic knowledge in China, the number of scholarly publications has skyrocketed over the past 20 years. By explaining these seemingly contradictory phenomena, this study provides insight into the complex landscape of scholarly communication in China, shaped by the government in collaboration with commercial publishers. The book examines the dynamic relationship between the state and the market, including their key players, which determines the production and dissemination of academic knowledge. From a political economy perspective, it investigates how the academic governance complex, a system that intertwines communication, politics and economics, has been established in China. It then discusses the impact of this system on the production of academic knowledge in the country. The title will serve as a key reference for academics, researchers and students interested in the intersection of communication studies, librarianship, and political science, particularly those focusing on China's academic knowledge production and scholarly communication.