On March 21, the independently developed Chinese journal evaluation system "Dongbi Index Global High-quality Journal List (Life Sciences)" was officially released in Shanghai. According to the list data, in 2025, approximately 382,000 high-quality life science papers were published globally, with China's authors accounting for nearly 31.7%, showing significant advantages in fields such as agriculture, food science, and biotechnology.
In terms of breakthroughs in top-tier journals, the proportion of papers authored by Chinese researchers in A-level top journals reached 8.7%, higher than the global average of 7.7%. The number of top-tier papers in basic fields such as neuroscience, cell biology, and biochemistry has been steadily increasing, marking that China's scientific community has world-class influence in certain areas. At the same time, in the editorial boards of A-level life science journals, Chinese scholars numbered 751, ranking second globally, representing a transformation from "absence" to "presence" and from "evaluated" to "evaluators".
The simultaneously released "Dongbi Index Global High-quality Journal List (Medicine)" adopted an original evaluation method to conduct systematic classification across regions and languages, covering 40 medical sub-disciplines, providing a new "Chinese standard" for medical research evaluation, achievement publication, and journal development.
Data from the list shows that China's medical research has deeply participated in the global academic system. In 2025, the total number of global medical papers exceeded 520,000, with over 110,000 papers co-authored by Chinese researchers, accounting for 21%, demonstrating stable international output and academic influence. Integrated medicine and medical informatics have become distinctive advantageous fields in China, with authorship percentages reaching 43.1% and 42.8%, respectively. In pharmacology and pharmacy, Chinese authors published over 12,000 papers, accounting for 39% of the global total in this discipline, ranking first in the number of papers worldwide. Oncology also showed outstanding performance, with the number of papers authored by Chinese researchers ranking second among all disciplines, reflecting continuous investment and international publishing willingness in cancer research within the country.
In addition to traditional advantage areas, some emerging or interdisciplinary disciplines have also shown active trends in Chinese authors' publications. Chinese authors published nearly 6,000 papers on medical research and experiments, accounting for 38.2%.
Academic journal evaluation indicators are one of the most important "guiding forces" for academic paper publication and scientific research. In recent years, the Chinese self-built academic journal evaluation indicator system has been deeply advanced and has received widespread attention and recognition from the academic community.
The newly released "Dongbi Index Global High-quality Journal List (Medicine)" and "Dongbi Index Global High-quality Journal List (Life Sciences)" were jointly released by Dongbi Technology Data, the Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Library of the School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. They selected 4,027 medical and 3,064 life science high-quality journals from over 40,000 journals worldwide, building a new evaluation standard centered on quality, with multiple dimensions and levels, providing important support for breaking the "only impact factor" and "only papers" orientation, and enhancing China's academic voice.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7619672240187015734/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.