Academic supremacy in China

Publish or perish is a phrase repeated throughout many higher education institutions and captures the priority placed on research, creation of new knowledge, and getting it published. The idea of influencing the emergence of thought is laudable and has shaped many campus cultures, especially those at the highest and most elite levels.

China has long sought to capture a seat at the table of elite higher education and it has done it through pushing academic citations. However, new policies from the Chinese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology discourage academics from relying on citations as a primary means of evaluating individuals and departments. Chinese universities have also begun to discontinue the practice of requiring graduate students to publish papers in order to receive their Ph.D.s., starting with some of the most elite institutions.

Shen Wenqin, an associate professor at Peking University proposed that the shift in policy may be partially attributed to dissatisfaction with the current research system by the public, saying "The government has invested huge amounts of money on scientific research, but universities and research institutions have not performed very well in solving practical social problems."