The Australian Centre on China in the World’s The China Journal Scores at the Pinnacle of the World’s Social Science Journals
The Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW)’s flagship journal—The China Journal—was ranked no. 1 for impact among Area Studies journals in 2024. It recently achieved another remarkable milestone: a Social Science Citation Index JCI (Journal Citation Indicator) Score of 4.43.
For more than thirty years, The China Journal as published informed and insightful commentary from China Studies scholars worldwide and stimulated scholarly debate on contemporary China and Taiwan. With its reputation for quality and clarity, the Journal has proven itself invaluable for instruction and research. It offers deep coverage of important anthropological, economic, foreign policy, sociological, and political science topics as well as high-quality reviews of recent books published on modern China.
The JCI Score is a new measure of a journal’s international impact, in addition to a journal’s impact ranking. The Score is designed to compare journals across disciplines. The Social Science Citation Index has spent years developing and refining the Score system before releasing it. It uses more complex criteria than the impact ranking system, and is likely to become the new standard, since university administrators will be able to use it to compare the quality of departments and of scholars up for promotion.
How does The China Journal compare across disciplines? The most eminent political science journal, the American Political Science Review, which is published by the American Political Science Association, has a score of 2.78; and the most eminent sociology journal, the American Sociological Review, published by the American Sociological Association, has a score of 3.72. The highest scoring international relations journal, International Organization, has a score of 3.73; and the highest scoring defense and security studies journal International Security has a score of 2.83. The highest scoring anthropology journal has a score of 3.22; and American Economic Review, published by the American Economic Association, scores 3.27. The China Journal, with a score of 4.43, surpasses all of these internationally eminent social science journals.
In the latest issue (no. 94), The China Journal published articles on Tibetan political disenfranchisement, China’s global corporate expansion, rural governance, China’s New Left, and academic self-censorship in China.
The China Journal sits alongside a variety of other research and education initiatives at CIW, including regular public lectures and seminars, annual forums and workshops, China literacy training programs for public servants, graduate workshops for students from around Australia , academic fellowships and grants, and study abroad programs. Next month CIW is leading an in-country study tour in Yunnan Province for students from the ANU, University of Canberra and La Trobe University.