Editing Practice

Practices and strategies for enhancing knowledge services in academic journals: A multicase study

2025-07-09T11:33:21+08:00

Background: In the era of digitization, academic journals face the challenge of transforming from content providers to knowledge service providers. Academic journals play an important role in promoting scholarly communication and popularizing scientific knowledge. Methods: This paper reports a multicase study of four leading Chinese academic journals in science. Through in-depth interviews and content analysis, we investigated their practices and strategies for enhancing knowledge services. Results: Successful journals employ these approaches: (1) content customization, requiring a clear definition of target audiences and tailored service portfolios; (2) cultivation of authors to build professional communities that sustain scholarly excellence; and (3) development of integrated academic platforms to facilitate knowledge exchange. However, challenges still exist, including limited technical capacities, resource allocation imbalances, and traditional editorial mindsets. Conclusion: This research provides actionable insights for academic publishers seeking to enhance their knowledge service capabilities, including embracing digital transformation, adopting user-centric service models, and redefining the role of editors as knowledge curators rather than gatekeepers.

Investigation and analysis of the current situation and learning willingness of science and technology journal editors on generative artificial intelligence

2025-06-24T10:55:38+08:00

Background: This study aims to investigate the cognitive status and willingness to learn about generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) of science and technology (sci-tech) journal editors, and to propose corresponding training strategies to enhance their core competitiveness and promote the development of sci-tech journals in the artificial intelligence (AI) era. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among editors of Chinese sci-tech journals, focusing on the respondents' understanding and attitudes towards GenAI and its usage boundaries, their willingness to learn GenAI technology, preferences for learning methods, and choices for improving learning outcomes and interest. Results: A total of 238 valid questionnaires were collected. The respondents were primarily female editors aged 31-50 with editorial or associate editor titles. Editors, 98.74% of whom had varying degrees of knowledge about GenAI, and 88.66% of whom believed that GenAI would partially replace their work in the future. Only 10.92% of the editors had a clear understanding of the usage boundaries of GenAI in academic publishing, while 84.87% considered it essential to learn GenAI technology. In terms of learning needs for GenAI technology, the most requested knowledge content was methods, techniques, examples of use and policy regulations, followed by technical theories and historical development processes. The preferred learning formats were on-site centralized training, online expert lectures, watching educational videos, regular training at work units, self-study and practice, and live exchanges with experts. The methods to enhance learning effectiveness and interest, in order of priority, include: establishing a learning communication group for constant updates, applying for relevant research projects, formulating incentive policies by the workplace, forming study groups with colleagues or like-minded peers at work, participating in competitions and awards organized by educational training institutions, and writing academic papers. Conclusion: Sci-tech journal editors have a high level of awareness regarding GenAI but lack knowledge of policy guidelines. They have an urgent need to learn GenAI technology, and it is essential to adopt diversified and practical learning strategies along with personalized learning formats to improve learning efficiency. Encouraging the editorial and publishing societies to lead professional and standardized GenAI training programs, and increasing incentives from relevant organizations and institutions to boost editors' enthusiasm for learning, while emphasizing international training is crucial.

Analysis of the multiple annotations and improper fund labeling of papers published by medical university journals

2025-06-23T13:08:22+08:00

Background: To investigate the trend of improper fund labeling and analyze the phenomenon of multiple annotations in one paper. Methods: A systematic sampling method was adopted to select academic papers from 23 medical university journals in the first issue of 2020 and the first issue of 2023. Each paper was screened, and the journal, number of issues, title, keywords, authors' names, their affiliated units, and approval numbers of all funding projects were recorded. Data of various projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) were also extracted: Names, keywords, start and end dates of its projects; names of project leaders and participants; names of the applying units; completion status; and thesis titles. Results: The sampling method yielded 1090 sampled papers, 2014 funding projects, and 916 (84.04%) papers that received funding, with an average of 1.85 funded papers. A total of 392 papers had received support from 507 projects by the NSFC. Among the 2014 funding projects, 73.6% were labeled with appropriate timing, 7.7% had inappropriate timing, and 18.7% required clarification about whether there was any inappropriate timing. Twenty-one funding projects (1.0%) were approved for more than 10 years. The number of improper labeling of funding time in the first period of 2023 significantly decreased since 2020 (2.48 ± 1.44 vs. 4.35 ± 3.13, P < 0.001). Out of the 507 projects of the NFSC, 373 (73.6%) had content annotations that complied with regulations, 114 (22.5%) had no content annotations, 5 (1.0%) had no author annotations, and 15 had annotations that do not exist (2.9%). Conclusion: Improper funding labeling occurs in medical university journals. Relevant departments should take certain measures to curb the chaos in fund labeling. This is of great significance for maintaining academic integrity, clarifying the ownership of intellectual property rights, standardizing the use of funds, and improving the effectiveness of funding.

Research on capacity building for high-quality development of Chinese medical journals: A comprehensive study of the journal China Oncology

2025-06-23T21:16:58+08:00

Background: High-quality development and enhancement of global reputation are important for Chinese biomedical journals. This study analyzed the high-quality development status and strategies of China Oncology since the establishment of the Fifth Editorial Board, aiming to provide a reference for the high-quality development of biomedical journals in China. Methods: This study summarized all strategies adopted from 2020 to 2024 to enhance the competitiveness of China Oncology, including expanding the editorial board members, establishing policies, improving writing quality (following the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research [EQUATOR] Network guidelines), performing the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and applying for inclusion in international databases. In addition, GraphPad Prism 10.0 was used for graphical analysis. Results: China Oncology enhanced global influence and contributed to the improvement of cancer prevention and treatment. China Oncology has strengthened various capacity building through multidimensional development and has achieved significant results in all aspects, including expanding the editorial board members and establishing a youth editorial board, strictly controlling the academic quality of journals, promoting journal transparency, carrying out an open-access (OA) publishing model with Creative Commons (CC) license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, expanding inclusion in international databases (indexed by Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals [DOAJ], Excerpta Medica Database [Embase], EBSCO, Japan Science and Technology [JST], and Index Copernicus), and enhancing content quality by following the EQUATOR Network guidelines. Conclusion: By applying for inclusion in renowned international databases, enhancing academic influence and international visibility by expanding the members of the editorial board, strictly following the EQUATOR Network guidelines and Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, strengthening publishing ethics, focusing on oncology hotspot studies, and improving the scientific and editorial quality of the manuscripts, Chinese medical journals can achieve high-quality development.

Typical cases and implications of enhanced publishing on chemistry publishing platforms

2025-06-24T10:53:28+08:00

In the digital age, enhanced publishing has become an increasingly important innovation in academic communication. This study investigates the enhanced publishing strategies adopted by three major chemistry publishing platforms: The American Chemical Society (ACS), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and Wiley. Through case analysis, this paper highlights how these platforms utilize technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) molecular visualization, semantic enrichment, interactive databases, and multimedia embedding to support open science and improve research dissemination. The findings provide valuable references for enhancing the publishing capabilities of Chinese academic journals in the field of chemistry.

Current situation and prevention strategies of paper mills

2025-03-12T10:50:31+08:00

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the retraction of academic papers due to issue of "paper mills". Multiple pieces of evidence indicate that papers produced by paper mills have infiltrated academic papers, posing a huge challenge to academic publishing integrity. This article summarizes the definition and specific manifestations of paper mills, the harm they cause, as well as the preventive and response strategies carried out by stakeholders. In addition, it puts forward suggestions and areas for improvement for the Chinese academic community in preventing paper mill issues. It provides a reference for strengthening the awareness and attention of researchers and journal editors to the problems of paper mills, promoting the implementation of more effective countermeasures, and maintaining research integrity.

Expanding the blueprint: A commentary on strengthening high-quality development of Chinese english-language scientific and technological journals through insights from the journal Light: Science & Applications

2025-05-07T13:32:34+08:00

Omissions in STM Trends 2028: Reflections from China

2024-12-06T10:36:32+08:00

Impact of generative artificial intelligence on scientific paper writing and regulatory pathways

2025-06-24T10:45:30+08:00

Generative artificial intelligence (AI), a key branch of natural language processing, is transforming scientific paper writing. This paper examines its technical features, applications, benefits, and risks and suggests regulatory measures. Generative AI enhances writing efficiency but poses challenges to academic integrity. Future development requires a balance among technical, institutional, and ethical approaches.