Number Governance: The Institutionalization of Journal Metrics in the Chinese Science Assessment

There is an increasing public and governmental demand for quantification as a base for discussions and decision-making. As a type of quantification of journal quality, journal metrics have been deployed as a critical measuring tool in Chinese science assessment. Over the past few decades, a variety of journal-related indicators have been introduced in China, contributing to the development of a modern science structure and infrastructure. However, the adoption of international publication indexing and measuring standards has also started to change the Chinese research evaluation ecosystem and has profound effects on the Chinese scientific community with an increasing obsession with indicators. This has redirected research activities and science communication and continuously reinforced the conviction that the quality of journals and research correlates with impacting factors. This project seeks to explore the historical trajectory of various journal metrics introduced and integrated into the Chinese science evaluation ecosystem, analyzing the consequences of these quantified indicators among different actors and the factors driving inertia in the Chinese research assessment reform. It then aims to reflect on the implications of number governance in the centralized state regime, in the contrasting context with the quantification influence of its counterparts regimes.