JIANG Zhaocai
Institute
of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of
Science, Beijing 100101, China
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodp.2026.04.14
On
July 6, 2026, at the 15th Academic Conference on English Scientific Journals,
co-hosted by the Society of China University Journals (CUJS) and the Institute
of Scientific and Technical Information of China, the CUJS conferred the honor
of “Outstanding Editor-in-Chief” on Professor LIU Chuang, Editor-in-Chief of
the Digital Journal of Global Change Data Repository, and the honor of
“Excellent Editor” on Dr. SHI Ruixiang, Deputy Editor‑in‑Chief and Associate
Senior Editor.
From July 6 to 9, under the theme “Embracing
Challenges, Envisioning the Future”, the conference was held in
Shanghai. The organizers emphasized that China’s English-language
scientific journals are a window for international academic exchange and are
crucial to the internationalization of China’s journals. The conference focused
on topics including the development of world-class
scientific journals, journal academic evaluation, international journal
operations, academic journal operations, and editorial career development. Over
360 domestic and international experts and representatives attended.
Keynote speakers
included Academicians GAO Fu (Science Bulletin and hLife),
FAN Jia (Clinical Cancer Bulletin), ZHANG Jiujun
(Electrochemical Energy Review), Ms. Nandita Quaderi
(Web of Science), and Director YANG Daiqing (ISTIC).
On academic evaluation, Research Librarian LIU Xiaomin (National Science
Library, CAS) proposed deeper integration with international exchange; LIU Qian
(Editorial Office of Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, Peking
Union Medical College Hospital) discussed implications of international
database evaluations for medical journals; and DU Juan (American Chemical Society Content Acquisition) shared American
Chemical Society database assessment practices.
On international
operations, HUANG Yanhong (General Manager, Beijing Zhongke
Journal Publishing Co.) shared branding and dissemination practices; YANG Huabing (Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Higher
Education Press) presented HEP’s support for university English journals; and
YANG Lei (General Manager, Chinese Laser Press) offered insights from optics
journal internationalization. On academic journal operations, Professor ZHENG
Wenli discussed particle physics journals (Chinese Physics C and Radiation
Detection Technology and Methods); YU Xiezhi
(Deputy Director, Editorial Office of School of Environment, Nanjing
University) addressed new journal board building based on Eco- Environment
& Health; and DU Yaowen (Project Director,
Silverchair China) recommended optimizing international review systems.
On editor career
development, Director DING Zuoqi (Chinese Journal
of Natural Medicines and Targetome, China
Pharmaceutical University) shared research-editing integration; LI Yuan (Editorial
Publishing Department, National Science Library, CAS) analyzed publication
pathways for editors; and Editor LIU Shuang (CAMS) explored Vibe Coding’s role.
A dialogue between editors-in-chief and early-career editors was also held.
In his closing
remarks, Chairman ZHANG Tieming (CUJS) praised the
enthusiasm of all participants and highly commended the new ideas, measures,
and innovative practices presented. He also offered constructive suggestions
for the development of China’s English- language
scientific journals in the coming year. It is clear from these exchanges that
the conference was a high-level
gathering for China’s English journals and a milestone event in China’s journey
toward becoming a leading scientific and technological power.
Professor LIU
Chuang (Editor‑in‑Chief of Digital Journal of Global Change Data
Repository and Executive Deputy Editor‑in‑Chief/Managing Editor of Journal
of Global Change Data & Discovery), SHI Ruixiang
(Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the former and Deputy Director of the latter’s
editorial office), and editor JIANG Zhaocai attended
the conference. LIU noted that universities are the top manuscript source and
data-application hub for both journals, and thanked the CUJS for its over-a-decade
support to English journal development and to their editorial office.
The editorial
office of the Journal of Global Change Data & Discovery
(Chinese & English) is a scientific journal office focused on the
publication of global change research data. Since 2014, the office has
successively launched 2 interrelated academic journals—the Journal of Global
Change Data & Discovery and the Digital Journal of Global
Change Data Repository—along with the Global Change Research Data
Publishing and Repository of the World Data System (Chinese & English)
(WDS-GCdataPR) platform and thematic data and
knowledge hubs such as Geographical Indications Environment &
Sustainability (GIES). Together, these form a publishing system comprising “2
journals, 1 website, and several thematic hubs”, which has been approved by the
International Science Council as a Regular Member of the World Data System, and
has received the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prize three
times (in 2018, 2021, and 2025). In this publishing system, university scholars
are the main authors: among the 3,200+ authors of 1,500+ datasets published in
the Digital Journal of Global Change Data Repository, nearly half come
from universities, nearly half are from universities. Among them, domestic
authors are from 209 China’s universities, out of a total of 225 (including 16
foreign), making higher education institutions the backbone of this field in
China.
To promote the
emerging field of scientific data publishing, Professor LIU Chuang, with
support from the Geographical Society of China (GSC) and the Institute of
Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
(IGSNRR, CAS), organized 47 “Capacity Building Workshop on Big Data
Applications” at universities, research institutes, and rural areas across
China and abroad. LIU noted that, as a pioneer in the history of scientific
data publishing, she initiated and led the launch of the Digital
Journal of Global Change Data Repository—the world’s first journal
dedicated to dataset publication. Together with the Journal of Global Change
Data & Discovery, this publishing system has become the only WDS
member characterized by data publication.
As Editor-in-Chief
of this innovative journal and the person responsible for the “three- review
and three-proofreading” process, her primary tasks are to steer the direction
of data publication innovation, select appropriate columns and content, ensure
data security, intellectual property rights, privacy, quality, and scientific
ethics, and coordinate the editorial team. She aims not only to make scientific
data useful within academia but also to lead it toward promoting sustainable
social development, by proposing new ideas, implementing novel measures, and
opening up effective pathways. She has effectively integrated data publishing
with academic services. Having served as Co-Chair and Secretary of the CODATA
Task Group on Developing Countries for over 20 years, she later co-established
and co-chairs the Task Group on GIES. The GCdataPR
she leads has been a member of the ISC-WDS for 10 years. She initiated and
served as Secretary of the Geographic Big Data Working Committee under the GSC
for 8 years. Since 2023, she has been Vice Chair of the FAO’s “One Country One
Priority Product” (OCOP) initiative for the Asia-Pacific region.
She and her team
have developed principles, guidelines, and technical specifications for data
publishing, while also fostering a professional commitment to the field. She
places top priority on ethical conduct in data publishing. In her view, data
publishing professionals need not only broad expertise, up‑to‑date policy
awareness, technical skills, and the ability to provide precise feedback to
authors, but also a meticulous, dedicated work ethic and the sense of
fulfillment that comes from serving others’ work. Her innovative approaches
have been hailed as “a new milestone for scientific data sharing in China” (XU Guanhua, 2017). She has received the WSIS Prize three times
(2018, 2021, 2025), and her project was named a “Digital Publishing Innovation
Project 2017–2018” at the 8th China Digital Expo. The data publishing,
dissemination, and sharing services she championed became a core value in the
FAO’s designation of IGSNRR, CAS as a “Centre of Excellence” for the OCOP Asia-Pacific
region (2026).
At the conference,
Dr. SHI Ruixiang, Associate Senior Editor, was honored with the “Excellent
Editor” award. She serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Digital
Journal of Global Change Data Repository and Deputy Director of the
Editorial Office of the Journal of Global Change Data & Discovery.
Since 2014, she has been dedicated to the first-round review and first-round
proofreading of datasets in the publication of global change research data.
Among the over 1,500 datasets published to date—varying widely in source,
content, format, spatiotemporal alignment, and author expertise—she has
systematically reviewed and edited each for openness, standardization,
consistency, accessibility, correspondence between datasets and data papers,
consistency with related scientific discovery papers, and bilingual (Chinese-English) alignment. Over the past decade, she has consistently
prioritized quality, day in and day out. As a result, all published datasets
have achieved two 100% rates (all data are openly accessible in both Chinese
and English, and all are fully compliant in terms of data security,
intellectual property, quality, privacy, and ethics), as well as an “Excellent”
rating in the 2023 annual journal evaluation by the CAS. In 2020, she was
awarded the title of “Outstanding Geography Editor” by GSC, and in 2024, she
received a nomination for the “Aerospace Data Craftsman of the Year” award.
Figure 1 Certificate presentation: LIU Chuang (Outstanding
Editor-in-Chief) and SHI Ruixiang
(Excellent Editor) from SCUJ