This article is part of a series on Beyond English: Accessing the global epidemiological literature, edited by Mr. Isaac Fung, Imperial College London.

Analytic perspective

Chinese journals: a guide for epidemiologists

Isaac CH Fung

Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, UK

author email corresponding author email

Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2008, 5:20doi:10.1186/1742-7622-5-20

Published:	30 September 2008

Abstract

Chinese journals in epidemiology, preventive medicine and public health contain much that is of potential international interest. However, few non-Chinese speakers are acquainted with this literature. This article therefore provides an overview of the contemporary scene in Chinese biomedical journal publication, Chinese bibliographic databases and Chinese journals in epidemiology, preventive medicine and public health. The challenge of switching to English as the medium of publication, the development of publishing bibliometric data from Chinese databases, the prospect of an Open Access publication model in China, the issue of language bias in literature reviews and the quality of Chinese journals are discussed. Epidemiologists are encouraged to search the Chinese bibliographic databases for Chinese journal articles.