A Statistical Analysis of College Biochemistry Textbooks in China: the Statuses on the Publishing and Usage

This study aimed to investigate the statuses on the publishing and usage of college biochemistry textbooks in China. A textbook database was constructed and the statistical analysis was adopted to evaluate the textbooks. The results showed that there were 945 (~57%) books for theory teaching, 379 (~23%) books for experiment teaching and 331 (~20%) books for assistant teaching. Most of these books were published for science/technology-associated universities, followed by medical schools, while the books for agricultural universities were relatively few. Additionally, the first decade of the 21st century was the most productive period. Interestingly, there were 456 (~28%) textbooks with the same name of “Biochemistry”, professor Airu Zhou was the most productive editor, and People‟s Medical Publishing House was the most productive press. The further survey showed that "Biochemistry" (3rd Edition) edited by professor Jingyan Wang et al was the most influential textbook. Overall, the findings suggest that the publishing and usage have been achieved a great success in college education along with some practical problems.