Selection of databases, indicators and models for evaluating research performance of Chinese universities

Both report-based and derived databases are currently used in the evaluation exercises of Chinese universities. To examine their respective reliability, the stratification structures of medical universities are compared. SCI, Chinese Scientific and Technical Papers and Citations (CSTPC) and Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) are all derived databases that are widely used in the evaluation of research performance of Chinese universities. What are the differences among these three databases? How important is the indicator of publication count in comparison with the quality or impact indicators? What mathematical model could better describe the rank-frequency distribution of given evaluation indicators among universities? This paper tries to answer these questions. Extended negative exponential function proves to be an appropriate model to fit the rank-frequency distribution here. A multi-equivalent comprehensive indicator is built and used to rank universities according to their research performance. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.