375: Chapter 375 Dragon Science Academy District One? Dragon Science Academy's Response!

"Exactly, the journal my advisor often publishes in has been around for so many years, it's a veteran journal. My advisor has published over a dozen papers in it, and it's still only Tier 2. Yet this 'Spark Biology Journal' gets Tier 1 straight away? On what grounds! Is the impact factor high enough?"

As soon as this comment was posted, the replies immediately exploded.

Someone retorted without hesitation: "To the person above, can the papers your advisor published compare to that SOD2 Mutant paper by God Zhao? That paper is of top-tier journal quality globally. With such a paper as ballast, plus a world-recognized authoritative review team, why wouldn't it deserve Tier 1?"

"Exactly, impact factor isn't absolute truth! God Zhao's journal is qualified enough, okay! As long as they can maintain the current quality, my advisor said that the quality of this inaugural issue is already comparable to 'Cell'. It's perfectly normal to give it Tier 1!"

"I also think this is reasonable. What the Chinese academic community needs most right now is to break the old patterns. The academic weight of 'Spark Biology Journal' is obvious to everyone. Giving it Tier 1 is because the papers themselves are qualified; its only problem is that it's too new."

"Right, the Chinese Academy of Sciences determining its grade should be based on journal quality, not the founding date. This itself is sending a signal: in the future, evaluating journals will be based on content, not seniority!"

"I also think this is a good thing. The journal evaluation system should have been reformed long ago. What's the point of obsessing over the age of the journal and impact factor? Some old-school journals rely on their early establishment to rest on their laurels. Their peer reviews are getting more watered down, or they just accept favors-based submissions every day. The quality of the papers published gets worse every year. Why should they still securely occupy a Tier 1 position?"

"Some people above have been kneeling for too long. Why shouldn't a Chinese journal enjoy equal treatment when the quality meets the standards? Are only English journals qualified to be Tier 1? If God Zhao's paper had been published in an English journal, would you all have shut up?"

Of course, not everyone thinks this is a good thing; some people are filled with concern about it.

An account verified as a "Young Faculty Member at a Certain University" posted a long Weibo: "My doubts are not about the journal itself. Judging from the inaugural issue, the academic quality of 'Spark Biology Journal' is indeed very good. However, this move by the Chinese Academy of Sciences will set a precedent: can the personal influence of the editor-in-chief be directly converted into the journal's rating? What happens if there are similar journals in the future? Institutionalized evaluation standards must be maintained through institutionalization."

Below this comment, it quickly turned into an argument.

Someone said: "Zhao Yang's influence is built on his solid academic achievements, not on maneuvering and packaging. This kind of influence being converted into a journal rating is, in itself, a recognition of academic quality."

Others retorted: "Rules are rules. You can't skip the rules just because Zhao Yang is impressive. Otherwise, anyone could use their personal brand to demand policy favors in the future. Today it's Zhao Yang, tomorrow it's someone else—will you still grant Tier 1 then?"

Soon, the Chinese Academy of Sciences released the list of Tier 1 journals, and the popularity of this topic began to skyrocket, rushing to the top of the Weibo trending list at lightning speed.

The topics that followed closely behind—#Spark Biology Journal Tier 1#, #Zhao Yang Journal Exceptional Rating#, #The Spring of Pure Chinese Journals#—occupied several top spots respectively. Looking at the entire trending list, the top spots were almost entirely occupied by related topics.

Someone dug up screenshots of tweets from foreign biologists criticizing Zhao Yang as "narrow-minded" and posted a Weibo combining them with today's trending search screenshots, with a caption of only one sentence: "Laughing to death. People outside are still calling him narrow-minded, while we gave him Tier 1 directly."

This Weibo post was reposted tens of thousands of times, and the comment section was filled with various memes and jokes.

"God Zhao: You guys keep cursing, I'll take a Tier 1 here first."

"Laughing to death, people outside are still fussing about whether he has an English version, while we've already given him Tier 1. The contrast is just too big."

"To be honest, I really didn't expect the Chinese Academy of Sciences to be this tough this time. In the past, such rating adjustments were always dragged out with repetitive arguments for years. I can't believe the results came out so quickly this time."

"It's probably because of what God Zhao said when he responded to the foreign internet earlier. He said 'Mutual blockades make everyone narrow-minded,' and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is probably using real actions to tell him: You are not narrow-minded; we support you."

"This is the highest level of endorsement. The treatment for a Tier 1 journal is equivalent to SCI Tier 1, which means that in the future, papers published by domestic scholars in 'Spark Biology Journal' can be directly used for professional title evaluations and grant applications. Those young scholars who were previously worried that submitting to Chinese journals would affect their assessments can now rest easy."

"This was exactly God Zhao's original intention in creating this journal. He said before that he wanted Chinese journals to have international influence, and now the Chinese Academy of Sciences is directly backing him! They've clearly stated their stance! Well done!"

The online discussion was in full swing, with various voices intertwined—from academic discussions to emotional outbursts, from rational analysis to pure spectatorship. The volume of discussion on the trending list was still climbing.

In the BBS and academic forums of major universities, many people also opened threads to discuss this matter.

"The quality of these papers is indeed higher than the average level of the vast majority of domestic Tier 1 journals. If they can maintain this level without dropping too much, getting Tier 1 is well-deserved!"

A few students also posted saying that their advisors were already considering submitting their next manuscripts to 'Spark Biology Journal' because the Tier 1 status combined with the brand name of Zhao Yang is equivalent to double insurance.

Just as the online discussion was heating up, the official Weibo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences posted a long article with a very simple title: "Explanation Regarding the Inclusion of 'Spark Biology Journal' in the Tier 1 Journal Catalog."

The main text directly responded to several questions that the outside world was most concerned about.

"Regarding the recent discussions on the inclusion of 'Spark Biology Journal' in the Tier 1 journal catalog, the National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences hereby makes the following statement. First, the criteria for journal rating are not immutable. The traditional journal evaluation system mainly relies on quantitative indicators such as impact factor and the age of the journal, which is reasonable to a certain extent. However, when the landscape of academic exchange is changing and new patterns are constantly emerging, the old system also needs corresponding adjustments."

"Second, the inaugural issue of 'Spark Biology Journal' has reached an extremely high standard in academic quality. Represented by the research on the antioxidant mechanism of SOD2 Mutant published by Professor Zhao Yang, the five papers included in this issue have reached an international first-class level in experimental design, data analysis, and scientific discovery. In terms of quality, it is no problem for it to reach the Chinese Academy of Sciences Tier 1."

"Third, Professor Zhao Yang enjoys a distinguished reputation within the global scientific community, and his academic integrity and attitude toward scholarship are beyond doubt. Based on these factors—with content quality as primary and editor-in-chief credibility as secondary—we believe that classifying 'Spark Biology Journal' as a Tier 1 journal is in line with the principles of academic fairness."

After the long article was posted, the atmosphere in the comment section changed significantly. The sincerity of the Chinese Academy of Sciences left many people quite satisfied.

Many young scholars left comments below, saying that this adjustment by the Chinese Academy of Sciences made them see hope for the rise of Chinese journals.

Some people also started discussing the limitations of the "impact factor" evaluation system itself. After all, the impact factor reflects the average number of citations of papers published in a journal over the past two years; it measures "popularity," not "quality."

Using such a metric to evaluate the value of a paper, or even a journal, inherently has many unreasonable aspects. The point is, one cannot use a "one-size-fits-all" approach! And this response from the Chinese Academy of Sciences directly addressed the issue of the "one-size-fits-all" approach.