中国高校地理研究发展与态势

Universities and geographical research development in China based on the bibliometrics analysis

中国高校地理研究发展的本质是,解读地理知识产出空间结构,更深层次是地理科研活动空间不均衡的阐释。基于论文统计与数据挖掘方法,以1986-2018年《地理学报》《地理研究》《地理科学》和《地理科学进展》(简称"4地")发表论文为基础数据,选取39所中国地理高校作为研究对象,构建高校发文指数,界定高校发展形态,分析不同区域、不同类别高校地理发展态势。结果表明:①从发展历程分析,"985"高校是中国高校地理研究的核心,而"211"高校在2005年后普遍发展,形成以中、高发文量为主的集聚区,其他类高校形成高、中、低发文量均衡分布的态势;②从空间集聚分析,东部高校逐渐形成"北上广南"的地理研究集聚区;中部高校于2004年后呈现快速发展,其中东北师范大学、河南大学和安徽师范大学发展最为突出;西部高校总体呈现"西北强-西南弱"空间格局;③综合分析表明:中国高校地理学发展势头强劲,但"985"高校、东部高校地理发展内部差异较大,且短期内西部与中东部高校、其他类高校与"985""211"高校地理发展不均衡依然维持。在未来发展中,除引进优秀科研团队、政策扶持外,中国高校地理发展还应抓住区域特色,培育自身地理团队,以实现区域研究协调发展。

This study analysed the geographical development characteristics of Chinese universities from hierarchical and regional perspectives by establishing a publishing index,defining development patterns, and dividing relevant grades on the basis of academic articles during 1986-2018. The articles were published in the top four Chinese geographic journals:Acta Geographica Sinica, Geographical Research, Scientia Geographica Sinica, and Progress in Geography. We discuss the factors influencing the geographical development of Chinese universities. The results showed that(1) temporally, publication trends indicated an increase in geographical research in China from 1986 to 2018, which featured spatial agglomeration and quantitative hierarchy. So, we divided the number of publications into three categories(high,medium, and low) using systematic clustering analysis.(2) We examined the development history of different types of university involved in projects to promote the development of Chinese higher education by national and local governments. Universities sponsored by Project985 were the largest contributors to the number of published articles, which formed the nucleus of geographical research, and universities sponsored by Project 211 contributed a medium-high number. For other universities, the annual number of published articles prior to 2006 was generally low and increased slowly. Since 2006, the number in some universities increased rapidly, while others remained low-stationary, showing the evolution of the coexisting pattern of high-medium-low categories.(3) Spatially, in eastern China, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,and Nanjing are centres of geographical research, ranking at the top in terms of geographical knowledge production. In addition, universities in the central region developed rapidly after2004. Universities in the western region showed an asymmetric pattern, specifically, the northwest was stronger that the southwest.(4) The historical pattern of geographical research could be summarized using J, S, and linear curves. The findings revealed that the number of universities with J and linear curves was higher than those with S curves, while the number of universities that published papers at the middle and low levels was larger than those at the high level. In the future, geographical development will experience increasing improvement,although there is the external gap between the core and periphery for Chinese universities, i.e.,between western and eastern universities, as well as with other universities and those sponsored by Projects 985 and 211.(5) A framework has been constructed to illustrate the development disequilibrium and factors influencing the geographical development of universities. It is suggested that future practices should not only involve the introduction of excellent research teams and the provision of policy support, but also the utilization of regional characteristics to cultivate teams that can achieve sustainable geographical development in China.