Strengthening Academic Research

LI Anshan, President of the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies, is a well known Chinese scholar who has dedicated himself to African studies for more than 30 years. He has witnessed the development of African studies in China over the years.

Academic Research in China on National Human Rights Institutions

I. Symposium on National Human Rights Institutions and Research Topics Academic research in the Chinese mainland on national human rights institutions started in February 2003. From October 16-17, 2004, the China University of Political Science and Law organized an international sympo- sium in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on research about national human rights protection institutions, inviting experts from Australia, South Africa and Canada to brief the symposium on related information concerning the Asia-Pacific region and South Africa as well as to provide information about Canada＇s National Human Rights Commission. Chinese participants also discussed the possibility of establishing a national human rights organization in China.

Fuzzy Words Distribution in Management Science Research Articles

By using ZHANG Qiao＇s method for identifying fuzzy words （1998）, the present paper makes a statistic analysis of fuzzy words appearing in about 43,000 words of 6 academic research articles in management science. A distribution curve of fuzzy words in management research articles is drawn in accordance with the structures of the articles, and it is proved to be reasonable for tile discourse function of each section. Furthermore, the fuzzy words are divided into three categories and eleven sub-categories, including Category Ⅰ-fuzzy words, Category Ⅱ-fuzzy words＋non-fuzzy part / non-fuzzy part＋fuzzy words, Category Ⅲ-approximators＋fuzzy words. Distribution of fuzzy words varies in different sections of research articles in management science, because of different communicative purposes or discourse functions. Introduction section and Conclusion section have a higher occurrence rate of fuzzy words than Abstract section and Methodology and Data section.

Progress and prospects of graphene-based materials in lithium batteries

Reasonable design and applications of graphene-based materials are supposed to be promising ways to tackle many fundamental problems emerging in lithium batteries,including suppression of electrode/electrolyte side reactions,stabilization of electrode architecture,and improvement of conductive component.Therefore,extensive fundamental research on this aspect has been performed so far.However,when it comes to large-scale industrial applications,the utilization of graphene-based materials progresses at a very slow pace.Namely,there presents a severe technological decoupling between academic research and industrial application,and there is an urgent need to link them.Herein,in order to address current issues of graphene-based materials used in lithium batteries,we present their latest advancements with stateof-the-art technologies.Potential applications of graphenebased materials in practical lithium batteries are highlighted and predicted to bridge the gap between the academic progress and industrial manufacture,thereby paving the way for accelerating the development of graphenebased material as well as lithium battery industry.

COVID-19 research:pandemic versus“paperdemic”,integrity,values and risks of the“speed science”

Scientific integrity is a learned skill.When researchers and students learn integrity in laboratories or in the classroom,they are empowered to use similar principles in other aspects of their lives.This commentary reviews the concepts related to scientific integrity at a time when science faces important challenges related to the increase number of articles produced regarding research on coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)has ignited another parallel viral pandemic,with science ranging from robust studies to dishonest studies being conducted,posted,and shared at an unprecedented rate.A balance is needed between the benefits of the rapid access to new scientific data and the threat of causing panic or erroneous clinical decisions based on mistakes or misconduct.The truth is that the“scientific research has changed the world”but now,and more than ever,“it needs to change itself”.A pandemic with a“paperdemic”will be even more complicated to manage if it progresses in an uncontrolled manner and is not properly scrutinized.

Three Paradigms in Lu Xun Research and Contemporary Value Options

Research on Lu Xun is never simply the analysis of an individual writer, but constitutes an understanding of the cultural attributes represented by Lu Xun himself and his writings. Likewise, the evaluation of research on Lu Xun is never a simple evaluation of academic history, but rather a social evaluation associated with the value orientations of those times. At present, with the return of academic logic and the growing tendency toward private research, a noteworthy divergence of standpoints and evaluations of Lu Xun research has emerged. At the same time, as a prominent discipline that has been over-interpreted, research on Lu Xun is demonstrating a tendency toward redundancy and triviality. Three fundamental paradigms are commonly employed in research on Lu Xun： historical research that attempts to explore historical materials; academic research that focuses on knowledge interpretation and aesthetic evaluation; and contemporary research that pursues the contemporary meaning and values of Lu Xun＇s ideas. Each paradigm offers an insight into and understanding of Lu Xun＇s rich and complex spiritual world; each presents a paradox of one kind or the other; and each performs different value functions.

Progress of research on transportation geography in China

As an important branch of human geography, transportation geography has experienced three periods of evolution: foundation, systematization, and rapid development of the discipline. It has gradually become a relatively mature discipline. During the period 1930– 1980, the development of transportation geography consisted mainly of the publication of theoretical texts. During 1980–2000, it gradually became a systematic discipline. Since the start of the 21 st century, transportation geography has focused mainly on exploring the impacts of transportation on socio-economic development. Currently, studies on transportation geography have led to significant developments in a number of areas, including transportation theory, facility distribution and planning, transportation flows and network analysis, evaluation of transport modes, transportation planning, and simulation and assessment of urban transportation. Such studies have also enriched human geography research, provided a wider geographical overview and elucidated the development mechanism of transportation, as well as helped to understand the impacts of transport development on socio-economic systems. Some findings obtained by geographers have been widely used in transportation geography and related fields, including the four basic laws of transportation generation, the hub–spoke mode of transport organization, the subordinating and guiding functions of transportation on socio-economic development, regional transport dominance measures, accessibility measures, and spatial organization of port systems.