The current status of medical education literature in Chinese-language journals

Background: Many research articles on medical education have been published in Chinese-language journals, the majority within the past few years. However, there have been no objective studies to look at the quality of these, and their contribution to present day thinking. Aim: This study explored the areas of focus, and the quality, of published research on Chinese undergraduate medical education. Method: We searched three major Chinese databases, including Chinese Biology Medicine in electronic form, Chinese Journals Full-text Database, and Chinese Technological Periodicals Database, to trace the research themes and methodologies of Chinese-language research papers published from January 2000 to December 2008. Results: The annual number of published articles on undergraduate medical education research has increased over time in China, with 70% of the articles in our 9-year study published in the past 4 years; the most popular theme was curriculum and teaching. Non-comparative studies accounted for the majority of the literature (84.6%); and comparative studies were rare. Conclusions: Although an increase in the number of articles on medical education research in China is encouraging, more methodologically rigorous designs are needed to improve research quality. Generic and focused training on research methodology is essential to convert quantity into quality.