Increase in articles published by authors from Mainland Chinese hospitals in high-impact journals: a comparison between 2012 and 2017

The research outputs have rarely been studied in Mainland China. The present study aimed to analyse research articles published in high-impact journals (HIJs) by authors from Mainland Chinese hospitals in 2012 and 2017. All types of articles were searched in the PubMed and Embase databases. The durations were 1 January-31 December 2012 and 1 January-31 December 2017. Ten parameters were analysed. Overall, 205 and 871 articles were published in 2012 and 2017 respectively, in 198 HIJs. The proportion of articles published in journals with journal impact factor (JIF) > 25 was higher in 2017 than in 2012 (12.3% vs 9.8%). The number (proportion) of original articles increased from 146 (71.2%) in 2012 to 509 (58.4%) in 2017. There were 92 (44.9%) and 89 (43.4%) articles in basic and clinical research in 2012, whereas the numbers (proportions) were 409 (44.9%) and 230 (26.4%) respectively, in 2017. The number of articles acknowledging domestic (within China) and international ( between Mainland China and other countries) cooperation in 2017 increased by almost seven-fold (281 vs 41) and eight-fold (289 vs 38) respectively. Funding acknowledgement was made in 85.4% and 75.8% of articles in 2012 and 2017 respectively. The number of articles published in HIJs by authors from Mainland Chinese hospitals has increased rapidly from 2012 to 2017, with only approximately 10% being published in journals with JIF > 25. The number of original articles on basic and clinical research has dramatically increased. Domestic and international cooperation and research funding are found to play an important role.