Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and AstraZeneca announce the launch of Nature China, a new web based publication promoting the best scientific research published in mainland China and Hong Kong
Nature China's aim is to highlight the best research being produced in mainland China and Hong Kong in all scientific and medical disciplines in one convenient portal.
In the past decade, the output of research papers from China, in the Thompson ISI database, has soared from 10,000 papers a year to over 80,000.
To put this in context China's output of scientific research is now at the same level (in numbers) as the UK and Japan.
The number of very high impact papers (citations in excess of 20) has increased ten-fold to several hundred.
Nature China will 'zero in' on these very high impact papers by scanning the top journals and seeking the support of the user community both inside and outside China to find the best research papers.
The editor of Nature China will select the best research, recently published, and provide a short summary of the results.
By organizing this research into a comprehensive, regularly updated, one-stop web portal, Nature China will help scientists and science policy makers find information on the most significant research coming out of China.
The launch of Nature China also marks the start of a key sponsorship deal with AstraZeneca who have committed to support the website for the next two years.
This is a long term commitment from one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and indicates the importance they see in research emerging from China.
"We are delighted to be launching this website and to be able to make all of the contents freely available to everyone thanks to the support of Astrazeneca.
"Nature China is one of the key components in NPG's strategy to develop publishing initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region" commented David Swinbanks, NPG publishing director with responsibility for the Asia-Pacific region.
"Our aim is to raise the profile of region's best science and thereby enhance its further development.
"We anticipate great interest in Nature China and look forward to the user community's contributions to the site alongside those of our editors."
