According to clarivate.com.cn, Geo-spatial Information Science (GSIS), the English academic journal sponsored by Wuhan University, has been formally included in SCIE database on September 23, 2020. It is a significant breakthrough for Wuhan University to get the first English journal included in SCIE. It is also a new stage for the development of GSIS after being included in GeoBase, Scopus, DBLP, ESCI and other databases.
GSIS, founded in 1998, is the first English journal in the field of surveying, mapping and remote sensing in China. The current editor-in-chief is Li Deren (WHU), an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. Its editorial office is in the Wuhan University Scientific Journals Press, and it is published in corporation with Taylor & Francis Publishing Group in the UK to provide open access (OA).
GSIS has been funded by Project for Enhancing International Impact of China STM Journals in 2013 and Excellence Action Plan for China STM Journals in 2019. It has also received generous support and careful guidance from many university leaders and scholars, including Academicians Li Xiaohong, Dou Xiankang, Li Jiancheng and Gong Jianya. And it has won the honor of “China’s Most Internationally Influential Academic Journal” for several consecutive years.
Since Academician Li Deren became the editor-in-chief of GSIS in 2011, he has led his team to confront the fierce international competition for English journals and make precise strategies for the development of the journal. With their efforts, the development of GSIS comes into a “high-speed” period. At the same time, they look up to the future with foresight and grasp the disciplinary development trend in the era of “big data” and “Internet of Things”. Further consolidating the purpose and direction of GSIS, building a first-class and highly internationalized team of associate editors-in-chief and editorial board members, organizing a series of significant and cutting-edge academic topic-selections, and implementing the OA publishing model, it has greatly enhanced the academic influence of the journal and significantly increased its downloading, citation and attention.
The development of GSIS largely relies on the academic resources and reputation of world-class editorial board members and scholars. The editorial board has appointed Prof. Armin Gruen (academician) from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, Prof. John van Genderen (academician) from the University of Twente, Netherlands, Prof. Alexander Zipf from Heidelberg University, Germany, and Prof. Qiming Zhou from Hong Kong Baptist University as associate editors. They have made major contributions to the development of GSIS by writing high-quality papers, organizing high-level academic activities and making promotion and publicity for it.
With the help of major international academic conferences at home and abroad, GSIS convenes an international editorial board meeting each year to analyze the specific difficulties in the development of journals and to discuss critical initiatives for the journal construction. During the International Editorial Board Meeting of GSIS in 2018, the editorial board participated in the first United Nations World Geographic Information Congress and hosted a sub-forum on “The Future of Surveying and Mapping Science”, which was supported by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China and enhanced the international visibility of GSIS in the academic and industrial fields.
To promote the international operation as well as efficient and high-quality publication of the journal, all GSIS editorial staff communicate more frequently with international editorial board members and high-level scholars, pay more attention to relevant research developments, and precisely advertise high-level papers of the journal, which greatly supports the publication and improvement of the journal.
In 2019, China Association for Science and Technology (CSTA), the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued Opinions on Deepening Reform and Cultivating World-Class Scientific and Technical Journals. Therefore, building world-class journals has also become an important mission for China’s “Double First-class” universities. The construction of first-class scientific and technical journals can enhance the academic status and international discourse right of Wuhan University and have positive significance for talent cultivation and ESI discipline construction of WHU. Through the constant accumulation and improvement of GSIS, it is formally included in the SCIE database. This is a breakthrough of the construction of WHU’s SCI journals. It will not only motivate the establishment of new international academic journals in many advantageous disciplines, but also effectively promote the continuous improvement of the quality of other academic journals of Wuhan University for better serving the construction of academic disciplines and the cultivation of talents.
Website of GSIS:
https://www.tandfonline.com/tgsi
The SCI information of journals can be inquired at:
https://mjl.clarivate.com/home
Rewritten by Li Tiantian
Edited by Zhang Yilin and Hu Sijia
