Is Google Scholar useful for the evaluation of Chinese journals?

Zhang, Y., Lun, H., & Yang, Z. (2017)
Is Google Scholar Useful for the Evaluation of Non-English Scientific Journals? The Case of Chinese Journals
iConference 2017 Proceedings (pp. 241–261). https://doi.org/10.9776/17025

This study aims to explore how useful Google Scholar is for the evaluation of non-English journals with the case of Chinese journals. Based on a sample of 150 Chinese journals across two disciplines (Library and Information Science, Metallurgical Engineering & Technology), it provides a comparison between Google Scholar and Chongqing VIP, which is an important Chinese citation database, from three aspects: resource coverage, journal ranking and citation data. 

Results indicate that Google Scholar is equipped with sufficient resources and citation data for the evaluation of Chinese journals. However, the Chinese journal ranking reported by Google Scholar Metrics is not developed enough. But Google Scholar is able to be an alternative source of citation data instead of Chinese citation databases. The Average Citation is a useful metric in the evaluation of Chinese journals with data from Google Scholar to provide a comprehensive reflection of journals’ impact. Overall, Google Scholar is useful and worthy of attention when evaluating Chinese journals.