Aims & Scope

China Policy Journal (CPJ) is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to rigorous policy research and analysis with an emphasis on contemporary policy issues in Greater China under the aegis of the Policy Studies Organization (PSO). The journal covers a wide range of topics related to public policy in China. We welcome submissions that examine policy formulation, implementation, evaluation, and reform across various policy domains such as education, health, environment, development, social welfare, sustainability and more. Our journal strives to present a comprehensive view of China’s policymaking landscape, encompassing both urban and rural policies, as well as national and regional perspectives.

The journal also aims to bring together high-quality original research that makes a strong theoretical or empirical contribution to a better understanding of policy development process as well as the politics of policymaking in China. In addition, the Journal strives to be the definitive source for insights into Chinese policymaking, advancing the field and encouraging critical discussions on public policy challenges locally and globally.

The audience for CPJ comprises members of the academic community, as well as members of the policy community, including government officials, NGOs and advocacy groups, research institutes and policy analysts. CPJ is co-edited by the School of Government, Beijing Normal University, and Chinese Policy Scholar Group.

Ownership and Management
China Policy Journal is published by the Policy Studies Organization in Washington, DC. PSO advances policy analysis and development in multiple fields by publishing peer-reviewed journals, books, and book series. It was founded in 1972 as an outgrowth of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and produces over twenty national and international policy journals.

Business Model
The Policy Studies Organization (PSO) is a not-for-profit organization and does not charge membership fees. CPJ does not charge fees for submission, article review, processing, or publication.

Publishing Schedule
CPJ is committed to publishing bi-annually, with issues regularly published every Spring and Fall. Our publishing schedule is listed below:
Spring Issue: Published in May
Fall Issue: Published in November

Journal Copyrights and Licensing
China Policy Journal is an open-access journal. This allows for immediate free access to the work and permits any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. This is under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No-Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Authorship
Authorship is limited to those who made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the article. Individuals who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Author Copyright Policy
Authors retain ownership of the copyright to their articles but grant PSO the non-exclusive right to publish it in PSO’s China Policy Journal – as well as in any other publication that may be directly derived from this journal, such as print and digital books owned and published by PSO.

Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed to the Editor(s)-in-Chief immediately.

Citations
The individual reference format should follow the style guide of the American Psychological Association (APA): https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format

Including a hyperlink to the web-based article is encouraged, if possible, for a reference and practice for the author.

Ethics and Malpractice
CPJ Journal Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement
China Policy Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in academic publishing. As part of our responsibility to the global scholarly community and in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), we maintain the following policies regarding publication ethics and the prevention of malpractice.

1. Responsibilities of Authors
   Authors submitting to the CPJ Journal affirm that:

• Their work is original, free of plagiarism, and has not been published elsewhere.
• All authors listed have made a significant contribution to the work and agree to its submission.
• Any potential conflicts of interest—financial, institutional, or personal—are fully disclosed.
• Proper acknowledgment is given to all sources, collaborators, and contributors.
• If the research involves human or animal subjects, it complies with relevant ethical guidelines and has obtained appropriate institutional review board (IRB) approval.
• Authors are expected to correct significant errors in their published work promptly and cooperate with editorial decisions regarding retraction, correction, or clarification if needed.

2. Responsibilities of Editors
   Editors at the CPJ Journal will:

• Uphold fairness, objectivity, and confidentiality in the review and decision-making process.
• Evaluate manuscripts solely on scholarly merit, without regard to race, gender, institutional affiliation, nationality, or political philosophy of the authors.
• Take appropriate responsive action in the case of ethical complaints or suspected misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate submission), following COPE procedures.
• Guard against conflicts of interest in handling manuscripts and ensure transparency in editorial decisions.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers
   Peer reviewers are expected to:

• Provide objective, timely, and constructive assessments of submitted work.
• Identify potential ethical concerns, such as plagiarism or data manipulation, and report them to the editorial team.
• Maintain confidentiality regarding the content of manuscripts they review.
• Disclose any conflicts of interest that might impair their objectivity.
• Reviewers serve a vital role in maintaining the quality and credibility of published work, and their professionalism is essential to the journal’s peer review process.

4. Responsibilities of the Publisher
   The CPJ Journal’s publisher (Policy Studies Organization) supports editorial independence and ensures that:

• Allegations of publication misconduct are investigated thoroughly and impartially.
• Systems are in place to detect plagiarism and duplicate publication (including use of software tools).
• Guidelines for ethical oversight, corrections, and retractions are followed as necessary.
• Data privacy, copyright, and author rights are protected in accordance with applicable laws and standards.

5. Handling of Misconduct
   The CPJ Journal follows COPE’s guidance for dealing with allegations of misconduct (more information available at https://publicationethics.org/). Where proven, publication malpractice may result in rejection of the submission, retraction of published articles, and notification to authors’ institutions or funding agencies.

We believe that ethical publishing builds trust and advances knowledge. All parties involved in the publication process—authors, reviewers, editors, and readers—share the responsibility to uphold these values and foster a culture of integrity in space science and education.

Originality, Plagiarism, and Acknowledgement of Sources
Authors will submit original works and appropriately cite or quote the work and words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Plagiarism and making fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unacceptable behavior.

AI-Generated Content Policy
It is CPJ’s policy that all published articles be the original creation of its author(s) and not, in whole or in part, the product of Generative AI tools.

As of January 1, 2025, the Editor(s)-in-Chief may reject outright or require some or all of an article to be revised if he/she reasonably believes it contains AI-generated content that is not compliant with the Submission Guidelines.

The Author’s Cover Letter, which accompanies all submissions, must attest that “This submission is the original work of the author(s) and does not contain any AI-generated content.”

The only exception to this policy is the author’s use of office productivity tools that correct misspellings, grammatical errors, and bibliographical entries and notes, such as a spell checker, Grammarly, Citation Machine, etc.

Any questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Editor(s)-in-Chief

Errors in Published Works
If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must notify the Editor(s)-in-Chief (cpj@bnu.edu.cn) as soon as possible. From that point, the author and the editorial board will work together to correct or retract the published work in question (See the Corrections and Retractions section below).

Responsibility of the Reviewers
Reviewers should strive to be objective in their assessments. Reviewers’ comments should be clearly expressed and supported by data or arguments. Personal criticism of the author(s) is not appropriate.

Manuscripts for review must be considered confidential documents. Information concerning the manuscripts should not be discussed with others without the approval of the Editor(s)-in-Chief. Reviewers will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their research purposes without the author(s)’ explicit written consent. Reviewers will recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest relating to the reviewed article’s subject matter.

Based on the journal’s double-blind peer review process, reviewers will notify the Editor(s)-in-Chief at the earliest point where they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the articles.

Peer Review Process
1 – An Initial review determines if the submission suits CPJ and meets all the Submission Guidelines. The Editor(s)-in-Chief (EIC) may involve an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member in this review process;
2 – If a submission does not meet the minimum requirements or is not a proper subject matter for the CPJ, the submission may be rejected and returned to the author with comments or necessary changes to meet the requirements for resubmission;
3 – CPJ conducts double-blind reviews. For eligible manuscripts, two peer reviewers are typically assigned for an initial review, and on occasion, an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member may be involved in a review. Peer reviewers who possess knowledge in the relevant discipline are assigned whenever possible. Each reviewer makes an individual determination regarding the submission and provides both general and specific comments when necessary;
4- Based on Submission Guidelines, manuscripts are submitted with a separate cover page containing author identification and institutional affiliation, which the peer reviewers do not see;
5 – Peer reviewers submit their reviews to the Editor(s)-in-Chief, who then assesses the reviews;
6 – The EIC transfers the reviews to the corresponding author anonymously after the second peer review has been received. The EIC uses a consolidated peer review format for author ease of use.

Responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief
The Editor(s)-in-Chief’s key responsibility is determining which journal submissions will be published. Decisions are made based on a manuscript’s perceived merit. The Editor(s)-in-Chief will also oversee any discussion related to academic debate, appeals, corrections, and retractions, as explained in the following sections. Furthermore, the Editor(s)-in-Chief will continuously work to create a fully inclusive environment for authors, readers, and reviewers alike.

Academic Debate
CPJ encourages academic debate over the articles that have been published. Constructive comments, complaints, and criticisms should be directed to the Editor(s)-in-Chief (cpj@bnu.edu.cn) and the article’s author(s).

Appeals
Authors looking to appeal decisions made by the editorial board and/or peer reviewers should contact the Editor(s)-in-Chief (cpj@bnu.edu.cn). To maintain the double-blind peer review process, the Editor(s)-in-Chief will mediate all communication between the Author and Reviewer. Any editorial decisions concerning the matter are final.

Corrections
Readers are encouraged to contact the Editor(s)-in-Chief (cpj@bnu.edu.cn) if they find any errors in any article published by CPJ. In the event of an error, the EIC will work with the author(s) and the publisher to correct the identified error. If the identified error is found to invalidate the article in question, EIC will consider retracting the article.

Any corrections made to an article will be recorded, and a log of corrections will be made readily available to readers. Articles will be updated on every applicable part of the website as soon as corrections have been approved, as well as an update to the journal’s print version.

Retractions
CPJ is committed to maintaining the highest level of integrity in the articles published. Therefore, articles with severe errors and/or unreliable findings may be eligible for retractions. Such scenarios for retraction include:
• Plagiarism
• Unauthorized data usage
• Copyright infringement
• Failure to disclose conflicts of interest
• Major miscalculations
• Data fabrication
• Falsification of Materials
• Other serious matters, as deemed by the Editorial Board

In the event of a retraction, the EIC will promptly identify the retracted article on the CPJ website. This identification will include a date of retraction, the issuer of the retraction, and detailed reasoning for the retraction.

Inclusivity and Impartiality
CPJ is dedicated to creating a completely inclusive space for critical infrastructure discussions. This includes cultivating a welcoming environment for authors, reviewers, and readers. Discriminating and bias-related language will not be tolerated to create such an environment. This includes language concerning any party’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and political beliefs.

CPJ’s double-blind peer review process helps alleviate concerns of discrimination or favor on the reviewer’s part. The Editor(s)-in-Chief will choose the best reviewer to impartially review the article in question. Care will be taken to ensure that the reviewer has no conflict of interest in the article’s subject matter and that any judgment is impartial. The Editor(s)-in-Chief will also work to eliminate any identifiable information from the article that would result in a partial review.

Bias-Free Language
The Editorial Board will ensure that all articles use appropriate terminology and avoid bias-related language to create a welcoming environment for any reader. This includes, but is not limited to, the language concerning race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and political beliefs. Authors shall avoid using derogatory descriptions or offensive language unless the descriptions are integral to the article in question (e.g., direct quotes).
Any concerns about Inclusivity, Bias, and/or Discrimination should be directed to the Editor(s)-in-Chief.

Borders and Territories
Since space is a topic that may intertwine with geopolitics, border disputes and ongoing regional disputes may play a factor in published articles. To minimize unnecessary controversy, the Editor(s)-in-Chief may have a discussion with the author(s) if references to a disputed territory are considered inappropriate. Ultimately, matters will be handled on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Editor(s)-in-Chief.

Preservation of Material
To guarantee the enduring availability of our research, all published content is archived with Portico, a leading digital preservation service, ensuring access to our materials for future generations of scholars.

Online ISSN: 2470-6450
China Policy Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.