Citation: Chou, C. P. (2014). The SSCI Syndrome in Taiwan’s Academia. Education Policy Analysis
Archives, 22 (29). http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22n29.2014. This article is part of
EPAA/AAPE’s Special Issue on The Future of Education Research Journals, Guest Edited by Dr. David
Post.
Abstract: With the global expansion of higher education in the last two decades, the
maintenance of academic quality to meet requirements for international competitiveness
has become a critical issue for policymakers and universities. In addition, the neoliberal
emphasis on the market has increased the competition for global university rankings, and
this emphasis continues to have consequences for university autonomy and academic
governance. To cope with these challenges, Taiwan has introduced strategies for
benchmarking its leading universities. Under the new evaluation system, universities are