| The study explores the patterns of Chinese scientists returning to mainland China from the United States between 2000 and 2023, and the impact of this return on their academic performance. Based on data from 127 thousand Chinese scientists who returned to China, extracted from a comprehensive publication database, the study applies big data analysis methods to quantify changes in their academic performance before and after returning, including article publication counts, citation counts, and journal impact factors. The results indicate that in recent years, returned scientists have seen an improvement in both publication quantity and quality, particularly in the journal impact factor. Although there are significant differences in academic performance across disciplines, and between young scientists and high-output scientists, the overall academic performance has improved after their return. In the long term, as China's research resources continue to optimize, the academic performance of returnees stabilizes, compensating for the negative impact of mobility. This study suggests optimizing the research environment and resource allocation so that the country, research institutions, and individual scientists can all benefit more from the return. |
