China-led journal Vita aims for world-class status in life sciences
The first print edition of Chinese-led international academic journal Vita has been released, with the goal of building it into a premier publication in China’s life sciences sector.
Jointly established by member universities and institutions of the Alliance of Open Life Science, the Vita series is running with a “main journal plus sub‑journals” model and is adopting an open-access policy, making its content freely available globally while charging no publication fees to authors.
Alliance members have pledged to recognize Vita and its sub-journals as equivalent to top-tier international counterparts and sub‑journals in research evaluation, incentivizing Chinese research teams to publish major original findings in the journal.
Jin Li, president of Fudan University and chairman of the alliance, emphasized that groundbreaking work must not be overlooked because of commercial publishing considerations, and that journals should focus on outstanding research and adhering to academic integrity.
“Building a world-class journal means pursuing excellence,” Li said. “By publishing top-tier research, we aim to set benchmarks for the academic community, encouraging researchers to strive for innovation and rigor, and ultimately foster a vibrant ecosystem for sci-tech innovation.”
High-level scientific journals are a reflection of national scientific competitiveness and cultural influence.
While China has seen rapid growth in its scientific publications in recent years, with increasing total citations and impact factors, according to a report on China’s sci-tech journal development in 2025, most of the country’s leading research papers are still published abroad, and the country has yet to produce a globally recognized top-tier journal.
“This does not match China’s contribution to the global scientific community,” said Shi Yigong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Westlake University. “It is imperative to build world-class scientific journals led by China and recognized internationally.”
Li Dangsheng, Vita co-editor-in-chief and chief scientific officer at Shanghai Academy of Natural Sciences, said journals should put into practice the principle of “serving science and serving scientists,” and earn recognition from researchers through rigorous, fair and impartial services.
The Alliance of Open Life Science was jointly initiated by 15 leading universities and research institutions from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao, and officially established in Hong Kong on Aug. 12, 2025. Now comprising 39 members, the alliance prioritizes the development of high-quality scientific journals and open international research data platforms.