The Dual Dimension of Scientific Research Experience Acquisitionand its Evolution : A 40-Year Analysis of Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences Journals

Scientific experience is crucial for producing high-quality research, and the approach of acquisition can significantly impact its accumulation rate. We present a framework for scientific experience acquisition that outlines the dual dimensions of experience accumulation: self-accumulation (approach A) and accumulation under senior expert guidance (approach B). Taking into account the limitations of the international journal system, we validated the framework using a case study of 914,700 papers from all 568 Chinese humanities and social science journals. Our findings suggest that approach A is gradually declining, from 66.96% in 1980 to 47.64% in 2020, while approach B is gradually increasing, from 3.65% in 1980 to 7.70% in 2020. The relative advantage of approach B is greater for achieving more important research findings, about 4.53% higher on average. Furthermore, the proportion of the two approaches varies by discipline. Social sciences such as Psychology, Economics, and Management, which rely more on large teams and collaborative research, have a higher proportion of approach B than humanities disciplines like Art, Literature, and Philosophy, which depend more on individual research