One kind of periodicals is the national core periodicals, the other is other core periodicals except the national core periodicals, and the third is ordinary periodicals. Academic journals that publish papers can be divided into core journals and non-core journals, and general journals are journals other than core journals.

Core journals refer to authoritative journals that can best reflect the academic level of a certain discipline, with a large amount of information and high utilization rate, and are widely valued. State-level periodicals, that is, periodicals sponsored by the CPC Central Committee, the State Council or China Academy of Sciences, democratic parties and national people's organizations, and periodicals sponsored by national professional societies. Publications clearly marked with the words "national periodicals" and "core periodicals" can also be regarded as national periodicals.