Core papers are high-quality papers published in core journals at home and abroad. There are provincial-level core journals (this quality is generally not high) and national-level core journals in China. There are seven core journals (or source journals) selection systems: 1, Chinese Core Journals of Peking University Library; 2. Nanjing University "China Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) Source Periodical"; 3. China Institute of Science and Technology Information "China Science and Technology Papers Statistical Source Journal" (also known as "China Science and Technology Core Journal"); 4. China Core Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Document Information Center of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; 5. China Academy of Sciences Literature Information Center "China Science Citation Database (CSCD) Source Journals"; 6. China Humanities and Social Sciences Newspaper "Core Journal of China Humanities and Social Sciences Newspaper"; 7. "Selected Database of Core Journals in China" under construction by Wan Fang Data Co., Ltd. ..

If the journal is recognized as the core by both core journal selection systems, then the journal is a dual-core journal. For example, it was selected as the "National Core Journal of Chinese" and "China Core Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences".

Dual-core journals and single-core journals are core journals in topic selection. But the academic standard of dual-core journals is naturally better.