Editorial Spotlight: Taiyi He

This interview and blog post was prepared by Editorial Research Associate Marcus Pawson.

Taiyi He is a PhD candidate in the major of demography at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. In the last five years, he has published 15 academic papers in SCI and SSCI journals such as Social Science Computer Review. He has participated in 12 projects represented by the National Social Science Fund and served as the anonymous external reviewer for 18 journals including Energy Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics and so on.

In this post, he talks about the importance of regional population and green development research, his experience as a PLOS One Academic Editor, and his approach to achieving a thorough peer review process.

You specialize in the field of demographics and sociology, with a focus on regional population and green development. Can you explain to us why this research is important to you?

The continuous exploration of regional population and green development is meaningful and valuable. At present, previous research on this field is mainly based on the perspectives of limited resources and environmental improvement, and there is significant space for expansion in research from the perspective of population development. Furthermore, constructing a demographic and sociological theoretical framework that comprehensively promotes regional population and green development, is a beneficial attempt to achieve long-term balanced and sustainable development in populations.

Since I began my work on population research, establishing theoretical connections between the quantity, quality, structure, and distribution of population internal systems, has been a constant focus. This includes consideration of the development of resources and the environment in population external systems, combined with the analysis of data from different regions in China. My academic views on how to promote regional population and green development are linked with the population status in China.

Above all, I feel a sense of personal satisfaction when promoting research on regional population and green development. Here, I would also like to share some of my research views on population, based on Chinese samples:

1) Population is not a determining factor for economic development, but an important factor affecting it. Furthermore, negative population growth is not the root cause of China’s economic slowdown.

2) We ought to rationally view the phenomenon of China’s declining fertility rate. The current level of development in China corresponds to a relatively low fertility rate.

3) It is not population aging that is a problem, but more so slow aging adaptation construction and rigid elderly care systems.

As an Academic Editor for PLOS One, could you describe your insights and experiences when handling manuscripts?

From the perspective of an author, always read the manuscript carefully before submitting it to PLOS One. Ensure consistency in spacing between paragraphs, decimal point retention, and reference formatting, and consider the logic of the introduction and abstract.

The method is designed to serve the research topic. Many manuscripts are very standardized, and the empirical analysis is both serious and insufficient.  It is serious that the research methods used are very appropriate and established but the data processing is quite cautious. It is insufficient that the empirical results are lacking response to the research topic and theory, resulting in the article’s viewpoint being less novel and the marginal contribution not being clearly defined.

The empirical results and conclusions in quantitative research are different. The empirical results are based on the quantitative relationships between the research objects, measured by the research data. At the same time, the conclusion is not a simple repetition of empirical results, but rather a more abstract and condensed view of the relationships between research objects based on empirical results – authors should take this into consideration when writing their conclusions.

In your work as an Academic Editor for PLOS One, what is your approach towards achieving a thorough peer review process?

First, I select scholars who have a high degree of expertise that aligns with the topic of the manuscript in need of review, utilizing the PLOS One database, in order to fully ensure the accuracy and relevance of the review comments provided to authors.

I will then take into account my existing commitments and make a schedule for processing manuscripts. For example, I allocate time on Tuesdays and Fridays to handle manuscripts in a timely manner and within the general expected time frame provided in the Editor guidelines.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by contributors are solely those of individual contributors, and not necessarily those of PLOS.