Abstract: The number of papers published in SCI (Science Citation Index) journals and their cited times by other papers as well as impact factors of these SCI Journals have become important indicators for China's scientific performance evaluation system. Nevertheless, how to use these indicators for effectively evaluating research staff is still a controversial topic. From the analysis on advantages and disadvantages of SCI indicators, combined with the history of China's scientific research development and the process of personnel growth, the applicability of SCI indicators were comprehensively analyzed on the evaluation of scientific research achievements. Quantity of SCI papers should be used as an indicator for evaluating young scientists while the cited time of the papers by SCI journals should be considered as an important indicator for selecting high-end talents and evaluating national scientific and technological achievements, especially for the evaluation of National Awards for Natural Sciences. Using suitable SCI indicators in scientific performance evaluation system will not only promote scientific and technological innovation, and also play an important role in creating a good competiton environment for scientific research.

Key words: SCI indicator