| The political logic of economic reform in China SL Shirk Univ of California Press, 1993 | 2387 | 1993 |
| China: fragile superpower SL Shirk Oxford University Press, USA, 2008 | 2091 | 2008 |
| Changing media, changing China SL Shirk Oxford University Press, 2011 | 597 | 2011 |
| Competitive comrades: Career incentives and student strategies in China SL Shirk University of California Press, 2020 | 358 | 2020 |
| How China opened its door: the political success of the PRC's foreign trade and investment reforms SL Shirk Brookings Institution Press, 1994 | 296 | 1994 |
| The return to personalistic rule SL Shirk J. Democracy 29, 22, 2018 | 239 | 2018 |
| The Chinese political system and the political strategy of economic reform SL Shirk Bureaucracy, politics, and decision making in post-Mao China, 59-91, 1992 | 147 | 1992 |
| Changing media, changing foreign policy in China SL Shirk Japanese Journal of Political Science 8 (1), 43-70, 2007 | 108 | 2007 |
| Recent Chinese labour policies and the transformation of industrial organization in China SL Shirk The China Quarterly 88, 575-593, 1981 | 96 | 1981 |
| “Playing to the Provinces:” Deng Xiaoping's political strategy of economic reform SL Shirk Studies in Comparative Communism 23 (3-4), 227-258, 1990 | 93 | 1990 |
| The decline of virtuocracy in China SL Shirk Class and social stratification in post-revolution China, 56-83, 1984 | 86 | 1984 |
| One-sided rivalry: China’s perceptions and policies toward India SL Shirk The India-China Relationship: What the United States Needs to Know, 75-100, 2004 | 83 | 2004 |
| The politics of industrial reform SL Shirk The political economy of reform in post-Mao China, 193-221, 1985 | 81 | 1985 |
| Internationalization and China's economic reforms S Shirk Internationalization and domestic politics, 186-206, 1996 | 72 | 1996 |
| Asia-Pacific regional security: balance of power or concert of powers? SL Shirk Regional orders: Building security in a new world, 245-270, 1997 | 68 | 1997 |
| Educational reform and political backlash: Recent changes in Chinese educational policy SL Shirk Comparative Education Review 23 (2), 183-217, 1979 | 64 | 1979 |
| Changing media, changing foreign policy SL Shirk Changing media, changing China, 225-252, 2011 | 59 | 2011 |
| Overreach: How China derailed its peaceful rise SL Shirk Oxford University Press, 2023 | 54 | 2023 |
| Chinese views on Asia-Pacific regional security cooperation SL Shirk National Bureau of Asian Research 5 (5), 1994 | 54 | 1994 |
| Course correction: Toward an effective and sustainable China policy Task Force on US-China Policy, O Schell, SL Shirk Asia Society Center on US-China Relations, 2019 | 44 | 2019 |
