Abstract: This paper gives an account of the history of index and the index movement in modern China with focus on approaches to the utilization of academic papers in modern China.With clear classification of various indices，this paper presents the condition of academic researches in modern China especially in the period of Republic of China.Besides，the author gives an introduction of the collection retrieval of newspapers and periodicals published in modern China，with the hope of helping the readers of this paper in their studies.

Key words: index, index movement, newspapers and periodicals published in modern China, literature retrieval and utilization