Comparative Analysis of Publication Activity and Citation Indexes in Russia and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Olga Kirillova, Eng.D., Head of the Division of Library and Information Services, All-Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: ovk@viniti.ru
Address: 20 Usiyevicha St., Moscow, 125190, Russian Federation.

Nataliya Soloshenko, Ped.D., Principal Manager at All-Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: solns@viniti.ru
Address: 20 Usiyevicha St., Moscow, 125190, Russian Federation.

Analyzing biometric indicators, namely publication activity of scientists and their international citation index, the authors explore the level of science development in Russia for the last decade (2001-2010) as compared to Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Croatia. The paper reveals the reasons for changes in these indicators in different countries, analyzes the relationship between research and development expenditure (% GDP) and publication activity of scientists.
No direct influence of R&D spending on publication activity and science citation index has been discovered. The authors have identified the countries with the most stable indicators of scientific productivity and with the highest citation indexes (Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland). A comparative analysis has shown that some indicators (average citation index, average impact factor of academic journals, etc.) are significantly lower in Russia than in the leading Eastern European countries. This is mostly because Russian papers on resourceful topics are poorly represented in international journals, and Russian journals are poorly indexed in analytical systems (Scopus, Web of Science).
Results of the study allow to reveal the strengths of research studies in Eastern Europe and to develop recommendations so as to improve the quality of information received by Russia’ largest information center, the All-Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The authors have also defined prospects for studying research productivity in different countries.