«Invisible» Science: Patterns of Internationalisation for the Russian Scientific Publications

Abstract

Olesya Kirchik — Leading Research Fellow, Research Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies, Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, National Research University — Higher School of Economics (Russia). E-mail: okirchik@hse.ru Address: 20, Myasnitskaya str., Moscow, Russia, 101000

Science citation indices are increasingly referred to for assessing research performance and the efficiency of S&T policy. However, alongside evident advantages, are two serious shortcomings of citation indices: their focus on predominantly English-language publications that match specific criteria and the significantly large share of engineering disciplines and smaller share of humanities citations. In addition, the division of science communication markets into international and domestic introduces difficulties when comparing the publishing performance of scholars from different countries and complicates the interpretation of these data. As a result, indicators of publishing performance intrinsically do not reflect the state-of-the-art of national science — rather they demonstrate its internationally “visible” segment and the rate of internationalization for selected disciplines.

The paper reveals reasons for these misalignments. The author presents a historical retrospective of the internationalization of science leading to a common language of scientific communication (English) and dominance by Anglo-American academic publishers.

The paper looks specifically at Russia, with its predominantly locally oriented market for research publications.  Russian science remains poorly integrated into international science. The paper examines Russia’s state and dynamics in contributing to international publications in this context: that of the global scientific communication system.

It is noted that using bibliometric tools alone are not enough to reveal the full picture.  Russian practices in publications and citations, features of its national system of scientific communications, and mechanisms for gaining reputation should be used in analyzing Russia’s contributions vis-à-vis other countries.