Scholars Look at Publication Activity in Post-Soviet Countries

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75% of papers published in post-Soviet countries are by Russian researchers. In total, about 3% of all papers published globally are from post-Soviet countries. The role of universities has grown over the last 30 years, with over half of all recent academic papers being made with the participation of university researchers. These are the conclusions made in a study of publication activity by scholars in post-Soviet countries.

Maia Chankseliani, University of Oxford, Andrey Lovakov, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Institutional Studies, and Vladimir Pislyakov, Deputy Director of HSE Library, analyzed publications by scholars in post-Soviet countries: they looked at over 1,100,000 papers in English and national languages, with the conclusions of the study being published in Scientometrics journal.

The Soviet Union was among global leaders in physics and mathematics; it was particularly strong in oceanology, seismology, metallurgy, magnetohydrodynamics and chemical catalysis. Most academic research was carried out by research institutes related to the USSR Academy of Sciences or local academies in the union republics, as well as industry-specific institutes. Universities played a secondary role in research: about one-third of all researchers were employed by higher education institutions, according to the paper’s authors

At the end of the Soviet era, Soviet scholars were publishing 4.6% of the total number of academic papers. By 2012, the share of papers by researchers from post-Soviet countries had fallen to 2.7%, and by 2019, it had reached 3%. This is comparable to the share of African countries, but falls behind Latin America (5%), not to mention the leaders, China and the U.S.

The research productivity of scholars from post-Soviet countries significantly varies by volume, quality and subject, and the correlation between the number of publications by academy institutions’ staff and university staff has also changed.

Russia inherited a major part of the Soviet research infrastructure; the share of Russian researchers in publications by scholars from post-Soviet countries was 76% in 2019, and Russia has become the region’s leader by the number of publications in WoS largely thanks to the massive participation of higher education and the inherited system of academic research institutions. However, a considerable share of Russian publications in WoS are in lower-quality journals and are less cited when compared to publications made by scholars from some other post-Soviet countries.

Publication activity by scholars in different countries and the development trends vary considerably. Between 1993 and 2019, the number of publications grew fastest in Lithuania and Estonia (16 and 9.4 times respectively), and activity by researchers from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also increased rapidly. The number of publications by academics from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan also rose, although less quickly, while in Turkmenistan, it decreased.

Andrey Lovakov, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Institutional Studies

On average, productivity by researchers in post-Soviet countries remains low. In 2019, only one paper was published for every 100 researchers in Uzbekistan, with four in Tajikistan, and 5-7 in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Moldova and Kazakhstan. The indicators in Lithuania, Armenia and Estonia are considerably higher.

In the latter three countries, 10 to 27 papers were published for every 100 researchers. Publication activity correlates with the amount of expenditure on research in the GDP and budget, as well as the amount of money allocated per researcher.

The role of universities in the development of academic research has grown over the last three decades. In Georgia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, researchers employed by universities and other higher education institutions participated in over 80% of the academic papers published in recent years. In Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, university authors participated in over 50% of recent publications. Armenia appears to be an exception, with the share of publications from university staff participation growing only slightly (36%) compared to the Soviet era.

Researchers in post-Soviet countries are most active in the natural sciences, a legacy of the rich academic traditions in this field. The share of papers concerned with the natural sciences varies from 53% (Lithuania) to 87% (Armenia) of all publications.

The fall of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain rapidly changed the situation with international cooperation for scholars in post-Soviet states. Even in the final years of the Soviet Union, joint publications with international researchers were a rare thing. In 2019, international researchers co-authored 39% of papers by Russian scholars, and over 70% of the papers prepared by academics in Ukraine and Belarus.