We study the possible influences of the Russia-Ukraine War on Russia’s research productivity and international collaboration in science. For this purpose, we introduce and apply two recently... Show moreWe study the possible influences of the Russia-Ukraine War on Russia’s research productivity and international collaboration in science. For this purpose, we introduce and apply two recently developed indicators of relative intensity and balance in international collaboration. To see whether longitudinal trends have changed recently, we combine a long-term perspective based on annual updates since the year 2000 with a short-term perspective based on monthly updates since the beginning of 2022. The clearest change is that the productivity of Russian science, as measured within Web of Science, has dramatically decreased after several years of growth. There is also a clear decline in the degree of international collaboration in fields of research that heavily rely on large multinational infrastructures established through state agreements. In other fields, however, the degree of international collaboration is more stable. The general decline in Russian science seems to be more driven by internal factors than by loss of partnerships abroad. Show less
In this blog post, we'll introduce you to the CWTS ECR/PhD Council, shedding light on its significance, objectives, and how it can serve as a crucial resource for early career researchers and PhDs... Show moreIn this blog post, we'll introduce you to the CWTS ECR/PhD Council, shedding light on its significance, objectives, and how it can serve as a crucial resource for early career researchers and PhDs at CWTS. Show less
Ermolayeva, A.; Birukou, A.; Matyushenko, S.; Kochetkov, D. 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing field of research that attracts significant funding from both the state and industry players. Such interest is driven by a wide range of AI... Show moreArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing field of research that attracts significant funding from both the state and industry players. Such interest is driven by a wide range of AI technology applications in many fields. Since many AI research topics relate to computer science, where a significant share of research results are published in conference proceedings, the same applies to AI. The world leaders in artificial intelligence research are China and the United States. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the bibliometric indicators of AI conference papers from these two countries based on Scopus data. The analysis aimed to identify conferences that receive above-average citation rates and suggest publication strategies for authors from these countries to participate in conferences that are likely to provide better dissemination of their research results. The results showed that, although Chinese researchers publish more AI papers than those from the United States, US conference papers are cited more frequently. The authors also conducted a correlation analysis of the MNCS index, which revealed no high correlation between MNCS USA vs. MNCS China, MNCS China/MNCS USA vs. MSAR, and MNCS China/MNCS USA vs. CORE ranking indicators. Show less
Chinchilla-Rodriguez, Z.; Costas Comesana, R.; Robinson-Garcia, N.; Larivière, V. 2023
Replication of published results is crucial for ensuring the robustness and self-correction of research, yet replications are scarce in many fields. Replicating researchers will therefore often... Show moreReplication of published results is crucial for ensuring the robustness and self-correction of research, yet replications are scarce in many fields. Replicating researchers will therefore often have to decide which of several relevant candidates to target for replication. Formal strategies for efficient study selection have been proposed, but none have been explored for practical feasibility - a prerequisite for validation. Here we move one step closer to efficient replication study selection by exploring the feasibility of a particular selection strategy that estimates replication value as a function of citation impact and sample size (Isager, van 't Veer, & Lakens, 2021). We tested our strategy on a sample of fMRI studies in social neuroscience. We first report our efforts to generate a representative candidate set of replication targets. We then explore the feasibility and reliability of estimating replication value for the targets in our set, resulting in a dataset of 1358 studies ranked on their value of prioritising them for replication. In addition, we carefully examine possible measures, test auxiliary assumptions, and identify boundary conditions of measuring value and uncertainty. We end our report by discussing how future validation studies might be designed. Our study demonstrates the importance of investigating how to implement study selection strategies in practice. Our sample and study design can be extended to explore the feasibility of other formal study selection strategies that have been proposed. Show less
After the departure of commercial scientific information databases such as Scopus and Web of Science from Russia, the problem of building a new system for research assessment is more relevant than... Show moreAfter the departure of commercial scientific information databases such as Scopus and Web of Science from Russia, the problem of building a new system for research assessment is more relevant than ever. At the same time, the new system does not have to copy the previous one with other data sources. The purpose of the article is to analyze global trends in the field of research evaluation. The authors have examined key supranational documents and practices in introducing a responsible approach to research assessment in the Netherlands. All the reviewed sources agree on one point: research activities should not be assessed based solely on quantitative indicators, especially on the basis of surrogate measures of quality such as impact factor. In the Netherlands, all the key stakeholders in the research sphere adhere to responsible research evaluation. An important role is played by the concept of valorization, which involves the use of scientific research results in the economy and for the benefit of society as a whole. The experience of the Netherlands can be used in Russia to build an advanced system for assessing research activities, which will contribute to achieving the development goals of our country and the implementation of priorities in the scientific, technical, and socio-economic spheres. Show less
This year marks 10 years since the start of the Project 5top100. The key goal of the project was the entry of five Russian universities into the top 100 global university rankings; respectively,... Show moreThis year marks 10 years since the start of the Project 5top100. The key goal of the project was the entry of five Russian universities into the top 100 global university rankings; respectively, the rankings have firmly entered the Russian academic and public discourses. This article is aimed at answering the question of how university rankings are interpreted in Russia. We conducted a rigorous peer review of Russian-language academic literature. This part of Russian academic discourse is usually closed for international readership. We have reviewed 64 relevant articles and concluded that most Russian authors consider rankings in terms of competitiveness. Ranking methodology and interpretation are taken uncritically in this case. The review was also supplemented by a brief overview of the global perspective based on major statements in responsible research evaluation. This part of the literature suggests that university rankings should not be used in research evaluation. However, it is still not the case, unfortunately. Show less
How are rankings used in research evaluation and excellence initiatives? The author presents a literature review using English and Russian sources, as well as gray literature. The Russian case is... Show moreHow are rankings used in research evaluation and excellence initiatives? The author presents a literature review using English and Russian sources, as well as gray literature. The Russian case is highlighted, where rankings have had an essential role in research evaluation and policy until recently. Show less
We address the question of why global university rankings should not be used for research evaluation. To answer this question, we analyze four groups of literature (academic vs non-academic... Show moreWe address the question of why global university rankings should not be used for research evaluation. To answer this question, we analyze four groups of literature (academic vs non-academic literature, English-language vs Russian-language literature). The analysis shows that most researchers agree that rankings should not be used to evaluate research. However, they are still used for these purposes directly or indirectly, although recent developments give us hope for a change in the situation in the near future. Show less
The Arabic Citation Index (ARCI) was launched in 2020. This article provides an overview of the scientific literature contained in this new database and explores its possible usage in research... Show moreThe Arabic Citation Index (ARCI) was launched in 2020. This article provides an overview of the scientific literature contained in this new database and explores its possible usage in research evaluation. As of May 2022, ARCI had indexed 138,283 scientific publications published between 2015 and 2020. ARCI’s coverage is characterised by using the metadata available in scientific publications. First, I investigate the distributions of the indexed literature at various levels (research domains, countries, languages, open access). Articles make up nearly all the documents indexed with a share of 99% of ARCI. The Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences fields have the highest concentration of publications. Most indexed journals are published in Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. About 8% of publications in ARCI are published in languages other than Arabic. Second, I use an unsupervised machine learning model, LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation), and the text mining algorithm of VOSviewer to uncover the main topics in ARCI. These methods provide a better understanding of ARCI’s thematic structure. Next, I discuss how ARCI can complement global standards in the context of a more inclusive research evaluation. Finally, I suggest a few research opportunities after discussing the findings of this study. Show less
Recent gender policies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have improved legal equality for women with noticeable effects in some countries. The implications of these policies on... Show moreRecent gender policies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have improved legal equality for women with noticeable effects in some countries. The implications of these policies on science, however, are not well-understood. This study applies a bibliometric lens to describe the landscape of gender disparities in scientific research in MENA. Specifically, we examine 1.7 million papers indexed in the Web of Science published by 1.1 million authors from MENA between 2008 and 2020. We used bibliometric indicators to analyze potential disparities between men and women in the share of authors, research productivity, and seniority in authorship. The results show that gender parity is far from being achieved in MENA. Overall, men authors obtain higher representation, research productivity, and seniority. But some countries stand out: Tunisia, Lebanon, Turkey, Algeria and Egypt have higher shares of women researchers compared to the rest of MENA countries. The UAE, Qatar, and Jordan have shown progress in terms of women participation in science, but Saudi Arabia lags behind. We find that women are more likely to stop publishing than men and that men publish on average between 11 and 51% more than women, with this gap increasing over time. Finally, men, on average, achieved senior positions in authorship faster than women. Our longitudinal study contributes to a better understanding of gender disparities in science in MENA which is catching up in terms of policy engagement and women representation. However, the results suggest that the effects of the policy changes have yet to materialize into distinct improvements in women’s participation and performance in science. Show less
Innovation is often an object of study in economics and management. However, the social and behavioral aspects of innovation acceptance are as important as the economics of product development. A... Show moreInnovation is often an object of study in economics and management. However, the social and behavioral aspects of innovation acceptance are as important as the economics of product development. A significant portion of the literature considers innovation as a change in the way social actions are conducted, entailing a wide range of social, economic, behavioral, and institutional changes. Various approaches have given rise to the need for a typology. Sundbo (1998) divided innovation into three groups depending on the aspects of the phenomenon: theory of entrepreneurship, technological and social aspects, and strategic aspects. Adopting Sundbo's conceptual framework, this study supplemented and developed it based on recent literature that appeared after 1998. Moreover, this study added new directions at the second level of decomposition and the relationships between different aspects of innovation. In particular, this study analyzed phenomena such as open innovation, agile innovation, and “helix” models. Thus, this study developed a novel typology of innovation that expands the theoretical knowledge in this field. Based on these findings, this study proposed promising areas for future innovation studies. Show less
