Russia is introducing domestic scientific publication categorizing system

Russia is introducing a system for categorizing domestic scientific publications, in which the main scientific results of candidate and doctoral dissertations should be published. The corresponding resolution was signed by the head of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers, Mikhail Mishustin.

We are talking, in particular, about the list of scientific journals recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission for publishing the results of dissertations, which is necessary for admission to their defense.

“The decree stipulates that such publications should be divided into groups depending on their significance in the scientific community. The ranking will also take into account the scientific citation indices of the publication, the level of authoritativeness of the authors, the uniqueness and quality of their articles, the level of the reviewing organization, and the number of views of the publication’s articles during the year”, the Russian government said.

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation will determine the detailed categorization procedure.

The introduction of a categorization system aims to create a competitive environment between domestic scientific publications and improve the quality of materials published by applicants for academic degrees.

“The need for its introduction is also related to the unfriendly actions of some foreign states, which have complicated Russian scientists' access to international scientific publications, which were considered when defending dissertations. After this, in March 2022, the government introduced a moratorium on recording the publications of Russian scientists in international scientific journals,” the government explained.

Author: Galina Bakhshieva