Local Journals and Misleading Metrics: A Quantitative Analysis of Publication Activity of LIS PhD Students in Ukraine

The Ukrainian library and information science/studies (LIS) accumulated many problems that impede the quality training of library staff. In the process of reforming education and science in Ukraine, several initiatives have been implemented at the legislative level for improving quality of research and its presentation by Ukrainian scientists, including research in the library science. The paper presents the results of the study of the publishing activity of PhD students in the Ukrainian library science (2015-2017). The results indicate that Ukrainian LIS PhD students published their papers in the journals with a limited reader audience, mainly in Ukrainian journals and regional journals of the countries bordering with Ukraine. In the article, the reasons for it are discussed, and some recommendations for overcoming the undesirable practice are provided

Local Journals and Misleading Metrics: A Quantitative Analysis of Publication Activity of LIS PhD Students in Ukraine

The Ukrainian library and information science/studies (LIS) accumulated many problems that impede the quality training of library staff. In the process of reforming education and science in Ukraine, several initiatives have been implemented at the legislative level for improving quality of research and its presentation by Ukrainian scientists, including research in the library science. The paper presents the results of the study of the publishing activity of PhD students in the Ukrainian library science (2015-2017). The results indicate that Ukrainian LIS PhD students published their papers in the journals with a limited reader audience, mainly in Ukrainian journals and regional journals of the countries bordering with Ukraine. In the article, the reasons for it are discussed, and some recommendations for overcoming the undesirable practice are provided

Black Open Access in Ukraine: Analysis of Downloading Sci-Hub Publications by Ukrainian Internet Users

Introduction. High subscription fees to scholarly research journals provoke researchers to use illegal channels of access to scientific information. Analysis of statistical data on downloads of scholarly research papers by Ukrainian Internet users from illegal web resource can help to define gaps in information provision at the institutional or the state level for each scientific field. Problem Statement. To conduct an analysis of behavior and geography of downloads of scholarly research publications from illegal web resource Sci-Hub by Ukrainian Internet users within the period from September 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016. Purpose. To assess the information needs of Ukrainian researchers who download scientific papers from Sci-Hub. Materials and Methods. The used file is available at public domain and contains complete data of downloads of scholarly research articles from Sci-Hub for the period from September 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016. Inquiries of users with Ukrainian IP-addresses have been selected. Using DOI of downloaded articles enables finding the publishers and journal brands with the help of CrossRef API, whereas using the All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes makes it possible to identify the subject. Results. The study has shown that the most documents downloaded related to natural sciences (primarily, chemistry, physics, and astronomy), with Elsevier publications being the most frequently inquired by Ukrainian users of Sci-Hub and Internet users from Kyiv downloading the papers most actively. Conclusion. The obtained data are important for understanding the information needs of Ukrainian researchers and can be used to formulate an optimal subscription policy for providing access to information resources at Ukrainian R&D institutions

Controversial practice of rewarding for publications in national journals

The letter to the Editor refers to the controversial research evaluation practice in Ukraine and which is based on counting the number of publications in journals included in selected citation databases, for instance Scopus. I have selected fifty journals in which Ukrainian scholars have written the largest number of articles and reviews for 2015–2019 (Scopus data). I found that 78% of these titles are journals of Ukrainian publishers, or Ukrainian translated journals. Accordingly, current Ukrainian evaluation practice leads to the higher chances of state recognition and funding being received mainly by institutions whose journals are already presented in citation databases, without assessing the scientific impact of research outputs

Evaluation of research activities of universities of Ukraine and Belarus: a set of bibliometric indicators and its implementation

Monitoring bibliometric indicators of University rankings is considered as a subject of a University library activity. In order to fulfill comparative assessment of research activities of the universities of Ukraine and Belarus the authors introduced a set of bibliometric indicators. A comparative assessment of the research activities of corresponding universities was fulfilled; the data on the leading universities are presented. The sensitivity of the one of the indicators to rapid changes of the research activity of universities and the fact that the other one is normalized across the fields of science condition advantage of the proposed set over the one that was used in practice of the corresponding national rankings

Controversial practice of rewarding for publications in national journals

The letter to the Editor refers to the controversial research evaluation practice in Ukraine and which is based on counting the number of publications in journals included in selected citation databases, for instance Scopus. I have selected fifty journals in which Ukrainian scholars have written the largest number of articles and reviews for 2015–2019 (Scopus data). I found that 78% of these titles are journals of Ukrainian publishers, or Ukrainian translated journals. Accordingly, current Ukrainian evaluation practice leads to the higher chances of state recognition and funding being received mainly by institutions whose journals are already presented in citation databases, without assessing the scientific impact of research outputs

Ukrainian Arts and Humanities research in Scopus: A Bibliometric Analysis

This article presents the results of a quantitative analysis of Ukrainian Arts and Humanities (A&H) research from 2012 to 2021, as observed in Scopus. The overall publication activity and the relative share of A&H publications in relation to Ukraine's total research output, comparing them with other countries. The study analyzes the diversity and total number of sources, as well as the geographic distribution of authors and citing authors, to provide insights into the internationalization level of Ukrainian A&H research. Additionally, the topical spectrum and language usage are considered to complete the overall picture. According to our results, the publication patterns for Ukrainian A&H research exhibit dynamics comparable to those of other countries, with a gradual increase in the total number of papers and sources. However, the citedness is lower than expected, and the share of publications in top-quartile sources is lower for 2020-2021 period compared to the previous years. The impact of internationally collaborative papers, especially those in English, is higher. Nevertheless, over half of all works remain uncited, probably due to the limited readership of the journals selected for publication.Comment: Library Hi Tech (2023

Наукометричні ресурси: у допомогу проведення та представлення наукових досліджень

Про основні наукометричні показники, комерційні та відриті наукометричні бази даних, а також практичні поради щодо наукометричних баз даних Web of Science та Scopus

Інфометрична діагностика потоку веб-публікацій українських бібліотекознавців

The thesis represents research of theoretical and methodological basis for providing satisfactory infometrics analysis of the flow of Ukrainian web-based library and information science research articles. The origins and historical survey of the infometric technique is presented and the up-to-date infometric classification research methodologies is developed. As the result of the research, the necessity of multiple infometric diagnostic methods implementaton for better understanding of the scientific web communication status and efficiency in Ukrainian library science is developed. The extent of open access web publications being used by library scientists is determined by webometrics monitoring and the structure and dynamics of libraran scientists` web publications is analysed. A conceptual model of infometric online diagnostics was developed to identify perspective directions of the online publications flow. Semantically this model is divided into multi-disciplinary, specialized and individual directions. The importance of the theoretical and methodological foundations for enhancing the infometric diagnostics as the base for improving communication, representation of the Ukrainian library science professionals` scientific accomplishments in the global web, as well as the base for intensifying scientometric statistics and forming profound and high-quality web source in the field of library science and related disciplines, is pointed out. Open access consolidated web source for library scientists with effective webometric tools for monitoring scholar activity of individual library professionals, academic institutions and others` research activities is used to ground new conceptual model of Ukrainian library scientists' online publications infometric diagnostics. A number of management decisions and policies, as well as technical and technological factors that can intensify the level of open access movement by Ukrainian library scientists are pointed out.Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата наук із соціальних комунікацій за спеціальністю 27.00.03 – книгознавство, бібліотекознавство, бібліографознавство. – Харківська державна академія культури. – Харків, 2014. Дисертацію присвячено розробленню теоретико-методичних засад ефективної інфометричної діагностики потоку вітчизняних бібліотекознавчих веб-публікацій. Визначено історичні етапи еволюції інфометричного інструментарію, розроблено класифікацію сучасних методів інфометричних досліджень, охарактеризовано систему індикаторів інфометричної діагностики, з’ясовано найефективніші з них для оцінки стану наукової веб-комунікації, на основі вебометричного моніторингу визначено ступінь використання українськими бібліотекознавцями веб-публікацій відкритого доступу, проаналізовано структуру і динаміку функціонування потоку веб-публікацій українських бібліотекознавців, розроблено концептуальну модель інфометричної онлайн-діагностики його розвитку