Access to budget funds in Scopus and Web of Science for universities and scientific institutions of Ukraine will continue
The Ministry of Education and Science continues to subscribe to the international scientometric databases Scopus and Web of Science for all state and municipal universities and scientific institutions of Ukraine. A number of institutions will also gain access to new analytical tools. The corresponding order of the Ministry of Education and Science was signed on May 29, 2020.
“Access to the bases for everyone – regardless of departmental subordination – was first granted in June last year. This year we were faced with the question of whether to continue this format of subscription, because in the current conditions we should spend every budget hryvnia as efficiently as possible. The decision was made on the basis of recommendations of the Commission, which includes experts from both the academic and the university scientific community. At the same time, indicators of database use in 2019-2020 and in previous years were taken into account”, – explained Yury Polyukhovich, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science.
He also emphasized that the Commission drew attention to those institutions that did not actively use access to databases, in particular, they had less than 100 searches and record views per year.
“We will definitely do detailed monitoring to find out the reasons for this. For example, we plan to conduct a survey among institutions. Perhaps the problem is that scientists simply do not know about this possibility or do not know how to use the databases. But this can be solved through better communication and conducting training”, – said Yuri Polyukhovich.
To connect or extend access, all institutions must submit appropriate applications to the State Scientific and Technical Library.
Now the Ministry of Education and Science has agreed with companies that provide access to databases on a Web of Science subscription for 1 year, and Scopus for 9 months. In the future, these dates are planned to continue in accordance with the indicators of activity of using the databases and the availability of budget funds.
In addition to access for all institutions to Scopus and Web of Science, a subscription to the InCites and SciVal analytical platforms will also be provided for a number of institutions.
So, on the recommendation of the Commission, they will get access to SciVal:
- State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine, where representatives of all institutions can use it;
- 5 higher education institutions, simultaneously included in two authoritative international university rankings Times Higher Education (THE) and QS World University Rankings.
It will be such universities:
- Taras Shevchenko KNU;
- NTU “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”;
- NU “Lviv Polytechnic”;
- Sumy State University;
- V.N. Karazin KNU.
It is assumed that these institutions of higher education will provide the opportunity to use the platform for scientists from other universities and research institutions.
Access to InCites will be at the Ukrainian Institute of Scientific and Technical Expertise and Information, where scientists from other institutions will be able to use it.
“We will then also analyze the information on the use of these tools to make a decision on expanding access to them. Indeed, one of our main tasks is the integration of Ukrainian science into the world and European research spaces. And it is impossible without every Ukrainian scientist to have access to information about the research of his colleagues around the world”, – the First Deputy Minister emphasized.
Information:
Scopus та Web of Science – international scientometric databases are recognized in the world. They index scientific publications in various areas: natural, technical, social, humanities and the like. Access to these databases makes it possible to analyze international scientific research, evaluate the significance of the results and predict trends in scientific and technological development. In particular, the databases allow you to track the scientific citation of publications.
For conducting thorough scientometric analysis at the institutional or national level using Scopus and Web of Science, there are additional tools – analytical systems SciVal and InCites, respectively.
The experience of foreign universities shows that the use of these analytical platforms allows benchmarking, strategic planning and making effective decisions in the management of scientific, technical and innovative activities.
Source: МESU
