Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced that the Russian government has officially selected Scopus as a tool for its national research assessment. Measuring research performance forms a significant part of Russia’s “Science and Technology Development in 2013-2020” program as declared by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in 2012.
The aim of Russia’s “Science and Technology Development in 2013-2020” program is to create an internationally competitive and well-functioning R&D sector, one in which efforts to modernize the economy are supported by science, technology and innovation. Within the program there is an emphasis on research assessment, measuring not only quantity but also quality of research output. Using data from Scopus, the Russian government will be able to map out its national research landscape, and compare it with other countries.
Ivan Sterligov, Director of Center of Situational Analysis at Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science, noted, “Our state program is aimed at creating an innovative, secure infrastructure for Russian science and increase the efficiency of our fundamental and applied research. It will allow us to allocate financial resources to priority areas in science and technology. As a widely recognized and trusted source of scientific data, Scopus will help us define effective criteria for this.”
Igor Osipov, PhD, Elsevier Regional Director for Russia and Belarus said, “Elsevier is honored to further develop its collaboration with the Russian government. Scopus will provide baseline data to assess research output across Russia in a strategic, forward-looking manner. We consider the launch of the program by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev a landmark event in the reform of science and education and a significant step towards quality benchmarking data for Russian researchers and decision makers, both in Russia and in an international context.”
