What do Ratings Say? Political Science Journals in the RSCI System

Avdonin V.S.,

Leading Researcher, Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, avdoninvla@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 646856 |

Meleshkina E.Yu.,

Principal Researcher, Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Professor, MGIMO University
elibrary_id: 192463 |

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2019.04.06

Rubric: Laboratory: Political Research in the National Perspective

For citation:

Avdonin V.S., Meleshkina E.Yu. What do Ratings Say? Political Science Journals in the RSCI System. – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No. 4. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2019.04.06

Abstract

What do ratings of political science journals show? What can they provide for us to understand problems of political science? How do the distinguishing features and common specifics of science development in Russia influence the ratings of political science journals? The authors answer the questions on the basis of analysing the Russian Science Citation Index ratings and some other bibliometric indicators of Russian journals which publish articles on politics. The article highlights difficulties of using the Science Index for integral assessment of publication activity and influence of scientific journals. Amongst them is the fuzzy thematic identification of journals in the system and the “discrepancy” of citation accounting in “latitude” and “quality”. The authors analyses problems of impact-factors application for evaluations of scientific journals, science development, shaping and activity of scientific communities. The question of citation functions and meanings are examined. The authors compare political science journals ratings made on the basis of Science Index, expert evaluations and some bibliometric indicators calculated in RSCI system (for example half-life of articles) and reveal the importance of application of various indicators. The article discusses the necessity for amending the Science Index by including indicators which reflect “quality” in published articles and citation. The authors conclude that it is important to take into consideration the peculiarities of political science development in Russia when using journals ratings for their evaluation and assessment of situation in political science.

Keywords

political science journals, ratings of scientific journals, RSCI system, bibliometric and expert indicators, Science index, political science in Russia.

Full Text

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Content No. 4, 2019