Regulation of scientific journals publishing in Russia: Problems and suggestions

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the main restrictions that domestic scientific journals currently encounter and propose options to support them. In order to accomplish this, the main areas of journals’ verification by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) are analyzed. The proposal to establish a special status for a scientific journal, separating it from the social and political media, is made. Proposals to exclude obsolete and unnecessary requirements from the List of HAC (High Attestation Comission) journals and to include new ones that would improve the quality control of publications have been made. The author makes suggestions on forming a national list of scientific journals and a platform for assessing the quality of publications. It is noted that without considering the opinion of editors and publishers of scientific periodicals, the created “White List” of Russian scientific journals will cause numerous doubts about its objectivity.