Independent Russian medical science: is there any?

Decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, medical research in Russia remains poorly integrated into global science. In this study, we analyze the evolution of Russian medical research presence in international journals in recent years and examine the role of international collaboration in driving this change. We collected data from various sources, including Web of Science, Scopus, and Medline. While articles in international journals still constitute a smaller proportion of all Russian medical publications, their representation has significantly increased in recent years. Articles in high-impact journals now comprise approximately one-third of the total output. International cooperation emerges as a key factor behind top-level Russian medical publications, with international coauthorship playing a particularly significant role in high-impact journals, where 70% of Russian-authored publications include foreign co-authors. It is noteworthy that Russian authors are rarely designated as corresponding authors, suggesting a limited leadership role in project teams, especially, regarding research published in the most prestigious publications. Additionally, Russian scientists produce a notably low number of non-collaborative papers that later achieve high citation rates. Given that 81% of the most productive authors participate in international projects and the recent suspension of many ties and collaborations with foreign scientists, we expect a significant decline in Russia’s presence in core medical journals in the near future.