International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)
Volume 10, Issue 04, April 2019, pp. 358–366, Article ID: IJMET_10_04_036
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijmet/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=4
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359
© IAEME Publication
Scopus Indexed
SCIENTOMETRICS AS AN INSTRUMENT OF
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN RUSSIAN
SCIENCE AND HIGHER EDUCATION
Vladimir Aleхandrovich Galanov
Doctor of Science, Professor, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
Stremyanny lane 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia
Perepelitsa Denis Grigorevich, PhD,
Associate Professor, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
Stremyanny lane 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia
Digo Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, PhD,
Associate Professor, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
Stremyanny lane 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia
Novikova Elena Yurievna,
Doctor of Science, Professor, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
Stremyanny lane 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia
Aleхandra Vladimirovna Galanova, PhD,
Associate Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)
Myasnitskaya Street 20, Moscow, 101000, Russia
ABSTRACT
Usually scientometric indicators for assessing the effectiveness of workers in the
field of science and higher education are considered from the standpoint of their
criticism, identifying the limits of applicability, the impact on the quality of
professional activity of workers. However, like any tools for managing social work,
indicators of its effectiveness also have important social consequences. On the one
hand, the assessment of the work of researchers and teachers using the Hirsch index
and the number of publications in the Scopus and Web of Science systems was closely
related to a significant increase in the level of remuneration of these workers
compared to the average wage levels in the Russian economy. But, on the other hand,
there are opportunities for the formation of large differences in the levels of wages in
science and education, and, hence, for the stratification of workers employed in these
industries, the rich and the poor. This social stratification is the result of the inclusion
of non-commercial activities in market relations.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
358
editor@iaeme.com
Vladimir Aleхandrovich Galanov, Perepelitsa Denis Grigorevich, Digo Svyatoslav Nikolaevich,
Novikova Elena Yurievna
Key words: scientometrics, Hirsch index, science, higher education, social sphere,
market, competition, social stratification, personal wealth.
Cite this Article: Vladimir Aleхandrovich Galanov, Perepelitsa Denis Grigorevich,
Digo Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, Novikova Elena Yurievna, Scientometrics as an
Instrument of Social Stratification in Russian Science and Higher Education,
International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology 10(4), 2019, pp.
358–366.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=4
1. INTRODUCTION
Let's define "scientometrics" as quantitative indicators used in the field of science and
education to measure the comparative efficiency of scientific and teaching staff. At peresent
we can include indicators of the number of articles registered in a variety of scientometric
systems, the main of which in relation to the Russian management practice are the Scopus and
Web of Science systems and calculated on the basis of registered articles and references to
them (the Hirsch index in its variations) [shtovba, 2013: 265].
Scientometrics, acting as a tool for measuring the effectiveness of human labor, and
therefore the management of this labor, cannot affect it in such a way that the labor itself and
its results change in a "given" direction, associated with the surrounding economic conditions
and human goals in a market society.
2. METHOD
2.1. Relevance
The relevance of issues related to the measurement of labor efficiency in education and
science has two sides. On the one hand, we are talking about the effectiveness of the
development of such important subject areas of human labor as education and science. Labor
in these areas is immaterial, and therefore the role of labor efficiency indicators significantly
increases due to the qualitative specificity of the result of labor, which is very indirectly
expressed in any kind of quantitative indicators. On the other hand, in today's market for each
type of work formed its own performance indicators, usually combined profit indicator or
derived from it indicators. However, the sphere of science and education is mainly a nonprofit sphere of activity, so the key indicator of its market efficiency is how this sphere solves
the problem of growth of monetary incomes of its employees as a source of their personal
wealth, just as profit in the business is a source of personal wealth of the most successful
owners of capital. The formation of a circle of rich scientists and teachers is the reality of
modern Russian society.
The development of Russian science and education takes place in the direction of their
adaptation to the existing market relations. If until recently, the main areas that allow to
achieve personal wealth were the sectors of the economy, the coverage of market relations
between science and education allows a certain number of workers in these areas to become
part of the rich layer of Russian society. Thus, if this trend is applied to the entire social
sphere, there are no areas of social work in which an employee would not find himself in
conditions that create a potential opportunity for him to become a rich member of Russian
society. At the same time, those who for various reasons failed to take advantage of this
opportunity automatically fall into the layers of poor members of society.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
359
editor@iaeme.com
Scientometrics as an Instrument of Social Stratification in Russian Science and Higher Education
2.2. The purpose and objectives
The purpose of this article is to identify the social consequences of evaluating the
effectiveness of teaching and research activities, concentrated in the form of a small group of
indicators of publication activity. To achieve this goal, it is nessesary to:

to analyze ways of influence of indicators of publication activity on teaching and scientific
activity;

identify the reasons for changes in approaches to the assessment of intangible labor;

substantiate the possible consequences of using this kind of indicators.
2.3. Object and subject of research
The object of the research is the scientific and teaching activity and its evaluation with the
help of generally accepted scientometric indicators, first of all, such as the Hirsch Index and
the number of articles in journals included in the Scopus and Web of Science systems [Egghe,
2006: 137, Hirsch, 2005: 16570].
The subject of the study is the consequences of the use of scientometric tools to assess the
effectiveness of labor in higher education and science.
2.4. Method of research
The study is based on the use of the laws of formal logic, analysis and synthesis, induction
and deduction, analogy and comparison. Through the use of these methods, the analyzed
object of study can be considered from different sides, which allows to study the
consequences of the use of appropriate tools.
2.5. Scientific novelty
The scientific novelty of the study is to substantiate and consider the social consequences of
the assessment of the work of scientists and teachers of higher educational institutions with
the help of scientometric indicators in modern conditions.
3. RESULTS
3.1. The reasons for the change of evaluation criteria of labor
Currently, the main indicators of assessing the success of Russian scientists and University
professors (and after that, the universities and research institutions themselves) are, on the one
hand, the presence of a set number of annual publications (articles) registered in the Scopus
(Scopus) and Web of science (Web of Science, WoS), and, on the other hand, the
achievement by scientists and teachers of a given level of the indicator called the "Hirsch
Index", which is automatically calculated in this kind of systems based on the citation of the
authors ' publications. The citation index of Russian scientists can even be free [the citation
Index of Russian scientists]. For the convenience of reasoning, both of these estimates will be
briefly called a single term "scientometrics", and these groups of workers simply"employees".
In the case of employees scientometric indicators become the most important criterion for
the competition for the previous position in which a person worked earlier because of his
relevant academic and scientific titles, work experience, or to occupy a new position.
This primacy stems from two points. First, because of the wages themselves. In modern
conditions (according to the may decrees of the President of Russia of 2012), each scientific
and teaching position implies a salary on average twice the average salary in the region. It is
believed that the two-time difference in the average wage levels of workers with ordinary
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
360
editor@iaeme.com
Vladimir Aleхandrovich Galanov, Perepelitsa Denis Grigorevich, Digo Svyatoslav Nikolaevich,
Novikova Elena Yurievna
qualifications and workers with higher qualifications can be considered reasonable and
acceptable, taking into account the existing economic opportunities of the country.
Secondly, because of the number of jobs for researchers and University professors. The
relative lack of funding from the Federal (or, in General, state) budget of the country leads to
the fact that the number of jobs in science and education tends to decrease, which is evident in
the trend of reducing the number of universities and research institutions in the country.
In parallel, it should be noted that for known reasons, the number of candidates and
doctors of Sciences in Russia has increased disproportionately compared to the Soviet times
(about 10 times despite the fact that the population of Russia is lower than in the USSR 2
times). This has sharply devalued the" quality " of diplomas of higher qualification, which, in
fact, was one of the main external reasons for the search for new, "non-Soviet" criteria for
assessing the quality of research workers. However, it is impossible not to see the fact that the
actual scientific and pedagogical activity of this phenomenon is little affected, because the
"fictitious" candidate or doctor of science can not conduct any scientific or pedagogical
activity. Therefore, in relation to those who actually work in science or education, the change
in the assessment of the quality of their work has a completely different economic background
than the obviously justified "fight against borrowing" in scientific dissertations.
In the most General form, the reason for the change in the criteria for assessing intangible
labor is that science and education (as well as other social spheres) are transformed into
spheres that are subject to the laws of the capitalist economy, the essence of which in this case
is not aimed at profit, as is typical for the branches of material production, but in creating
conditions for the formation of high personal wealth and even personal wealth for scientists
and teachers.
The very specific nature of those scientometrics indicators does not matter too much.
What is really important is that such estimates become criteria for the admission of an
employee to a high salary, but equally irrelevant is the fact whether the employee is a real
scientist or a decent teacher, because no quantitative indicator can adequately measure the
quality of work.
3.2. Labor evaluation criteria as the basis of competition
The desire of employees to achieve higher scientometric indicators inevitably generates
competition between them due to the quantitative and qualitative limitations of the
"publishing system" in the face of a variety of magazines and publishers. Quantitative limits
follow from the fact that the power of the publishing system lags behind the number of
articles and books that claim to be published. Indeed, if as a mandatory task to require
hundreds of thousands of employees to publish several works annually, the amount of
necessary printing activity becomes huge. The way out is a paperless form of publications in
the form of electronic publications, but this volume of information hiding behind the process,
in fact, denies the expediency or public utility of these publications themselves.
Qualitative limitation has a completely different basis, which is that as soon as the
quantitative "limits" of publication activity do not "work", then there is a division of the
journals and publishers themselves into more ("worthy", "recognized", "elected", "core") and
less important. There is competition among the "publication systems" themselves, which leads
to a difference in scientometric indicators for groups of these systems, and thus the possibility
of obtaining "high" scientometric indicators again becomes impossible for most workers.
Competition between writers is replaced by competition between those who publish printed
publications.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
361
editor@iaeme.com
Scientometrics as an Instrument of Social Stratification in Russian Science and Higher Education
The insignificance of scientometrics for the results of the work of the employee is that it
should only provide competition for workers ' high wages, but not for the best results of their
work. There is a substitution of the qualitative result of work with the chosen quantitative
indicator, so that the result of the work is not its useful effect, but the corresponding number
of a certain kind of published articles. This is analogous to the fact that in the production of a
commodity only everything that allows it to be sold profitably is essential, and not its actual
utility. But unlike the product, which can usually be used (consumed) and with more, and at a
lower level of its quality, the usefulness of any employee can not be measured only by its
ability to write a scientific article. This is similar to the requirement that all students (students)
in the future become successful and rich people, were able to write novels, compose music,
etc.
3.3. Scientometrics and Finance
The use of scientometrics allows to solve an important social problem of reducing the total
number of scientific and pedagogical workers and thus relatively reduce the cost of the state
for many social services. But the reduction in the number of these workers necessarily results
in a reduction in the number of consumers of these services and a reduction in useful results
(quality of services). Useful result in science and teaching is replaced by the number of
articles and quotations, which has no close connection with the real scientific achievements
and training of students in professional skills. There is a paradox: the relatively higher the
wages of intellectual workers, the relatively worse the quality of their work. This is a
consequence of the fact that the quality of scientific or teaching work is not characterized by
scientometrics. However, the ability to hold positions and at a lower quality of work will
inevitably lead to the fact that in science and teaching, on average, there will be only those
who will be able by any means to achieve the established indicators as criteria for getting a
job and a high salary.
3.4. Scientometrics and mediation
Since the "secrets" of achieving the necessary indicators of the number of articles and
quotations quickly become well known, so far, on the one hand, the process of increasing and
structuring the "publication standards" begins, and, on the other hand, there is a parallel
increase in the prices of publications in the "selected" scientometric systems, since the
demand for them will only increase with the growth of "publication standards". Thus, there is
a social phenomenon similar to inflation in the commodity market, which could be called
"scientometric inflation": the increase in requirements for publications increases the demand
for them, and this leads to an increase in prices for the publication of articles.
As usual, only two types of market intermediaries benefit from such dynamics. The first
type is the publishing system itself, which has the "right" to publish articles related to a
certain level of importance. The narrower the range of publishers such, the higher the price of
the publication for researchers. The second type is a mediator between the employees and the
publishers. This group of intermediaries can be called "publishing brokers" by analogy with
brokers in the commodity or financial markets.
In some cases, there are still magazines in which articles are published without any
payment, but for the printed version of the magazine is still required to pay. In General, free
publication of articles is possible only for a very limited number of journals, which are
financed, for example, by "rich" universities or companies. But in General, it is obvious that
free is contrary to the nature of the market. Why publish articles for free, if there is always a
monetary demand from those who can pay for such a service. The market does Not exist for
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
362
editor@iaeme.com
Vladimir Aleхandrovich Galanov, Perepelitsa Denis Grigorevich, Digo Svyatoslav Nikolaevich,
Novikova Elena Yurievna
the progress of science and education, on the contrary, science and education exist for the
increasingly full use of opportunities to become rich and successful in today's market.
3.5. Scientometrics and human capital
The development of scientometrics fully contributes to the "flourishing" and such socioeconomic phenomenon, which in relation to the employee is usually called human capital
(and in relation to the student – "educational capital"). The employee, to take the desired
position in science or University, must from time to time advance large sums of money in the
process associated with the implementation of the established scientometric indicators. Only
in this case, he will receive his position and the corresponding salary, which is significantly
higher than the average salary. In other words, to become (stay) for a limited period of time a
researcher or a teacher, you will have to "just" pay (advance) the necessary amount of money,
and all other requirements become completely secondary, formal, because in the case of their
equivalence with the indicators of scientometrics, for governing structures ceases to exist the
dominant ("only") criterion of selection among hired personnel.
It is obvious that the scientometric criterion of personnel selection may have nothing to do
with science itself or with teaching, but it (along with the relative lack of funding) becomes a
"systemic" reason for what is commonly called the fall in the quality of education and the lack
of really significant achievements in science and technology, lagging behind the world level,
etc. This follows from the fact that the imaginary goals generate imaginary results of scientific
and teaching activities.
On average, the salary of a scientific or pedagogical worker must compensate the amount
of money advanced to his position and the expenses for the current life of the worker (and his
family). At the same time, the inevitable process of rising prices for publications will not only
require the advance of more money from the applicant for the position of the employee, but
also causes the need for further growth of his average salary, which should further
compensate the applicant for the position of the advanced capital.
3.6. Scientometrics and personal wealth
In the social sphere, two chains of self-reproducing dependencies between wages and prices
of goods are formed. The first relates to the prices of goods and the part of the remuneration
of the researcher, which corresponds to the average level in the economy. The second – refers
to the part of the remuneration of the researcher, which exceeds the average level in the
economy, and the prices of publications and other forms of achievement of scientometric
indicators.
The average situation, when the salary of a researcher compensates his cash advances and
current costs, can be called "simple reproduction" of his ("human") capital. But in some cases,
the researcher will receive a salary that not only compensates for his life and job costs, and he
will accumulate excess cash income over costs. This option is possible in the case when the
researcher for some "important" reasons "exempt" from the need to advance money to achieve
scientometric indicators. In these relatively rare cases, the employee gets the opportunity to
enrich himself, to accumulate personal wealth, i.e. he moves into the ranks of the rich layer of
society.
Society does not benefit from the fact that it forms only a relatively narrow group of
highly paid and "highly qualified" professionals in science, education, medicine, etc., because
the small size of this group does not allow it to "serve" the needs of many (all, most) members
of society. But this group itself is "on an equal footing" with the owners of "commercial"
capital in the successful and rich elite of society.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
363
editor@iaeme.com
Scientometrics as an Instrument of Social Stratification in Russian Science and Higher Education
3.7. Scientometrics and the export of capital
Scientometrics is not only of economic importance for the social spheres of the Russian
economy, but it, at least in its current global version, inevitably affects the size of the export
of capital from the country. After all, indexing in scientometric systems is inextricably linked
with publications in foreign journals, conferences and publishing houses. Payment for all
these publications is nothing but one of the directions of legal export of funds (currencies)
from Russia. In addition, some universities or research organizations in order to improve their
overall scientometric indicators invite relevant foreign researchers, the payment of which in a
significant part also represents the export of capital from Russia.
4. DISCUSSIONS
Scientific and practical interest in the development of market methods for assessing the
effectiveness of scientific and teaching activities, in our opinion, is rooted not so much in their
novelty or importance for improving the effectiveness of science and education, but in the
specificity of their impact on the social status and social stratification of workers in this
sphere.
In the available publications on the use of scientometric indicators of evaluation of the
work of scientists and teachers, negative assessments of the indicators used prevail [Report of
the Committee for quantitative evaluation of research, Polyanin, 2013: 21, Polyanin, 2014:
137, Razin (2013): 58]. Some scientists even propose to exclude the Hirsch index from the
assessment of the researcher [Georgiev, 2011]. At the same time, other authors believe that
scientometrics is necessary and should be adapted [to the Commissioners]. Other authors
believe that it is necessary to find the right place of scientometric indicators for evaluation
purposes [Osipov, Ettinger, 2013: 77]. It is proposed to calculate the indicators of the share
citation [Marvin, 2016: 104]. It is also reasonably pointed out that not all cases apply purely
quantitative methods of assessing labor, based on the number of readers [Razin, 2013: 58]. It
is obvious that, for example, in highly specialized fields of science and activity the number of
readers is extremely small. It is indicated that citations are not taken into account in
monographs and textbooks [Tsyganov, 2013: 256].
Hypertrophy of the role of publication activity [Zhizhin, 2017] and related indices is
unambiguously assessed as one of the reasons for the decline in the quality of both scientific
and teaching activities, simply because workers spend a lot of time on "systematic" creation
of publications on increasing quantitative standards, most often to the detriment of their main
professional activities.
However, it should be noted that the authors who criticize the current system of evaluation
of workers in science and in universities, usually do not see that the reasons for this situation
are rooted in the market relations themselves. All this is the result of deeper market
penetration into, so to speak, "non-market" spheres of labor activity. Most of the authors, one
way or another, apparently, believes that it is necessary to improve (Refine) scientometric
indicators in various directions and then the "negative" side of these indicators will disappear
or become less relevant to assess the quality of work in science and education.
However, the actual scientific developments and research in this area is still obviously not
enough, because mostly the writing community the greatest attention to the question of what
are the negative consequences of the introduction of scientometrics in the evaluation of
employees [Mikhaylov, Mikhaylova, 2010, 2011]. At the same time, the reasons for this
situation remain hidden, or such reasons are declared "incompetence" of the relevant
governing bodies, bodies of management of these social spheres, actively using such
scientometric indicators.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
364
editor@iaeme.com
Vladimir Aleхandrovich Galanov, Perepelitsa Denis Grigorevich, Digo Svyatoslav Nikolaevich,
Novikova Elena Yurievna
5. CONCLUSIONS
Scientometrics allows not only to manage the processes of employment and remuneration in
the field of science and education, but it also has its final result in the process of social
stratification among scientists and teachers. The division of modern society into rich and poor
citizens takes place not only in the sphere of material production, but also in the fields of
science and education, although the mechanisms of such stratification have their own
specifics in each individual case.
Scientometrics is a market tool for assessing the work of scientists and teachers not
because of its perfection, but because it allows relatively "easy" to implement market
mechanisms in intangible activities in such a way that the latter turns into a sphere subject to
the laws of capital and the goals of achieving personal wealth. Any further improvement of
scientometric indicators and their application to evaluate the results of spiritual (non-material)
work will make the mechanisms of social stratification of modern Russian society in science,
education and other areas even more flexible, sophisticated and hidden.
The obtained results can be used for further research of the problem of scientometrics
application, first of all, in science and higher education. In practice, there is nothing eternal or
better for all cases and life situations, and therefore the process of improving the scientometric
indicators themselves and their specific application in the social sphere [Mikhailov, 2014: 52,
Fedorov, Popov, 2014] will continue taking into account the goals set by the existing state and
the ruling elite of society.
The study makes a feasible contribution to the need to ensure macroeconomic stability of
the modern market economy, while at the same time its focus on creating conditions that
contribute to the further growth of the activity of hired personnel, improving its efficiency by
better understanding the possibilities to use the available estimates to increase wages and
personal enrichment.
It seems that the improvement of indicators of labor evaluation in the social sphere is one
of the necessary conditions and prerequisites for the further development of market relations
and the growth of wealth of certain categories of members of modern society.
REFERENCES
[1]
Egghe, L. (2006) “Theory and practise of the g-index”, Scientometrics, Vol. 69, No. 1,
pp. 131–152.
[2]
Hirsch, J.E. (2005) “An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output”, Proc.
Nat. Acad. Sci., Vol. 102 (46), pp. 16569-16572.
[3]
Georgiev, G. (2011) “Hirsch Index should be excluded from the assessment of scientists”,
Science and technology of Russia,
(http://www.ras.ru/digest/showdnews.aspx?id=a0bf7e70-afd7-4d23-b4d1259f3ae54d11&print=1).
[4]
Report of the Committee on quantitative assessment of research “Criticism of the impact
factor and h-index (citation), as the evaluation criteria of works”, The website of the
International
Council
on
industrial
and
applied
mathematics,
(http://www.iciam.org/QAR).
[5]
Zhizhin, K.S. (2017) “Scopus: the importance of real or imaginary”, International journal
of experimental education, 3-1.
[6]
Citation indexes of Russian scientists works (projects “Who is who in Russian science”
and “Corpus of experts”), (http://expertcorps.ru/science/whoiswho).
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
365
editor@iaeme.com
Scientometrics as an Instrument of Social Stratification in Russian Science and Higher Education
[7]
Commissioners, E. “Scopus Is a concrete wall to get a degree?”, Social Research
Network, (https://www.science-community.org/ru/node/85573).
[8]
Marvin, S.V. (2016) “Normalized share citation as a universal characteristic of a scientific
publication”, Sociology of science and technology, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 99-109.
[9]
Mikhailov, O.V., Mikhailova, T.I. (2010) “Hirsch Index in the evaluation of the scientist
at the national research University”, Vestnik Kazan. Technol. UN-TA, No. 11, pp. 485-487.
[10]
Mikhailov, O.V., Mikhailova T.I. (2011) ““Kirsimarja” at Kazan national research
technological University”, Herald of the Kazan. Technol.
[11]
Mikhailov, O.V. (2014) “On possible modification of Hirsch and egg indices taking into
account co-authorship”, Sociology of science and technology, vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 48-56.
[12]
Osipov, A.N., Ettinger, A.P. (2013) “Hirsch Index: definition, calculation, use”, Bulletin
of RSMU, No. 1, pp. 75-77.
[13]
Polyanin, A.D. (2013) “On the Hirsch index and other scientometric indicators”, Scientific
community, No. 8-9, pp. 20-22.
[14]
Polyanin, A.D. (2014) “Disadvantages of citation and Hirsch indices and the use of other
scientometric indicators”, Mathematical modeling and numerical methods, No. 1, pp. 131144.
[15]
Razin, M.P. (2013) “Disadvantages of Hirsch index in medical science and possible ways
to overcome them”, Pediatric surgery, No. 3, pp. 58.
[16]
Collection “The game of tsyfir, or how to now evaluate the work of a scientist”, Moscow:
MTSMNO, 2011, 72 p.
[17]
Fedorov, P.P., Popov, A.I. (2014) “Interrelation of indicators of the citation of Russian
scientists”, Vestnik RAN, Vol. 84, No. 3.
[18]
Tsyganov, A.V. (2013) “Brief description of scientometric indicators based on citation”,
Management of large systems, Issue. 44, pp. 248-261.
[19]
What is citation index? (http://science.spb.ru/sci/index).
[20]
Shtovba, S.D., Shtovba, E.V. (2013) “Review of scientometric indicators for assessing the
publication activity of the scientist”, Management of large systems, Issue. 44, pp. 262-278.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp
366
editor@iaeme.com