Changes in the scientific output of Russia from 1980 to 2000, as reflected in the Science Citation Index, in relation to national politico-economic changes

Three features of the output of scientific papers from Russia which are covered by SCI are reported for the period 1980 to 2000. Changes are related to the major politico-economic developments in the USSR and Russia, and contrasted with similar data from France, Canada and Italy. The problems of isolating Russian papers in the output of the USSR and of estimating the proportion of Russian papers without stated addresses are treated. The Russian annual output grew from 1980 to 1990, but fell by 20-24% after the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991; from 1994 there has been an inconsistent partial recovery, and by 2000 the annual output had approximately regained its 1980 value. The reduced output in the 1990s derives mainly from low government funding for science. The proportion of Russian papers produced in collaboration with other nations has grown from six percent in the early 1980s to 31% in 2000, while the principal regions of collaboration shifted rapidly after 1990 from other republics in the USSR and East Europe to Western Europe and North America. These changes were initiated by glasnost and the end of the Cold War, and more recently have been driven in part by a need for foreign support. Russia's annual output in the physical sciences in the 1980s was approximately twice, and from 1995 to 2000, approximately four times, that in the life sciences. This continuing dominance, which contrasts with the comparison countries, derives from the high priority given by the central governments to defense spending and related prestige projects.