Interestingly, one archival witness remembered Zinaida Mulchenko as a "PhD student from #Kyiv" – an unconfirmed but intriguing Ukrainian thread in the story of a scholar who helped shape global scientometrics.
👉 https://doi.org/10.1162/QSS.a.397
@QSS_ISSI #Scientometrics #MatildaEffect #HistoryOfScience #WomenInScience #Bibliometrics #Ukraine
Abstract. This article revisits the early history of Soviet scientometrics, examining the role of Zinaida Mulchenko in writing Naukometriya – the foundational book in this field. While Vasily V. Nalimov is widely regarded as the sole author of the book, the influence of Mulchenko remains mostly unknown. We argue that her involvement in writing Naukometriya was also significant. To support this claim, we first reveal the key aspects of her biography obtained through the archival research and informants’ testimonies. Then, we compare the content of Naukometriya with Mulchenko’s Ph.D. dissertation, i.e. the first doctoral thesis in scientometrics defended in the Soviet Union, underlying the structural, systematic and content overlaps that question the commonly held view of sole authorship. Such analysis is further accompanied with the track-record of Nalimov-Mulchenko co-authorship reconstruction preceding the years of Naukometriya publication. Finally, we propose that Mulchenko’s diminished positionality as the co-author of the book can be understood through the lens of the Matilda Effect – a systematic under-recognition of women’s contributions to science. Drawing from multi-level analysis, we reconstruct her role in writing the book and identify the reasons that eventually led to Mulchenko’s erasure from the history of Soviet scientometrics.Peer Review. https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway/wos/peer-review/10.1162/QSS.a.397
#Scientometrics is a direct translation of the Soviet term naukometriya, introduced through the 1969 monograph by Vasily Nalimov and Zinaida Mulchenko. A new paper in @QSS_ISSI reveals that around 15% of that monograph consists of fragments from Mulchenko’s PhD thesis on information flows in science — meaning that many core ideas of Soviet scientometrics were actually hers. Yet she almost disappeared from the historical record = #MatildaEffect
“In my opinion, metric-based recognition without integrity screening can inadvertently legitimize problematic practices. That risk is particularly acute in environments where publication is tied to career progression but where research funding, infrastructure, and oversight remain weak. These conditions can – and often do – fuel paper mills, coercive citation policies, and other unethical behaviors.”
Maryam Sayab spoke to Frederik Joelving for Retraction Watch on Clarivate's involvement in Iraqi research awards being granted to individuals with known integrity concerns.
#Bibliometrics #Scientometrics #Citations #Retractions #ResearchIntegrity #PublicationEthics #Iraq #MENA #RetractionWatch
It is 2025. And still it seems to be okay to publish about #OpenResearchInformation (ORI) behind a paywall?
That is only a tiny bitt less ironic than a closed access publication about open access.
Current example: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-025-05347-6
Really, I do not understand why #Scientometrics does not flip. OpenAlex finds 121 articles there with #OpenAccess in abstract or title!
It's a pity, they even have a CfP on ORI, and in another journal I would love to submit.
OA.Works is shutting down Open Access Button and InstantILL in November.
They recommend switching to Unpaywall as a replacement for OpenAccessButton.
https://blog.oa.works/sunsetting-the-open-access-button-instantill/
#Scientometrics
"OpenAlex Analytics alpha is paused." https://openalex.org/analytics
@OpenAlex has paused their Analytics Dashboard alpha because it's too expensive and they want to focus on the backend rewrite.
Hopefully, they'll continue their work in the future! I really liked their interactive query writing interface.
Sorbonne Université se retire du classement des universités produit par THE (Times Higher Education) à partir de 2026, annonce l’université le 16/09/2025. « Ce choix marque une nouvelle étape dans la...
Entre février et juillet 2025, l’équipe Bibliométrie de l’Université de Lorraine a mené un grand chantier de signalement des publications scientifiques de l’établissement au sein de la base de données OpenAlex. Il a permis de fortement améliorer la qualité du référencement de ces travaux ainsi que leur rattachement aux bons laboratoires. Cette opération sera réitérée...
We were at the first Swiss Open Academic Data (SOAD) day! Our presentation evaluated differences between our institutional repository DORA and #OpenAlex. One conclusion for us: #collaboration is the key!
Find our and more presentations here:
https://zenodo.org/communities/soad/
Serhii Nazarovets
Matt Hodgkinson
hauschke
STOP DISINFORMATION Desinformación
elias
(((@amarois)))
Lib4RI