Challenge of Ukrainian academic librarians in an evolving scholarly publishing landscape

Abstract

Faced with a prolonged economic crisis, Ukrainian research institutes are under pressure as a direct result of limited funding. This has also had a negative impact on the functionality of librarians who have seen limitations in acquisitions. Despite the economic difficulties, Ukrainian academic librarians are trying to offer their users specialized services that involve active librarian mediation in the process of preparing and disseminating the results of scientific work of users, in particular in the detection and struggle with pseudoscientific journals. In this paper, based on a survey of librarians from leading Ukrainian universities, we studied for the first time, the main information resources and tools used by Ukrainian experts to test scientific journals for their further recommendation to library users as reliable channels for disseminating research results. These are tools and resources such as Scopus, Web of Science, Beall's black lists, the DOAJ, Think. Check Submit, and The Norwegian Register. We describe the benefits and limitations that may arise in the work of Ukrainian academic librarians when each of the identified resources is used. Modern times of reformation in Ukrainian science has opened up new opportunities for Ukrainian academic librarians. As a result, if they are able to successfully implement such services, they can regain a prominent place in the scientific life of institutions and on the global academic platform.

Implications of Publication Requirements for the Research Output of Ukrainian Academics in Scopus in 1999–2019

“…Journals indexed in WoS and Scopus are assumed to support a quality level. Since the 2010s, research evaluation policies based on bibliometric indicators related to publications in WoS-and Scopus-indexed journals have diffused from the Western states to Central and Eastern Europe (Csomos, 2020;Good et al, 2015;Grancay, Vveinhardt, & Sumilo, 2017) as well as former Soviet states (Kuzhabekova & Ruby, 2018;Matveeva et al, 2020;Moed, Markusova, & Akoev, 2018;Nazarovets, da Silva, & Nazarovets, 2019;Nazarovets, 2020;).…”

Використання Бібліометрії В Соціальних Та Гуманітарних Науках

“…Враховуючи обмеження комерційних баз даних щодо представлення різних мов та типів публікацій "норвезька модель" передбачає укладання власного переліку наукових видань, що завжди доступний для перегляду та доповнення [31]. Відповідно до вимог "норвезької моделі" наукове видання повинне: 1) презентувати нові ідеї; 2) представляти результати досліджень у форматі, що дозволяє їх перевірку та подальше використання; 3) представляти результати відповідною мовою та з розповсюдженням, що робить публікацію доступною для відповідної аудиторії дослідників; 4) представляти авторів з різних установ та проводить незалежну експертну перевірку рукописів перед їх публікацією.…”

An Analysis of Digital Library Publishing Services in Ukrainian Universities

“…The possibilities of librarians to support scholars are also limited due to the meager funding for acquiring resources from the leading publishers. In addition, the salary of a Ukrainian librarian in 2018 was $144 per month (Nazarovets, 2019). At the same time, the average monthly salary of a full-time employee was $318 (Serednia zarplata v Ukraini u dolarakh dosiahla rivnia 2013 roku (infohrafika), 2019).…”

“…Additionally, DLP is an attractive alternative to the traditional subscription-based access models, especially as the availability of quality OA publications continues to rise. This is particularly true in conditions of a protracted economic crisis in the Ukraine (Nazarovets, 2019).…”