Coverage of the Domain Problem of Scientific Results’ Approbation in Scientometric Databases Scopus and Web of Science

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of problematic aspects in the publication of materials in journals indexed in the scientometric databases Scopus and Web of Science by scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine believes that it is not necessary to rely on quantitative indicators (it is even necessary to abandon them), and the place of publication of the article should be unimportant. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science establishes norms according to which it is impossible to obtain a scientific title, academic degree and be a member of a specialized scientific council without publications in scientometric databases Web of Science and / or Scopus. In the field of social communications (journalism) the problem is exacerbated by the fact that in Ukraine there are no professional journals that would be included in such scientometric databases. The purpose of the study is to identify and describe the components of the modern problem of approbation of scientific results in scientometric databases Scopus and Web of Science (in the field of «journalism»). To achieve this goal, we set the following tasks: to analyze the regulations, which contain instructions / advice / guidelines / standards for publication in the journals of the database Scopus and Web of Science; to identify the attitude of scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers working in the field of «journalism» to the problem of approbation of scientific results in such journals; identify motives and obstacles to the publication of articles in indexed journals. The main result of the article is to highlight the following problematic aspects: ambiguous position and strategy of the state to measure the quantity and quality of scientific papers; lack of encouragement of scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers to publish in indexed publications with simultaneous compulsion to publish there; high cost of publication and lack of any support from the state in publishing articles; low quality of scientific works submitted to such publications and non-recognition of this problem by the community.