Development of regulation of publication activity of scientists of Kyrgyzstan

Bakyt K. Tynalieva

doi:10.24969/hvt.2018.62

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Development of regulation of publication activity of scientists of Kyrgyzstan

Article Summary

DOI: 10.24969/hvt.2018.62
Page(s): 44-45
Education

Published: 10/05/2018
Received: 10/05/2018
Accepted: 10/05/2018

Views: 5562
Downloads: 6030

Keywords: academic advancement, publications, requirements

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Recently, the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) of the Kyrgyz Republic has been actively working to improve the quality of scientific research on the basis of which theses are defended and scientific personnel are certified. Previously the basic requirement for the publication of scientific research results concerned mainly the number of published works. In the Regulation on the award of a scientific degree approved by the decree of the presidium of the National Attestation Commission (NAC, previous name of the Commission) of the Kyrgyz Republic of April 27, 2000 No. 4c/c-3/8, paragraph 18 states that "the minimum number and volume of publications reflecting the main content of doctoral and candidate's theses is established by the NAC of the Kyrgyz Republic."

Next, the Regulation on the award of a scientific degree approved by the decision of the Presidium of the National Attestation Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic of July 27, 2002 No. 7 d/s-3/14 already provides a more detailed explanation of requirements that are imposed on applicants, and in paragraph 23 it indicates that "author’s publications should be in the form of scientific monographs, textbooks, teaching aids, articles in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and editions of the Kyrgyz Republic, other countries, the list of which is established by the NAC of the Kyrgyz Republic. "It also specifies that "diplomas for discoveries, patents for inventions, utility model certificates, industrial design patents, programs for electronic computers, databases, integrated circuit topologies, registered according to established order, works published in the materials of national, international scientific conferences and symposia, information cards for new materials included in the state databank are equal to the published works reflecting the main scientific results of the thesis." At the same time, it is stressed that "the NAC of the Kyrgyz Republic determines the minimum number of publications reflecting the main content of doctoral and candidate dissertations". Therefore, this decree provides clarification and a more detailed explanation of what kind of work can be attributed to publications reflecting the results of scientific activity of applicants.

The Regulation on the award of a scientific degree approved by Presidential Decree No. 292 of September 4, 2003 and No. 380 of November 29, 2003, in Appendix 2 entitled "Requirements for scientific publications and the minimum number of publications reflecting the main scientific results of the dissertation" is given a clear division of the number of publications required for a doctoral degree: one monograph and at least 20 scientific papers, of which at least 10 articles should be published in the peer-reviewed periodicals recommended by the NAC of the Kyrgyz Republic, of which at least three articles should be published in foreign scientific periodicals. Requirements for the candidate dissertations include following: at least five publications, of them at least three - in the NAC recommended publications, of which one article - in foreign periodicals. At the same time, there is an exception for dissertations written in the field of the Kyrgyz linguistics, the Kyrgyz literary criticism, and the Kyrgyz language and literature techniques: materials of these studies may be published only in local journals in the Kyrgyz language. Also, the requirements for the single-authored publications include: five for doctors, one for candidates.

Thus, there have been developed more specific requirements for doctoral and candidate dissertations that need to be met. It is interesting to highlight selection of dissertations, which are prepared in the national language. Allocating them to a special group, the HAC does a disservice to these specialists: such indulgences do not contribute to the development of these specialties, and they cannot attract the interest of foreign scientists to the peculiarities of the Kyrgyz language. As a result, the Kyrgyz scientists are forced to cook in their own cauldron, which is fraught with stagnation in the development of the Kyrgyz language and a decline in the quality of scientific works in this field.

The Regulation on the award of a scientific degree approved by the decision of the Presidium of the National Attestation Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic of October 17, 2008 No. 167, changes the requirements for the number of articles, both doctoral (at least 25) and candidate (at least seven), however, attention is also paid to authorship: for doctorates - the first or second in five articles. Such a requirement should already seriously improve the quality of work, as it provides the autonomy and responsibility of the authors of the articles. Now the conduct of scientific research alone becomes rather an exception, as a rule it is the work of a whole laboratory, a research team that is investigating a certain problem. Moreover, the results of research, accordingly, cannot belong to one scientist, articles are written, as a rule, by several people in co-authorship. Work in the collaboration involves the process of joint activity in any area of two or more people or organizations to achieve common goals, in which knowledge and training are shared. When writing an article in collaboration, the first and second authors, as a rule, are the main executors, so this requirement is quite appropriate. On the other hand, the contribution of other authors standing third, etc. is also not so insignificant. Publication in respectable scientific journals with high impact factor (IF) is a serious work; therefore, the inclusion of the first and second authorship can be unfair for the other participants in the publication process.

Continuing the analysis of the changes introduced into the normative legal acts of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic, it should be noted that the next version of the Regulation on the procedure for awarding academic degrees approved by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on August 22, 2012 No. 578, did not undergo practically any changes in the requirements for publication of the results of dissertation research.

The next version of the Regulations for 2014 becomes interesting because it eliminates any relief for the Kyrgyz scholars, that is, the results of dissertations carried out in the field of the Kyrgyz linguistics, the Kyrgyz literary criticism, the Kyrgyz language and literature techniques are generally required to be published in foreign journals. This innovation worried the Kyrgyz language specialists, there have been many appeals and speeches in the press, the media about wrong decisions regarding them, but the HAC held several roundtables, meetings, conferences, explaining that publications in foreign journals will only contribute to the further development of the Kyrgyz language, international linguists will discover the uniqueness and peculiarity of the national language, which will serve as a good incentive for establishing scientific connections, and a base for new conferences and meetings.

However, the Regulation, approved by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on July 30, 2015, No. 542, introduces major changes. The number of required articles is not indicated, however, it is necessary to get a certain number of points: for doctoral - 250, candidate - at least 100 points, which are set depending on the journal in which the article is published. Thus, the publications included in the international indexing system Web of Science, Scopus or RISC (Russian Index of Science Citation), are rated at the maximum score, while scientific journals that do not have indexation and do not meet the other criteria set in the Regulations on the List of Scientific Journals recommended by the HAC of the Kyrgyz Republic to the publication of the main results of scientific research, receive lower scores. At the same time, a compulsory number of articles published outside the country: for doctors - at least seven, for candidates - at least two articles.

The last revision, carried out in 2017, did not change the requirement for publications. However, a need to provide an indication of a specific IF of a journal where the article is published has become vital. Scientists are arguing about these requirements, nevertheless, it is worthwhile to note that the barrier to non-zero IF has been successfully passed. Moreover, the HAC experts are pleased with the fact that more and more publications appear in journals with 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and higher IF. It can be stated that the scientists of Kyrgyzstan, thanks to the tireless work of the staff and experts of the Higher Attestation Commission, have entered the world information system, and the world scientific community is getting acquainted with the works of our researchers, assessing the qualifications and level of the Kyrgyzstani scientists.

Bakyt K. Tynalieva

Chair of the Higher Attestation Commission

of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan