Beyond Hirsh-index: Status signals among Russian researchers

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of signals conveying positive or negative messages about social scientists. We surveyed sociologists actively publishing in the Russian language (N = 810). Subjects were asked to respond to a hypothetical situation in which they were to assess CVs of a fictional applicant for a grant competition. Attributes of scholars comprising a standard academic biography differed markedly both in their salience and in the degree of consensus about their importance. A book written single-handedly was the most unanimously recognized symbol of academic merit among Russian sociologists. The least agreement was about the signals related to the presence at the international intellectual scene (teaching in a “well-known European university”, publishing in international periodicals) and to the participation in dissertation production (supervising or serving as a reviewer of many dissertations). Importance of these groups of signals depends on the overall orientation to the local or global audience and age. There were much more consensus about the attributes in different ways discrediting scientists, such as plagiarizing or multiple publications.