Russian journals on political science through the prism of bibliometric indicators

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The article analyzes changes in bibliometric tools for assessing the activities of scientific journals and their role in maintaining and developing scientific communication in modern Russia using the example of political science journals, taking into account the political and scientific information context, as well as the specifics of the scientific discipline. The authors assess the impact of the new Science Index RINTS configuration on the structure of the rating of publications on political topics, and also consider the significance of other bibliometric indicators and expert assessments that are not included in the index. This issue is studied in the problematic field of changes in the external context of Russian science from the point of view of the concept of adaptation of science as a system to the conditions of the external environment, taking into account its relative autonomy. The article shows that changes in the Science Index generally show a tendency to preserve the internal autonomy of science. These changes were based on the motives of ensuring in the structure of the index the assessment of the qualitative level of scientific publications and the focus on taking into account their professionalism. The authors trace the general trend according to which the leading positions in the rating are occupied by the most famous professional journals associated with the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the leading universities of the country. At the same time, the authors also draw attention to some controversial effects of the new version of the index, in particular, the underestimation of indicators indicating the “openness” of the journal to different authors and publications (the so-called “encapsulation” effects), as well as a number of other informative indicators available in the RSCI system. A conclusion is made about the strengths and weaknesses of the structural features of the index, as well as some specific features of the subject classification from the point of view of the tasks of adequately assessing the activities of scientific journals in political science and strengthening professional standards within the discipline.