The Publication Race in Russian Universities as an Impediment to Academic Freedom

This article considers the impact on academic freedom of the Russian government's and universities' excessive reliance on bibliometric indicators. I adopt a logic model to examine interconnections between academic freedom in conducting research, research integrity, and scientific misconduct and use the latter to assess the state of academic freedom. Analysis of the government policy favoring the "bibliometric approach" in Russia shows that it has catalyzed research misconduct in universities because publications have become a prime deciding factor in the processes of hiring, promotion, obtaining research funding, and receiving salary supplements. Researchers working in the social sciences indicated that the excessive pressure to publish had led to the erosion of reputational values and the deterioration of academic freedom.