INDICATORS OF PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF LEGAL SCHOLARS THROUGH THE PRISM OF LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

In: Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Legal Studies, Issue 116, p. 23-29

Abstract

Legally established criteria for assessing the quality of scientific work of a scientist in Ukraine as well as the obligation to comply with them currently raise concerns of legal scholars. The purpose of the article is to analyze the legal regulation for performance evaluation of scholars, conducting legal studies, to outline the potential adverse consequences of implementing such provisions, as well as to analyze the practice of other states that have already faced similar challenges. Based on the results of comparative analysis, the author scrutinizes types of negative consequences of the use of quantitative indicators to assess the productivity of individual scientists and research institutions in other countries and suggests possible ways to improve the situation in Ukraine. It is stated that the obligation to publish the results of scientific work in a specified number of articles in journals indexed in the scientometric databases Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection, has some negative consequences for scholars in the field of law. Foreign publishers of journals indexed in the mentioned scientometric databases have a limited interest in Ukrainian legal research of national nature. This complicates the publication of results and gives rise to some negative practices of publication in non-core journals, more expensive publishing services, the emergence of "predatory journals". The problem can be, in particular, solved by changing the restrictive interpretation of legal requirements on the need to publish scientific results indexed exclusively in the two scientometric databases. Also, the specifics of law as a field of science of predominantly national importance should be taken into account. It is proposed to expand the list of scientometric databases recognized, as well as journals that are allowed to publish scientific results of scholars in the field of Law.