Specialisation of Ukrainian scientific publications

 

According to the Specialisation Index (S.I.) ¹²⁴ Ukraine is considered highly specialised in Physics and Astronomy, Materials Science and Chemistry, and specialised in Mathematics, Engineering, and Earth and Planetary Sciences (in the timeframe between 2003-2013). Ukraine is similar to the world average in the fields of Computer Sciences, Chemical Engineering and Energy. All other fields have in the timeframe between 2003 and 2013 an S.I. below 1 which indicates an 'under-specialisation' in these fields.

 

By comparing Ukraine’s S.I. in 2003 and 2013 one can see that the specialisation of Ukraine in the fields

 

Mathematics, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Energy and Economics, Econometrics and Finance is growing considerably stronger from 2003 to 2013 (see Figure 19).

 

124 The S.I. = the share (%) of publications of region x (Ukraine) in field Y divided through the share (%) of world publications in field Y. A S.I. > 1 indicates that region X is specialized in field Y. A S.I. < 1 indicates an 'under-specialisation' of region X in field Y; a S.I. = 1 indicates that region X is similar to the world average in field Y. (UNESCO, 2005)

 

 

Figure 19: Specialization Index (S.I.) for the 20 Subject Areas Ukraine has published most frequently in 2003-2013, (Source = Scopus)

 

Most of the strongest EU28/AC co-publication country partners of Ukraine cooperate with authors affiliated in Ukraine in the same ten Science Metrix fields which are the ten most important research fields in Ukraine. Switzerland is the only country where the Science Metrix field Engineering does not occur among the top ten research fields in co-publications with Ukraine, and Information and Communication Technologies is not among the top ten Science Metrix fields in Ukrainian co-publicationswith authors from Spain, Austria or Sweden. In those cases, General Science & Technologies is the Science Metrix field among the top ten fields instead of Engineering or Information and Communication Technologies.

 

Germany, Poland, France, UK and Italy are the most involved EU28/AC countries in the Top 10 Science Metrix fields of Ukrainian co-publications (see Annex 4). Physics & Astronomy is the strongest scientific field in co-publications in all of the listed relations. For example, the Ukrainian-German co-publications in Physics & Astronomy make up 3,269 co-publications, which is a share of 53.40% of all Ukrainian co-publications with Germany. The Ukrainian-Poland co-publications in this field account for 2,362 (share of 48.81%), the Ukrainian-France co-publications account for 1,858 (49.52%), the Ukrainian-UK co-publications account for 1,511 (48.12%) and the Ukrainian-Italian co-publications account for 1,474 (63.26%).

 

In many of the 10 fields, Germany appears as the strongest partner country, i.e. having the highest output of co-publications with Ukraine compared to the others. The only outlier is the field of Biomedical Research, in which Ukraine shares the highest number of co-publications with the UK (205 co-publications).

 

Out of the ten most involved EU28/AC partner countries for Ukraine, Germany has the highest relative share of co-publications (measured against the overall common co-publication output with Ukraine) in Chemistry (11.67%). Poland has the highest share in Enabling & Strategic Technologies (10.87%) and

 

Engineering (5.04%), UK in Information & Communication Technologies (3.09%), Spain in Mathematics & Statistics (6.74%), Switzerland in Physics & Astronomy (67.71%), the Czech Republic in Biology (3.58%)and Sweden in Clinical Medicine (11.4%), Biomedical Research (8.01%) and Earth & Environmental Sciences (4.72%).

 

Looking closer at the four priority areas jointly identified by the European Commission and Ukraine¹²⁵, Biotechnology is the research field with the lowest numbers of publications: out of 176 Ukrainianpublications (2003-2013) in the field of Biotechnology, 109 publications are international co-publications and three quarters of them, i.e. 82 co-publications, involve authors affiliated in EU28/AC. The level of internationalisation in this field is quite high.

 

Figure 20 shows the ten most involved countries in Ukraine's co-publications in the field of Biotechnology and their average citations: Poland, followed by Israel and the USA, is the most involved partner country. Poland and Israel also have a rather high number of average citations compared to the other countries, but this has to be interpreted with caution, as the overall number of co-publications is rather low.

 

Figure 20: 10 most involved countries in Ukraine's Biotechnology co-publications and their average citations, 2003-2013 (Source = WoS+Scopus)

 

 

Aerospace & Aeronautics is the priority area with the second lowest (co-)publication output: out of 451Ukrainian publications from 2003 to 2013 in this field, 111 co-publications are international co-publications and nearly half of them, 46 co-publications, are co-authored by authors affiliated in EU28/AC. This research field is not as internationalised as Biotechnology and seems to be not that relevant for EU28/AC.

 

Figure 21 shows the 10 most involved countries in Ukraine's international co-publications in the field Aerospace & Aeronautics. Russia and the USA are the main co-publication partner countries in this field,followed by Mexico, Italy and UK. Co-publications with Russia seem to have slightly more impact than with the USA. Because of the low numbers of co-publications with the other countries, the average citations have to be interpreted with caution.

 

 

125 As defined by the Ukrainian-EU Joint S&T Committee (JSTCC).

 

 

Figure 21: 10 most involved countries in Ukraine's Aerospace & Aeronautics co-publications and their average citations, 2003-2013 (Source = WoS+Scopus)

 

Out of the 938 Ukrainian publications from 2003 to 2013 in the field of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, 418 publications are international co-publications and nearly two thirds of them, 256 co-publications, are co-authored by authors affiliated in EU28/AC. The internationalisation of this field is therefore somewhat in the middle – nearly 50% of all Ukrainian publications in the field of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology are international co-publications.

 

Figure 22 shows the 10 most involved countries in Ukraine's international co-publications in the field of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology in the period 2003 to 2013. USA, Germany, France and Russia are themost frequently involved partner countries and co-publications involving authors affiliated in the USA have a comparatively high number of average citations.

 

 

Figure 22: 10 most involved countries in Ukraine's Nanoscience & Nanotechnology co-publications and their average citations, 2003-2013 (Source = WoS+Scopus)

 

Information & Communication Technologies is the priority area with most Ukrainian publications. Fromthe 9,312 Ukrainian publications from 2003 to 2013 in this area, 1,121 publications are international co-publications and more than half of them, 641 co-publications, involve authors affiliated in EU28/AC countries. The percentage of international co-publications in this research field is low compared to the other priority areas.

 

Figure 23 shows the ten most involved countries in Ukraine's international co-publications in the field of ICT. Russia, followed by Germany, France and the USA, are the most involved partner countries. Co-publications with France have a comparatively high average citation count.

 

Figure 23: 10 most involved countries in Ukraine's Information & Communication Technologies co-publications and their

average citations, 2003-2013 (Source = WoS+Scopus)

 

 

Biotechnology and Nanoscience & Nanotechnology are research fields, where Ukrainian authors andauthors affiliated in EU28/AC countries co-published frequently. Also in Information & Communication Technologies more than half of all Ukrainian international co-publications involve at least one author fromEU28/AC, but the internationalisation measured in terms of co-publications is low in this field. Aerospace & Aeronautics is the priority area with the least involvement of EU28/AC authors.