This note highlights how Russia uses the international academic sphere—including scientometric databases, international publishers, and international organizations—as a propaganda tool to legitimize its appropriation of Ukrainian territories.
Analytical report
Alex PLASTUN Sumy State University
Inna MAKARENKO Sumy State University University of Helsinki
Tetiana HRYN’OVA LAPP/IN2P3/CNRS, Annecy France
August 2024
Propaganda in Russian Science
Following unprovoked and unjustified aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, numerous sanctions targeting the Russian Federation, Russian companies, and Russian individuals across various sectors, including the military, economy, culture, sports, and science have been implemented. Currently, over 19,000 different sanctions are active against Russia, the highest number in human history. Russia is now more than three times more sanctioned than Iran and more than five times more than Syria or North Korea (https://www.castellum.ai/russia-sanctions-dashboard).
The application of sanctions in the field of science is particularly controversial due to a myth that science is outside of politics. Despite the ongoing debate and opposition (both silent and vocal) against sanctions, many measures have been adopted. These include funding restrictions, halting collaborations with Russian institutions and closing joint projects, imposing restrictions and limitations on equipment and reagents, and scientists have refused to participate in scientific conferences and international events organized by Russian institutes.
Despite of the above the existing sanctions against Russian science are insufficient, allowing Russia to spread its propaganda through academic journals and papers. The most commonly observed cases include:
- Appropriation of Ukrainian territories: This involves providing affiliation with the Russian Federation to various Ukrainian regions in editorial boards or academic papers and books.
- Spread of Russian propaganda narratives to support its aggression against Ukraine: This appears in academic papers that justify and support Russia’s actions.
- Support and justification of aggression by Russian academic organizations: Notable examples include the so-called Russian Rectors’ letter (https://rsr-online.ru/news/2022/3/4/obrashenie-rossijskogo-soyuza-rektorov/ or activity) and statements by the Russian Academy of Sciences and its Presidium. The Academic Council of Lomonosov Moscow State University also issued a statement in support of the war (https://web.archive.org/web/20220302133830/https://www.msu.ru/news/obrashchenie-uchenogo-soveta-mgu.html or https://sev.msu.ru/obrashhenie-chlenov-uchenogo-soveta-mgu/), along with individual academics from institutions like Saint Petersburg State University (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfAZzZ67L-lg6Yb0qQzcSTYUD7n29BN0tC3lBlMITL-ZkePGA/viewform) and others (https://www.mk.ru/science/2022/03/11/rossiyskie-uchenye-napisali-otkrytoe-pismo-v-podderzhku-specoperacii-na-ukraine.html).
In this report, we will concentrate on the first case of propaganda within the academic sphere.
Appropriation of Ukrainian Territories
One of the most commonly used methods of propaganda by Russia in the academic sphere is providing affiliation with the Russian Federation to Ukrainian regions, both in journals and descriptions of editorial boards. This practice has been observed even on the websites of international publishers like Springer Nature and Elsevier.
Study 1: Authors, Journals in the Scopus database and Springer journals
Our investigation includes data from the Scopus database and Springer journals. The most typical illustrations of this method can be found in the screenshots provided in Appendix A (Scopus) and Appendix B (Springer Nature).
The Scopus platform not only allows us to identify individual cases but also provides the means to extract statistics related to the frequency of such situations, proving that this is a systematic issue and not an isolated incident.
Search Algorithm
The search algorithm was as follows: a Ukrainian city of interest is queried. For example, “Donetsk”. This allows us to see the total number of publications affiliated with Donetsk. Next, we filter it with the limitation of the territory “Russian Federation”. This allows us to find the number of publications where Donetsk is affiliated with Russia.
Here is an example of a search query link for the case of Donetsk: Scopus Search Query for Donetsk
The following Ukrainian territories were used as objects of analysis:
- Donetsk
- Lugansk
- Sevastopol
- Simferopol
- Yalta
- Kerch
- Crimea
This is not an exhaustive list of Ukrainian territories marked as Russian (other examples include Feodosia, Yevpatoria, Makeevka, Alchevsk, and many others), but for illustrative purposes, this selection is more than sufficient.
Results
The results of our analysis are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Ukrainian Territories Marked as Russian in Scopus
| Ukrainian territory/city | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | % in 2023 | % in 2024 |
| Donetsk | 154 | 177 | 58 | ||
| Donetsk is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 68 | 142 | 51 | 80% | 88% |
| Lugansk | 38 | 46 | 12 | ||
| Lugansk affiliated as Russian Federation | 30 | 37 | 8 | 80% | 67% |
| Sevastopol | 575 | 633 | 223 | ||
| Sevastopol affiliated as Russian Federation | 560 | 628 | 215 | 99% | 96% |
| Simferopol | 379 | 444 | 187 | ||
| Simferopol is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 360 | 420 | 174 | 95% | 93% |
| Yalta | 69 | 81 | 26 | ||
| Yalta is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 62 | 75 | 24 | 93% | 92% |
| Kerch | 27 | 29 | 7 | ||
| Kerch is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 22 | 29 | 7 | 100% | 100% |
| Crimea | 11 | 15 | 3 | ||
| Crimea is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 11 | 13 | 2 | 87% | 67% |
Source: elaborated by authors (in-built Scopus instruments).
These findings highlight a systematic issue of misrepresenting Ukrainian territories as part of the Russian Federation in academic publications, which serves as a tool for Russian propaganda.
Upon our inquiry to Scopus regarding this situation, their response was as follows:
“When displaying third party data in the product, Scopus does not make changes to the data and remains true to the original source and the information and data is shown as such.”
In other words, Scopus does not take responsibility for the information provided in its database. This stance implies that Scopus will continue to provide its platform for Russian propaganda.
To demonstrate how this operates in real-time, we have added two additional Ukrainian cities to our analysis: Mariupol (temporarily occupied by Russia since 2022) and Kherson (a Ukrainian territory under Ukrainian control). According to the so-called Constitution of the Russian Federation, both Mariupol and Kherson are claimed to be Russian.
The results of our extended analysis are presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Newly annexed Ukrainian territories marked as Russian in Scopus
| Ukrainian territory/city | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | % in 2023 | % in 2024 |
| Mariupol | 100 | 46 | 10 | ||
| Mariupol is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 14 | 7 | 3 | 15% | 30% |
| Kherson | 178 | 173 | 84 | ||
| Kherson is affiliated with the Russian Federation | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2% | 6% |
For Mariupol during 2023-2024, the share of papers where this Ukrainian city is affiliated with the Russian Federation has increased by 2 times. For Kherson, it has increased by 3 times. This is how silent support works. In 10 years, we might have a picture similar to Crimean cities: 90%-100%.
Publishers’ Role
But it’s not only about Scopus. Publishers allow this practice as well. In Appendix C, you can find a list of journals published by Springer Nature where we have detected cases of Ukrainian territories being marked as Russian. This is not the whole list but a selection of examples. We stopped at the letter “P” and explored only journals with international members on the editorial board. Even with these limitations, we identified 50 journals. As can be seen, this is not a coincidence but a system. The number of cases is much higher because there are journals with dozens of instances of Ukrainian territories marked as Russian.
The issue spans various disciplines, including Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Biology, Engineering, Mathematics, Entomology, Physiology, Medicine, and Ichthyology. Traces of Russian propaganda can be found everywhere in the academic sphere.
Study 2: Editorial Boards
During our investigation, we identified several instances where Ukrainian cities were incorrectly marked as part of the Russian Federation in editorial boards. Below are a few examples:
- Journal “Russian Journal of Coordination Chemistry” (published by Springer). Editorial member Victor F. Shul’gin is affiliated with the Ukrainian city of Simferopol, but the journal lists it as part of the Russian Federation (https://link.springer.com/journal/11173/editors);
- Journal “Water Resources” (published by Springer). Editorial member Sergey K. Konovalov is affiliated with the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, but the journal lists it as part of the Russian Federation (https://link.springer.com/journal/11173/editors);
- Journal “Construction Materials and Products” (indexed by Scopus): Editorial board member Oleg Nikolaevich Zaytsev is affiliated with the Ukrainian city of Simferopol, but the journal lists it as part of the Russian Federation. (https://bstu-journals.ru/en/editorial-team);
- Journal “Ecosystem Transformation” (indexed by Scopus): Associate Editor Irina I. Rudneva is affiliated with the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, but the journal lists it as part of the Russian Federation. (http://en.ecosysttrans.com/o-zhurnale/redkollegiya.php);
- Journal “Arkheologiia Evraziiskikh Stepei” (indexed by Scopus): Executive Editor Sergei G. Bocharov is affiliated with the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, but the journal lists it as part of the Russian Federation. The same misrepresentation applies to Editorial Board member Кирилко В.П. (https://www.evrazstep.ru/index.php/aes/editorial-board);
- Journal “Vestnik Vosstanovitel’noj Mediciny” (indexed by Scopus): Editorial board member Vladimir Vladimirovich Ezhov is affiliated with the Ukrainian city of Yalta, but the journal lists it as part of the Russian Federation. (https://www.vvmr.ru/about/redaktsiya/).
Study 3: Expanding the Issue Beyond Scopus and Springer
It’s not only about Scopus/Elsevier or Springer. The same practices can be found among other participants in the academic publication industry, including:
- WoS/Clarivate
- International publishers (Taylor & Francis, IOPScience, AIP Publishing, etc.)
- International organizations (e.g., ISSN)
- Repositories and archives of preprints and academic papers (e.g. Arxiv, SSRN, etc)
- Academic Social Nets (e.g. ResearchGate)
WoS/Clarivate
All the key issues detailed for Scopus above are also true for the academic papers indexed by WoS.
International publishers
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis publishes yearly ebook entitled “The Territories of the Russian Federation” which “includes surveys covering the annexed (and disputed) territories of Crimea and Sevastopol” (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003466864/territories-russian-federation-2024-europa-publications).
It also reprints in its Journal “Welding International” (https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=twld20) papers from Russian Journal “Сварочное Производство” (Svarochnoe Proizvodstvo): (http://www.ic-tm.ru/info/o_gurnale_1) which is promoted on its Russian website to “the defense industries in terms of dynamic rearmament.” (http://www.ic-tm.ru/info/glavnij_redaktor_1).
Below is Taylor & Francis official position: “We cannot comment on T&F’s contractual relationships publicly.”
IOPScience
Many publications in IOPScience (the publishing company of the Institute of Physics from UK) mark Ukrainian territories as Russia. This is true both the whole series (IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Volume 971, 2020 (https://iopscience.iop.org/issue/1757-899X/971/1): Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is affiliated with the Russian Federation) and single papers:
- IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/990/1/012024) : Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is affiliated with the Russian Federation
- Journal of Physics: Conference Series (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1866/1/012009) : Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is affiliated with the Russian Federation
We have identified hundreds of similar examples for the case of Ukrainian cities of Sevastopol, Simferopol, Republic of Crimea and other cities/regions are marked by IOPScience as Russia.
AIP Publishing
AIP Publishing (subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics) actively promotes Russian propaganda concepts.
For example, results of INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MODERN TRENDS IN MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES AND EQUIPMENT 2021: ICMTMTE 2021, 6–10 September 2021, where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol was marked as Russia was published by AIP Publishing in AIP Conference Proceedings (Volume 2503, Issue 1: https://pubs.aip.org/aip/acp/issue/2503/1).
Cases of affiliation of Ukrainian territories with Russia can be observed in hundreds of single academic papers as well. Below are just some examples of which are hundreds in total:
- V. Kholoptsev, S. A. Podporin, E. O. Ol’Khovik; Impact of surface currents on variations in levels and mean ice thickness of the Arctic seas. AIP Conf. Proc. 29 March 2024; 3021 (1): 070022. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0193092 where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is marked as Russia;
- M. Jallal, E. Smirnova, N. Kozhukhova, M. Namkhanova; Approaches to the innovative cluster identification in the region. AIP Conf. Proc. 13 October 2023; 2910 (1): 020020. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0175311 where Ukrainian city of Simferopol is marked as Russian Federation;
- Hafizulla Benai, Timur Radionov, Linar Sabitov, Ilgam Kiyamov, Ramil Zagidullin, Sergey Voinash; Dynamics of architectural and urban planning transformation of buildings and structures, urban territories on the basis of integrated reconstruction algorithms. AIP Conf. Proc. 27 March 2024; 3102 (1): 020035. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0199905 where Ukrainian city of Makeevka is marked as Russia.
Brill
It is worth mentioning the example of a responsible position taken by the international publisher Brill regarding the Russian journal “Scrinium.” Right after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Brill contacted the chief editor of “Scrinium” directly to clarify his position regarding the war and relationship with the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). After successfully ensuring compliance, Brill decided to continue publishing “Scrinium.” Additionally, Brill ensures that it does not accept funding from Russia.
International organizations: the case of the ISSN
The ISSN, an international organization responsible for the registration of academic journals, has decided not to adhere to ISO 3166. As a result, it provides registration to Russian journals situated in occupied Ukrainian territories (Crimea, Donetsk, and Lugansk regions). No compliance measures have been taken, and no sanctions have been imposed against these journals for spreading propaganda.
SSRN
The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a repository for preprints devoted to the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social science.
Provides no compliance and affiliates Ukrainian territories with Russia and directly spreads the Russian propaganda. This is true for the case of papers:
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4775129, where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is marked as Russian Federation;
For the case of authors:
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=6491829, where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is marked as Russian Federation;
Also, there are cases with direct support of Russian aggression against Ukraine and annexation of Ukrainian territories:
Burke, John J. A. and Panina-Burke, Svetlana, The Reunification of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol with the Russian Federation: Logic Dictating Borders (June 2, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2979268 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2979268 where the following is mentioned (a direct quote): “Crimea and the City of Sevastopol justifiably separated from Ukraine and reunified with the Russian Federation in 2014.”
Overall hundreds of cases are observed.
Arxiv
arXiv is a free distribution service and an open-access archive for nearly 2.4 million scholarly articles. Below are a few examples of cases when Ukrainian territories are marked as Russian in either references or author affiliations:
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2108.11166, where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is marked as Russian Federation
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.10570, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.14287, where Ukrainian city of Alushta is marked as Russian Federation
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.09956,https://arxiv.org/html/2211.14355v3, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.20422, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.09544, where Ukrainian city of Simferopol is marked as Russian Federation
Academic Social Networks (the case of ResearchGate)
ResearchGate provides affiliation with Russia to Ukrainian territories, both for the case of authors (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vadim-Kramar-2 or https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Semen-Osipovskiy, where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is marked as Russian Federation) and papers (Kebkal, Konstantin & Kabanov, Aleksey & Kramar, Oleg & Dimin, Maksim & Abkerimov, Timur & Kramar, Vadim & Kebkal-Akbari, Veronika. (2024). Practical Steps towards Establishing an Underwater Acoustic Network in the Context of the Marine Internet of Things. Applied Sciences. 14. 3527. 10.3390/app14083527, where Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is marked as Russian Federation).
Study 4: Examples of academic studies which propagate Russian propaganda narratives in support of aggression against Ukraine
During our investigation, we observed hundreds of cases of spread of Russian propaganda naratives and support of aggression against Ukraine in academic papers published by Russian academicians in both Russian and international journals. Below are some examples:
Table 2. Russian Propaganda in Academic Papers: Selected Cases indexed in Scopus or published by international publishers
| Journal Title | Example of propaganda |
| Russian Social Science Review | A justification of the legality of the Crimea annexation (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10611428.2021.2002064) |
| Eurasian Geography and Economics | A justification of the Crimea annexation (link) |
| Public Health and Life Environment | Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, former Donetsk and Lugansk regions), Zaporozhye and Kherson regions are mentioned and discussed as parts of Russian Federation (link) |
| Almanac of Clinical Medicine | Ukrainian city of Donetsk is mentioned as a part of Russian Federation (link) |
| Kutafin Law Review | Justifies so called DNR and LNR (link) |
| Psychology and Law | So called Donetsk People’s Republic is mentioned instead of Donetsk Region of Ukraine (link) |
| RUSI Journal | A propaganda of the Crimea annexation (link) |
Conclusions
This note highlights how Russia uses the international academic sphere (scientometric databases, international publishers, and international organizations) as a vehicle for legitimization of its appropriation of Ukrainian territories. It is important that international scientific community put an end to this misuse of its resources. In particular, the academic journals, publishers and scientometric databases should monitor the material published on their websites to prevent the publication, indexing and display of the Russian propaganda related to its appropriation of the Ukrainian territories and to sanction the authors who produce propaganda. By ensuring responsibility and accountability, the academic community can protect the integrity of scholarly work and uphold the principles of truth and objectivity in research.
Appendix A
The Ukrainian city of Simferopol is mentioned as part of the Russian Federation by Russian journal “Reviews on Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Therapy” on the site of Scopus (Elsevier)
Appendix B
The Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is mentioned as part of the Russian Federation by Russian journal “Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Physics” published by Springer Nature
Appendix C
Table C.1. The list of 50 Springer Journals spreading the Russian propaganda