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SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES OF PROFESSOR A. L. IVANOVSKII IN BIBLIOMETRIC INDICES
A. V. Deryabina, A. S. Vorokh
Institute of Solid State Chemistry UB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Russia
PACS 01.60.+q
The publication activity dynamics of Prof. A. L. Ivanovskii has been examined and the bibliometric indices
of his scientific work have been analyzed.
Keywords: Scientometrics, Bibliometrics, Ivanovskii A.L.
Received: 16 June 2014
Revised: 30 June 2014
Alexander Leonidovich Ivanovskii (1953-2014), Professor, Doctor of Chemistry, was known in the scientific community as a leading specialist in the application of quantum-chemical computational methods for the modeling of physicochemical properties of novel compounds and materials. For almost forty years of his scientific career (1976-2014), he, personally and with co-authors, published more than 860 scientific works in domestic and foreign journals, 14 monographs and more than 20 reviews devoted to computational studies of materials science and inorganic systems. The research findings obtained by A. L. Ivanovskii are highly valued in the scientific community. His papers have high citation indices in international scientific and technical information resources.
The investigation of personal bibliographies of scientists is of theoretical and applied importance because it allows one to obtain individual and comparative quantitative characteristics of publication activity and efficiency of scientific work of a scientist. This also allows one to determine the place of the scientists' effort in the developed domains of science as well as to study the processes of formation and change in research trends in one or several scientific fields [1].
In this work, we analyze the dynamics of bibliometric indices of the scientific heritage of A.L. Ivanovskii from 1978 to 2013. In 2014, several articles by A.L. Ivanovskii have been already published and perhaps other works will appear later; that is why the quantitative indicators of the scientific heritage of A. L. Ivanovskii will change slightly in the future. The electronic database search was carried out in May 2014 with consideration of different spelling variants of the surname (Table 1). Figure 1 presents the general dynamics of publication activity of .L. Ivanovskii in the considered period. The global scientific and technical information resources — Web of Science (WoS) [2], Scopus [3], Chemical Abstracts Plus (CAPlus) [4] and the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) [5] have been used. The experience in the bibliometric analysis of chemists' works earned after I.V. Zibareva et al. reveals that, the application of different electronic databases provides more complete volume of examined material since each database has its own peculiarities (different time periods, primary sources, functional capabilities, thematic scope) [6, 7, 8].
Analysis of the data in Fig. 1 allows one to distinguish three stages in the scientific work of A. L. Ivanovskii depending on his publication activity. In turn, each stage can be
Table 1. The main bibliometric indices of scientific activities of A.L. Ivanovskii
Index RSCI WoS Scopus
Total number of publications 828 541 531
Total number of citations 5830 4022 3646
Average number of citations per 1 publication 5.6 7.4 6.8
Hirsch index 28 27 27
NUffiUUCDtDCDUdfffrjncnfhfflfiVCnmAOimOOQQOI^QOOQ'— ■— ■— '
r—I r-H TH TH TH r-H TH TH TH TH TH TH rH TH TH TH TH TH TH rH [~TJ [~-J [~TJ l"-J I"-J l"-J I-TJ I--J I-TJ [~-J l"-J l"-J l"-J
-RSCI -WoS -Scopus CAP
Fig. 1. The general dynamics of publication activity of A. L. Ivanovskii. The number of published items on the year is depicted concerning to different electronic databases
subdivided into separate phases. The first stage, from 1979 to 1987, reflects his formation as a scientist. The activity of young researcher is related to the investigations of the electronic structure, chemical bonding and interatomic interactions in transition metal compounds. This period can be characterized by low publication activity: about 30 papers are published in total. The activity peaks in 1986, when two monographs of A. L. Ivanovskii (in co-authorship with V. A. Gubanov, M. V. Ryzhkov, G. P. Shveikin) devoted to the evaluation of quantum chemical research methods have been published. As a result of this stage, the main approaches in the quantum chemical simulation of the properties of complex multi-component compounds and in the search of their optimal compositions have been formulated.
The second stage of the scientific activity begins in 1988, after the defense of his doctoral thesis. At that time, A. L. Ivanovskii is 36 years old, and everything promises the beginning of the most fruitful creative period. However, judging by the number of published articles, a decline begins, which continues from 1991 to 1993. This slowdown is typical for the majority of Russian scientists and is related to the general situation in the country. The Soviet system was disorganized, the support for research and development was drastically reduced, and science teetered on the brink of extinction.
In 1994, the third stage in the academic career of A. L. Ivanovskii begins, which can be characterized as a research and organization period. He got elected among other candidates to the position of the Head of Laboratory of Solid State Chemistry and Spectroscopy
at ISSC UB RAS. At that time, new forms of financing of the Russian science emerge: the support of scientists from the Russian Foundation of Basic Research was actively undertaken, the International Soros Science Education Program was created. Thanks to these and other foundations, Russian scientists were once again actively involved in R&D work. Besides, A. L. Ivanovskii directs the theoretical group and these reasons can explain the fact that more than fivefold increase in the publication activities of A. L. Ivanovskii takes place in the next 7 years. Under his leadership, investigations of chemical bonding, electronic structure and physicochemical properties of carbides, nitrides, silicides, hydrides, oxides, multi-component solid solutions and alloys were carried out in the laboratory. Together with his team, A. L. Ivanovskii elaborated original methods, performed research work and developed general theoretical models for the targeted control over the functional properties of inorganic compounds by modified structural defects. The organized teamwork provided a purposeful search for novel materials with pre-assigned characteristics (cermets, heat-resisting coatings, superconductors, nano-systems).
The phase of the highest creative productivity of the scientist falls on the first decade of the 21st century. The research team of A. L. Ivanovskii was reinvigorated by young scientists. About 80% of his publications are written in the last 13 years. On average, A. L. Ivanovskii published about 30 papers per year (or about 60 papers according to RSCI, which is probably due to the peculiarities of the Russian database, which takes into account both the original works in Russian and their English versions [8]). Obviously, such high productivity is due to the active participation in the rise of a new research area - computational materials science for inorganic nanostructures (nanotubes and fullerene-like clusters) and nanomaterials based thereon.
Fig. 2. The object domains of research in the publications of A. L. Ivanovskii
Table 2. Key words from the publications of A.L. Ivanovskii (Scopus)
Key word Quantity
Electronic properties 89
Electronic structure / Band structure 67 / 19
Chemical structure 39
Calculations/ Ab initio calculations/ First-principles calculation/ First-principles 39 / 37 / 31 / 24
Chemical bond / Chemical bonds 28 / 24
Superconductivity / Superconducting materials 28 / 19
Structure / Structure analysis 26 / 19
Elastic properties / Elasticity / Elastic moduli 25 /19 /18
Density functional theory 24
Nanotubes / Fullerene 22 / 13
Magnetic properties 21
Carbon 19
Stoichiometry 18
Inter-atomic bonding / Molecular interaction 16 / 16
Unclassified drug 16
The works of A. L. Ivanovskii are at the intersection of three distinct domains, among which the major areas are Chemistry and Physics (Physics and Astronomy in Scopus) (see Fig. 2). Materials science is a separate research field in Scopus and WoS and also constitutes a significant part of his research. This is indicative of clearly defined scientific interest at the junction of three scientific disciplines. The use of keywords determined by Scopus show that the works of A. L. Ivanovskii deal mainly with electronic properties, electronic structure, chemical structure, first-principles calculations, chemical bond and stoichiometry (Table 2). These keywords allow one to single out from general articles the works where the properties of a substance (superconductivity, elasticity, magnetic properties) and the forms of a substance (nanotubes, fullerenes) play decisive roles.
The types of publication items are analyzed in Table 3. The main body of the creative heritage of A. L. Ivanovskii consists of the journal articles. In the foreign databases, review articles are classified in a separate category (review). According to CAPlus, data this type of publication possesses more than 10% of the total number of articles; in other databases, this index is smaller. It is worth noting that, among the 10 most frequently cited papers of A. L. Ivanovskii, three are reviews. Although A. L. Ivanovskii is known primarily as a theoretician, he is listed as an inventor on several patents (e.g. a device for ultrasound transmission, a method for producing ceramics etc.).
The list of journals, in which A. L. Ivanovskii publishes his works, includes more than one hundred titles, which confirms the multidisciplinary character of his research. At the same time, there are several journals, to which he contributes on a regular basis, in particular, Zhurnal strukturnoy khimii, Zhurnal neorganicheskoy khimii and Fizika tvyordogo tela among the Russian periodicals and Physica Status Solidi B Basic Research (Germany) occupying the leading place among foreign journals (Table 4).
Table 3. The distribution of the works of A. L. Ivanovskii by the types of publications
APlus* RSCI WoS Scopus
Article in journal / review 271/27 661 474/32 471/17
Article in conference proceedings 1 7 8 5
Patent 1 6
Report 4
Book or collection of articles 3 1
* In CAPlus, the authors considered the data for a period from 2006 to 2013.
Table 4. The distribution of the publications of A. L. Ivanovskii by the journals
Journal RSCI WoS Scopus
Zhurnal strukturnoy khimii 51
Journal of Structural Chemistry 20 54 54
Zhurnal neorganicheskoy khimii 40
Russian Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 27 34 38
Fizika tvyordogo tela 39
Physics of the Solid State 17 30 18
DOKLADY AKADEMII NAUK 36 3
Doklady Chemistry 3
Doklady Earth Sciences 2
Doklady Physical Chemistry 21 22
Uspekhi khimii 30 9
Russian Chemical Reviews 6
Pisma v Zhurnal eksperimentalnoy i teoreticheskoy fiziki 28
Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters 17 24 19
(JETP Letters)
Physica Status Solidi B Basic Research 13 21
Inorganic Materials 30 20
Mendeleev Communications 17 10
The greatest number of works, reflected in the scientific and technical information resources, is published in English, the difference in the indices being small (see Fig. 3). The RSCI data are different: 82% of the articles are published in the Russian journals and 40% — in the Russian journals in translation.
The scientific activity of Prof. A. L. Ivanovskii is connected to a single institution — the Institute of Solid State Chemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (before 1991, the Institute of Chemistry UB USSR AS). The most of his articles is represented by this institute. In the foreign automatic search systems, the name of the Institute goes as the Institute of Solid State Chemistry, but more general names should be also taken into consideration during the search: Russian Academy of Sciences, Ural Branch Russian Academy of Sciences. For a long period of time, A. L. Ivanovskii cooperated with the Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (Ural
A. V. Deryabina, A. S. Vorokh Table 5. The scientific cooperation of A. L. Ivanovskii
Co-author Years of cooperation RSCI WoS Scopus
Shein I.R. 2001 - 2013* 288 193 179
Enyashin A.N. 2003 - 2013 137 87 89
Medvedeva N.I. 1994 - 2013 121 66 68
Makurin Yu.N. 1999 - 2010 109 53 62
Ivanovskaya V.V. 2001 - 2011 80 38 42
Sofronov A.A. 1999 - 2006 69 33 46
Shveikin G.P. 1979 - 2006 62 34 28
Bannikov V.V. 2007- 2013 49 40 39
Gubanov V.A. 1979 - 1992 38 41 22
Suetin D.V. 2008 - 2013 33 26 25
Okatov S.V. 1999 - 2005 32 18 21
Bamburov V.G. 1998 - 2012 30 13 15
Kiyko V.S. 2001 - 2011 30 20 21
Gorbunova V.M. 2006 - 2010 25 13 12
Kuznetsov M.V. 1995 - 2012 25 11 15
Anisimov V.I. 1979 - 2013 19 11 7
Novikov D.L. 1986 - 2002 19 13 7
Kozhevnikov V.L. 2005 - 2008 18 11 9
Moiseyev G.K. 2005 - 2008 18 8 8
Ryzhkov M.V. 1999 - 2013 18 12 -
Shein K.I. 2004 - 2007 17 13 -
Yuryeva E.I. 2000 - 2006 16 7 7
Medvedeva Yu.E. 1998 - 2005 13 5 4
Kurmayev E.Z. 1979 - 2004 12 16 12
Cherkashenko V.M. 1984 - 2001 12 5 5
Votyakov S.L. 2002 - 2013 11 6 5
Shchapova Yu.V. 2002 - 2013 11 6 5
Shalaeva E.V. 1995 - 2012 11 3 -
Gusev A.I. 2001 - 2008 10 3 5
* The first three papers co-authored by A.L. Ivanovskii and I.R. Shein were published as early as in 1990; however then there was a 10-year interval in this creative tandem.
■ Russian
■ English
Fig. 3. The ratio of the articles of A. L. Ivanovskii published in Russian and English
Federal University), giving lectures on quantum and general chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and about 10% of his publications are affiliated with this University.
A characteristic feature of the research work of A. L. Ivanovskii is productive scientific co-authorship. The number of all co-authors of A. L. Ivanovskii exceeds one hundred. Table 5 lists the names of scientists who are the co-authors of more than 10 papers. According to this data several groups of co-authors can be distinguished. The first group can be tentatively called tutors. They are characterized by long-term and fruitful cooperation limited in time (G. P. Shveikin, V. A. Gubanov). The second group — colleagues — is represented by longstanding co-authorship of different intensity (N.I. Medvedeva, V.I. Anisimov). The third group — pupils — is characterized by temporary fruitful cooperation (V. V. Ivanovskaya, A. A. Sofronov, S.V. Okatov). It is noteworthy that some pupils later become the most productive co-authors (I. R. Shein, A.N. Enyashin).
In view of the aforementioned, the geography of cooperation of A. L. Ivanovskii covers primarily the Russian Federation. Among foreign countries, the most intensive cooperation took place with German scientific groups and to a lesser degree — with scientists from Switzerland, France and the US (Table 6).
Table 6. The geography of co-authors of A.L. Ivanovskii
Country WoS Scopus
Russian Federation 507 446
Germany 19 18
Switzerland 4 5
France 3 3
USA 6 3
Three of the ten most cited papers are reviews written by A. L. Ivanovskii as the sole author (Table 7). This is indicative of his tremendous working capacity and a wide scientific range of investigations. The current decade is marked by the most fruitful collaboration with the scientists of the Institute. A strong research team has been formed, which is regularly
CAPIus WoS Scopus
A. V. Deryabina, A. S. Vorokh Table 7. The most frequently cited articles (times cited)
Article RSCI WoS Scopus
Ivanovskii A.L. 121 60 41
Non-carbon nanotubes: synthesis and simulation. Russ.Chem.Rev.,
71, 3, P. 175-194 (2002)
Medvedeva N.I., Ivanovskii A.L., Medvedeva J.E., Freeman A.J. 119 92 119
Electronic structure of superconducting MgB2 and related binary and ternary borides. Phys. Rev. B, 64, 2, P. 205021-205024 (2001)
Medvedeva N.I., Novikov D.L., Ivanovskii A.L., Kuznetsov M.V., 99 89 98
Freeman A.J.
Electronic properties of Ti3SiC2-based solid solutions. Phys. Rev. B,
58, 24, P. 16042-16050 (1998)
Ivanovskii A.L. 115 87 90
New high-temperature superconductors based on rare-earth and transition metal oxyarsenides and related phases: synthesis, properties and simulations. Phys.Uspekhi, 51, 12, P. 1229-1260 (2008).
Shein I.R., Ivanovskii A.L. 81 90 74
Elastic properties of mono-and polycrystalline hexagonal AlB2-like diborides of s, p and d metals from first-principles calculations.
J. Phys. Condens. Matter. 20, 41, 415218 (2008).
Enyashin A.N., Ivanovskii A.L. 39 53 55
Graphene allotropes. Phys. Status Solidi (B), 248, 8, P. 1879-1883 (2011).
Makurin Yu.N., Sofronov A.A., Gusev A.I., Ivanovskii A.L. 53 — 51
Electronic structure and chemical stabilization of C28 fullerene.
Chem. Phys., 270, 2, P. 293-308 (2001).
Shein I.R., Medvedeva N.I., Ivanovskii A.L. Electronic and structural 48 49 50
properties of cementite-type M3X (M=Fe, Co, Ni; X=C or B) by first principles calculations. Physica B: Cond.Matter, 371, 1, P. 126-132
(2006).
Ivanovskii A.L. 63 51 47
Band Structure and Properties of Superconducting MgB2 and Related Compounds (a Review). PlaceNameplacePhys. Place-NameSolid PlaceTypeState, 45, 10, P. 1829-1859 (2003).
Zakharova G.S., Volkov V.L., Ivanovskaya V.V., Ivanovskii A.L. 74 33 45
Nanotubes and related nanostructures of d-metal oxides: Synthesis
and computer design. Uspekhi Khimii, 74, 7, P. 651-685 (2005).
Fig. 4. The number of articles and review papers published in the world during one year on various topics (Scopus). The first works of A. L. Ivanovskii devoted to these topics are marked by arrows with vertical lines
reinforced with post-graduates. This period is a peak of publication activity with maxima of 37 and 39 publications in 2006 and 2008 according to WoS, 37 and 38 publications according to Scopus and 83 publications according to RSCI. The main drawings up of scientific work are considered by A. L. Ivanovskii as a paper published in a scientific journal. It should be noted again that most of his articles are written by two or three co-authors. The review papers hold a special place, and here, A. L. Ivanovskii often acts as the sole author. Although the majority of his papers are published in the Russian journals, the works of A. L. Ivanovskii are recognized and known worldwide in the scientific community.
It is significant that A. L. Ivanovskii often anticipated the growth of interest in new hot topics. Figure 4 demonstrates the number of the world publications (Scopus) in the main areas, where A. L. Ivanovskii investigated. As is seen, his papers represent avant-garde studies. This is most visually illustrated both by the abrupt boom in the investigations of magnesium diboride (MgB2 curve) and by the growing interest in MAX phases (MAXphase). The works of A. L. Ivanovskii devoted to nano-dimensional boron nitride (nano BN) and special endo- and exohedral forms of fullerenes (endo/exo-fullerene) are at the very beginning of the uprising trend. Naturally, the preliminaary searches do not always end successfully. So, a growth in the interest to the oxypnictides (LaOFeX) as new promising superconducting materials is almost gone today. On the one hand, such analysis reveals a large insight of the scientist and his ability to foresee, if the interest in a topic in the world scientific community grows. On the other hand, with the erosion of interest in the topic, it illustrates the relevance of search and high complexity of potential topicality assessment. However, such work requires supreme organization since all resources in this direction should be mobilized over a short period of time. Besides, personal volitional powers of scientist are of much importance, since the already explored research areas have to be sacrificed for the
development of a new topic. In the judgment of his colleagues, it is exactly these qualities that were exemplified by A. L. Ivanovskii.
The presented bibliometric indices analysis of A. L. Ivanovskii's research activities is preliminary and is based only on the examination of statistical data from the global scientific and technical information resources. Undoubtedly, comprehensive evaluation of activities of a scientist calls for a more thorough and profound examination, compilation of a detailed bibliographic index of works, as well as analysis of scientific and organizational activities, involvement in grants (projects) and teaching experience. On the whole, the performed analysis reveals the pronounced characteristic features of Prof. A. L. Ivanovskii as a scientist - the ability to generate new ideas, to arrange team work and to organize effective cooperation. The publication activity of A. L. Ivanovskii shows that he was at the peak of possible work capacity and reached the maximum efficiency of his work as a scientist and an organizer. Unfortunately, many other problems of computational materials science will not be addressed by the researcher: his sudden and untimely death ended this important scientific activity.
References
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