Express identification of real functions of Ukrainian scientific professional journals based on the analysis of statistical distributions

Abstract

There are about 1,700 scientific professional journals in Ukraine, of which about 10% belong to the category A. Scientific journals, in addition to the basic function of disseminating new knowledge and fixing the priority of scientific results, also perform credit and commercial functions. When managing academic activities, questions arise as to whether such a number of national scientific journals is needed, whether they fully perform all their functions and how effectively. To answer these questions, it is necessary to know not only the total number of national scientific journals, but also their spectrum - belonging to certain research fields and specialties, as well as their connection with other indicators of scientific and educational activity. We have
collected experimental data and based on it, we have constructed statistical distributions of the number of Ukrainian professional journals, the normalized number of Ukrainian professional journals, the number of experts of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance of Ukraine and the number of PhD thesis defenses. The normalized number of Ukrainian professional journals is considered as a rough estimate of the number of professional journals in terms of specialties, statistical data for which are not available to us. All distributions turned out to be uneven with quartile coefficients from 14.8 to 81.7. The similarity of the distributions was assessed using the Czekanowski index. A high similarity was found in the distribution of the number of professional journals, and, accordingly, the distribution of editorial board members tangent to it, with the distribution of the number of experts of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance of Ukraine, which allows the hypothesis to be put forward about the similarity of the motives of these two academic communities. Most likely, the main motive is the acquisition of additional status, a feeling of some prestige from joining these communities. A high similarity was found in the distribution of the normalized number of professional journals with the distribution of the number of defended PhD theses, which allows the hypothesis to be put forward that professional journals are positioned precisely as a platform for postgraduate
articles.