Kazakhstani Scientific Collaboration with Post-Soviet Countries: Dynamics and Impact

Gulnaz Zh. Alibekova, Asselya Makanova

2025

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DOI 10.51408/issi2025_054
Data confidence 70 medium
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Abstract

This study explores the dynamics of international collaboration in scientific publishing by Kazakhstani authors, with a particular focus on co-authorships with scholars from post-Soviet countries. Drawing on bibliometric data from Scopus and SciVal, we analyze the evolution of Kazakhstan's scientific output in international collaborations over the 2011-2023 period. The results reveal notable trends in the geographical and institutional distribution of joint publications, shedding light on the relative impact of such collaborations on Kazakhstan's academic visibility. A key finding of this study is the persistence and strengthening of scientific ties between Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries, despite the collapse of the Soviet Union over three decades ago. This trend appears to have been further reinforced by the introduction of indicator-based research evaluation systems and the adoption of policies aimed at the internationalization of science and higher education in post-Soviet countries, including Kazakhstan. As a result, Kazakhstani researchers increasingly engage in joint publications with colleagues from former Soviet republics. Notably, the volume of publications in collaboration with Russian authors remains the highest, although growing collaboration with researchers from Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan, has also been observed. In terms of publication quality, the study reveals that articles co-authored by Kazakhstani researchers with scholars from post-Soviet countries tend to be cited more frequently than those published with authors from other regions. Between 2014 and 2023, the average citation count of joint publications with post-Soviet colleagues was 19.87, compared to 13.52 for those co-authored with non-post-Soviet researchers. Moreover, publications with post-Soviet collaborators were more likely to appear in journals with lower impact-factor quartiles (Q3 and Q4), whereas those with non-post-Soviet coauthors were more frequently published in higher-impact journals (Q1 and Q2).