Terra sebv s acta mvsei sabesiensi s

Terra Sebus: Acta Musei Sabesiensis, Special Issue, 2014, p. 117-134 

 

 

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS IN HISTORIOGRAPHICAL 

STUDIES (BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THESES ON 

RUSSIAN EMIGRATION WRITTEN BETWEEN 1980 AND 2005)



 

 

 

Alexander Alekseevich PRONIN



 

 

 

Introduction 

An open-minded study of the Russian expatriate community has remained 

one of the most pressing academic questions for almost two decades. There 

are several reasons for this. The first is the collapse of the Soviet Union and, 

as a consequence, the emergence of a huge Russian diaspora in the newly-

formed countries numbering, according to approximate estimates, 25 

million people. Under these conditions, an unprecedentedly burning issue 

has appeared, namely the need to study the experiences of adaptation 

amongst various strata of Russian emigrants to the different conditions of 

life in a foreign country. The second reason is the need to conceptualise the 

substantive creative heritage of emigrants, which is crucial to the spiritual, 

cultural and socio-economic revival of Russia under the conditions of the 

new state and to the choices it faces regarding social development. Finally, 

the third main reason is the need to review many aspects of the country’s 

history and give an objective assessment of its past, combining the cultures 

of Russia and other countries. 

A large and diverse body of studies conducted since 1991, a 

significant proportion of which are in the form of theses written for 

academic qualifications, has led to the emergence of emigration studies as a 

new direction in Russian humanities. The constant growth in the flow of 

theses requires systematic study, the results of which will help to judge 

emigration studies in general, highlight its main tendencies, summarise the 

study of individual problems and outline perspectives for further research. 

Thus far, no analysis has been attempted of theses concerning “Russian 

emigration” published in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 

                                                 



 This article has been prepared within the state task of the Ministry of Education and 

Science of the Russian Federation, no. 33.526.2014/K,  Russian Intelligentsia and European 

Intellectuals in Changing Social-Political Reality of the 20

th

-Beginning of the 21

st

 Centuries: Virtuality 

and Reality. 



 Ekaterinburg Academy of Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region, Russian 

Federation; e-mail: [e-mail]. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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A. A. Pronin 

 

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(Russia) in the years 1980-2005. This 26-year period represents in 

approximately equal lengths the Soviet and post-Soviet eras of Russian 

history, when Russia was part of an allied Soviet state and then an 

independent sovereign country. 

 

About bibliometrics 

Quantitative research methods are important in academic studies; their 

advantage lies in the way they facilitate the acquisition of knowledge 

through identifying the quantitative characteristics of the subject of study. 

An investigation of the structure of the flow of discipline-specific 

documents is necessary to assess the status, tendencies and prospects for 

the development of various research fields and directions, as it has been 

found that the prevalence of certain types of documents in a given branch 

of academia depends on the intensity of its development. In particular, the 

emergence and development of a new academic field is usually accompanied 

by the intensive release of published articles in periodicals and journals.

1

 

The lion’s share of such publications is generally dedicated to informing 

interested readers about the academic problem, as well as intensive 

accumulation of empirical data and conceptualisation of its different 

aspects. Periodicals and journals are traditionally the most important aspect 

of the academic communication system: up to 90% of the total flow of 

academic information passes through them.

2

 

The next stage in the development of a new field is associated with a 

more profound and comprehensive study of the problem against the 

background of a partial reduction of public interest in it. As a result, there is 

a reduction in the number of operational publications and an increase in the 

number of monographs, theses and other works distinguished by the 

analytical depth, versatility and fundamentality of their content.

3

 

Further development of the academic direction is characterised by the 

appearance of textbooks and reference books accumulating well-established, 

tested knowledge. However, this is evidence of a gradual loss of relevance 

of the academic direction and a reduction of interest in it.

4

 

Document streams are in constant motion, which in turn leads to a 

continuous change in the volume, types, genres and material carriers of 

documented information. Based on experimental studies undertaken in the 

1960s examining growth and decline in the flow of scientific papers, specific 

dynamic patterns have been established. As a result, it is possible to 

                                                 

1

 Larkov 2006, p. 365. 

2

 Ivanov 2003, p. 187. 

3

 Larkov 2006, p. 365.  

4 

Zinovieva 2001, p. 201-203; Ivanov 2003, p. 187. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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