Readers’ rating of the journal

The editorial board of the journal “Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast” carries out the readers’ survey concerning the relevance and quality of published materials. The members of the journal’s editorial council and editorial board as well as 92 researchers of the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences (in 2011 – 79 pers.) took part in the survey in April 2012. Some of the survey results are stated below.

According to the 2010 – 2011 results, more than 80% of the respondents assessed the journal’s changes as “positive” and “rather positive than negative” (tab. 1) .

The events, having a positive influence on the journal’s development over the recent 2 years, include the following:

firstly , according to the decision of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) of the Ministry of Education and Science dated 19 February 2010, the journal is included in the list of scientific editions recommended by VAK for the publication of the main results of Ph.D. and Doctoral theses;

secondly , in 2011 the journal’s issuing frequency changed from 4 to 6 times a year (every 2 months), which allowed for a 2/3 increase in the annual number of published articles (from 56 to 94);

Table 1. Rating of the answers to the question: “How would you assess the journal’s changes?” (in % of the number of respondents)

Answer option	In 2011 (summing up the 2010 results)	В 2012 г. (summing up the 2011 results)
Positive	42.6	43.4
Rather positive than negative	40.4	40.6
Rather negative than positive	1.1	0
Negative	0	0
No considerable changes	4.2	7.5
Difficult to answer	11.7	8.5

Figure 1. RISC impact factor of the journal “Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast”

* The value of the impact factor for 2012 was obtained by the author’s calculation on the basis of Scientific electronic library data.

thirdly , the editorial board began the systematic placement of full-text versions of the journal on the Internet on the platform of the Scientific electronic library (eLIBRARY. RU), where the impact factor of the Russian index of scientific citation (RISC)¹ is calculated (fig. 1) ; according to this indicator, the journal “Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast” in 2010 rated 38 among 149 economic journals (tab. 2) ;

fourthly , well-known scientists cooperate with the journal as the members of the editorial board (Academician V.V. Okrepilov, Doctor of Economics, Professor I.A. Maksimtsev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor

fifthly , cooperation with foreign scientists has been actively developing: the journal regularly publishes articles by authors from Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, France, Finland;

sixthly , the information about the articles published in the journal is regularly sent to the database of VINITI RAS, international information systems Google Scholar, Ulrich’s periodicals directory, Index Copernicus.

The competitive advantage of the journal “Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast” is the issuing (along with the Russian version) of its translated English version. This increases the chances of the journal’s inclusion into foreign databases. For example, at present, the agreement on the journal’s inclusion in the

Table 2. Rating of the journal “Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast” among the economic journals according to the RISC impact factor in 2010

Rating in 2010 Name of the journal on economics RISC impact factor 2010 1 Voprosy Ekonomiki 3.938 2 Russian Economic Journal 1.253 3 Foresight-Russia 1.036 4 Russian Management Journal 0.837 5 Terra Economicus (earlier: Economic Bulletin of the Rostov State University) 0.783 6 Region: Economics and Sociology 0.781 7 Spatial Economics 0.738 8 Open Education 0.735 9 Journal of the New Economic Association 0.727 10 Money and Credit 0.674 38 (out of 149)* Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast 0.218 49 Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Management Series 0.154 57 Vestnik of Moscow State University. Economics Series 0.124 71 Voprosy Regionalnoy Ekonomiki 0.091 87 Rossiyskoye Predprinimatelstvo 0.057 113 Vestnik of Samara State University of Economics 0.025 149 Economics of Development 0.000 In 2009 the journal “Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast” ranked 77 among 140 economic journals in the rating of RISC impact factor. Source: Scientific electronic library website. Available at: database EBSCOhost2 is being worked out. In addition, the journal is submitted to other American databases for consideration: Web of Science3, ProQuest4, EconBiz (www.econbiz. de). German search portal for economists, operating since 2002 as a virtual library, expressed a willingness to cooperate and acquire the English printed version of the journal.

The implemented activities promoted the increase in the number of materials submitted for publication, this diversified and expanded the list of issues and questions covered in the journal. Table 3 states the journal’s headings, which respondents noted to be the most interesting ones. These include, first of all, the materials concerning the problems of branchwise and regional economic development, the functioning of the social sphere, strategic management and public finances, the peculiarities of the territories’ transition to the innovation development path, etc.

Table 3. Distribution of the answers to the question: “What headings in your opinion are the most interesting?” (average score)

Heading	In 2011 (summing up the 2010 results)	In 2012 (summing up the 2011 results)
Branch-wise and regional economy	7.8	8.7
Innovation development	7.7	8.6
Development strategy	8.4	8.6
Social development	8.4	8.5
From the chief editor	8.9	8.4
Young researchers	8.1	8.2
Public finances	6.5	8.1
In the world of books	8.0	8.0
Scientific life	8.3	8.0
Discussion tribune	-	7.9
Modeling and informatics	7.5	7.9
Nature management economy	7.1	7.9
Economic theory	7.2	7.8
Of editorial mail	-	7.0

Table 4. Rating of answers to the question: “How would you assess the level of materials published in the journal?” (in % to the number of respondents)

Answer option	In 2011 (summing up the 2010 results)	In 2012 (summing up the 2011results)
High	25.5	23.6
Sufficiently high	63.9	66.0
Average	10.6	9.4
Below average	0	0
Low	0	0

The changes that took place over the last two years not only increased the quantity but also improved the quality of the published materials. So, by the results of 2010 – 2011, almost 90% of respondents assessed the level of articles as “high” and “high enough” (tab. 4) .

At present, the journal “Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast” will be released in four versions: printed Russian and English, electronic Russian and English. Russian printed and e-versions are still the most popular. However, in 2011 as compared to 2010, the interest of the readers to English versions increased (tab. 5) .

While considering the relevance of the materials published in the journal, one should also pay attention to the visiting of its site (esc.

vscc.ac.ru). In January – September 2012 internet users viewed5 almost 111 thousand pages, and 354 visitors registered6 in the site in order to work with full-text versions of the journal’s articles, this figure exceeds the 2011 values by 15%. Students and specialists comprised more than a half of registered visitors.

Answering the survey questions, the respondents made a number of proposals, the implementation of which could improve the quality of the journal’s content. In their opinion, it would be advisable to supplement it with

Table 5. Rating of answers to the question: “How much in demand, in your opinion, are the different versions of the journal?” (in % to the number of respondents)

Answer option In 2011 (summing up the 2010 results) In 2012 (summing up the 2011 results) Russian printed Very much in demand 37.2 46.2 In demand 56.4 44.3 Little in demand 2.2 5.7 Not in demand 1.1 0 Russian electronic Very much in demand 58.5 62.3 In demand 31.9 31.1 Little in demand 5.3 1.9 Not in demand 0 0 English printed Very much in demand 3.2 3.8 In demand 26.6 34 Little in demand 50 42.5 Not in demand 18.1 13.2 English electronic Very much in demand 9.6 12.3 In demand 31.9 47.2 Little in demand 36.2 28.3 Not in demand 11.7 6.6 such headings as “Economic integration and spatial development”, “Municipal management and development of rural territories”, “Energy economics and problems of energy efficiency”, “Modeling and prediction”, “Activities of enterprises”, “Sciences, associating economics” and others.

In connection with the issue of the journal’s promotion, respondents suggested the following:

• a)    to organize the journal’s realization in print and electronic form, including through

bookstores and internet-shops;

• b)    to use more widely the opportunities for the journal’s inclusion into domestic and foreign databases;

• c)    to expand the range of the authors – leading specialists (domestic and foreign) in the field of social sciences, in particular, attracting them to write collaborative articles.

The editorial board thanks all the readers who participated in the survey. Your evaluation and suggestions are important and they are actively used to improve the quality of the journal’s content and presentation.