The managed printing activity of universities: unde venis et quo vadis?

International processes in academic informational space require not only a total increase of teaching and academic staff activities but the Institute right understanding of lagging behind international trends. The aim of this research article is to evaluate researchers' intellectual basis using the analysis of key words from almost 30000 publications by authors from two Russian universities during the period from 2010 till 2015. One of the universities participates in 5-100 Project and the other is a pillar regional university. The research identified several patterns based on frequency and character of key words use and singled out problems hindering the access of Russian authors to international discussion platforms. Authors conducted analysis of dependencies of publication activities in economically developed countries including Russia. They have identified dependence of this indicator and GDP indicator. It should be mentioned that Russian researchers have on average 4,5 times less publication compared to other countries under comparison. This demonstrates objective growth reserve. Authors do not claim full coverage of all factors hindering the management of dynamic development of publication activities at universities. At the same time the article formulates the main strategic and tactical managerial measures facilitating this process, such as: turning research basis towards international academic thinking mainstream; eliminating discrepancies in academic research management; using advantages of a between university branch specialization and publications of its researchers; stronger individualization of universities; transition from general topics to specialized ones; creation of publication service, etc. It is of interest for academic managers as allows for making conclusion concerning present state of affairs as well as for researchers and teams willing to take an active part in forming relevant academic list of topics.