Russia’s academic institutes as mirrored by webometrics

Abstract

How adequately and fully do the indicators used in webometric research help assess the quality and size of scientific websites? This question is asked by the authors of this article. They analyze the sites of Russian academic institutes and their indicators. The degree of value stability of webometric indicators is demonstrated; examples of their discrepancy with assumed meanings are given; and alternative interpretations are offered. This research resulted in a monthly replenished free-for-all database of webometric indicators of academic sites, hosted at http://webometrix.ru, which could become a tool for planning measures to improve the representation of scientific organizations on the Internet and a basis for generating webometric site rankings.