After more than three years of full-scale war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022, there is an absence of global consensus among academicians and organizations involved in academic activity on the efficiency of sanctions on Russian academia. This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of various sanctions imposed on Russian academia in response to Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. By analyzing data on the dynamics of scientific research dissemination through publications, the effectiveness of sanctions was examined using the Scopus database, its built-in tools, and SciVal, over the period 2013–2024, covering the pre-war, hybrid war, and full-scale invasion stages. The analysis revealed a significant (double-digit) decline across key metrics of publication activity affiliated with the Russian Federation. This includes actual and projected numbers of publications and citations, output of conference papers, as well as shifts in publication activity by subject area, institution, and international collaboration, particularly with main partner countries and regions. Results highlighted Russian academia isolation, lack of resources, and a decrease in international collaboration, research projects, and grant financing. These findings provide justification for increasing sanction pressure on Russian academia.
Kozmenko et al. (Sun,) studied this question.