The Russian Academy of Sciences said Friday that unless its funding is significantly increased, it will never catch up with U.S. research centers, whose work is cited 17 times more often, according to recent studies.
"If we take the tasks that the Russian president has set for increasing the citation rate, I should say that if the financing of state academies remains the same, we can't significantly increase in these results," said Vladimir Ivanov, a senior official on the academy's presidium.
Ivanov, who was speaking at a news conference attended by reporters from Interfax, said that scientists' citation rate and financing were directly linked.
Despite financing worries, Ivanov said that the academy was making every effort to cover rising expenses and maintain the current level of scientific achievement.
