Synergism of Scientific Teams in the Reflection of Scientometrics

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify and substantiate the criteria for synergistic interaction of employees within the research team. The object of research is the scientific activity of micro–collectives (department collectives), the subject of research is the success of cooperation within collectives. Scientific cooperation is an important factor in increasing the success (efficiency) of research activities and obtaining high-quality scientific results. Efficiency of any activity, including research activity, is increased by means of synergistic interaction (the results of which can be presented as 1 + 1> 2). The authors consider synergistic interaction as a way of performing research activities by scientific teams based on cooperation as a factor in obtainingresults impossible without this interaction. The parameters reflecting the synergism of the research activities of scientific teams are its criteria as the subject of the specified activity (first of all, organizational readiness). Taking into account these parameters, the analysis of research activity results (reflected in publication activity and citation rate) achieved by academic researchers from higher educational institutions of the Krasnodar Territory (one of the federal subjects of Russia) is performed. The authors present their models and methods for the assessment of synergistic interaction within scientific teams. Primary mathematical modelsbased on set theory are proposed for the scientific team and its activities. Some difficulties in assessing the synergism of scientific teams – the impossibility to accurately assess the rating of scientific publications, malfunction of automated scientometric databases, problems with identifying the specific contribution of each author’s specific contribution, faked scientific activity, retraction of publications – are noted. Methodological foundations of the research: synergetic approach (considers scientific cooperation as a synergistic process leading to an increase in the effectiveness of research activities), systematic approach (considers the diagnosis of scientific cooperation as an integral component of monitoring research activities), sociological approach (considers the research team as a social system and environment for a researcher), qualimetric approach (proclaims the need for multi-criteria diagnostics of synergistic interaction within a research team) and probabilistic-statistical approach (considers the diagnosis of scientific cooperation as a statistical measurement based on the processing of primary information). Research methods: analysis of scientific literature, modeling, methods of set theory and graphs, methods of qualimetry, methods of mathematical statistics, including the method of rocky scree, on the basis of which the well-known Hirsch index iscalculated, methods of linear algebra.