The unprincipled principal: how Romania’s inconsistent research reform impacted scientific output

Abstract

This study employs the synthetic control method to assess the effects of Romania’s 2016 research reforms on the nation’s research output. Prior reforms were unstable and led to persistent deviations from international publication practices, where a disproportionate share of national research was published in national journals and subsequently in conference proceedings. The 2016 reforms, which introduced rigorous publication quotas and criteria, including reduced emphasis on conference proceedings, were notably stable. However, these reforms coincided with a consistent reduction in research funding. To understand the impact of the tension between increased publication demands and reduced research funding, the study analysed changes in research output distribution before and after the reform, focusing on total scientific output, conference proceedings, and articles published in MDPI and non-MDPI journals. The results revealed a significant decline in overall scientific production following the intervention. This decrease can be attributed to two key factors. First, the shift away from conference proceedings was not fully compensated for by the increase in articles published in MDPI journals. Second, there was also a decline in the articles published in non-MDPI journals.