Geography of Research Networks in the South of Russia

Classic works in the geography of research and innovation activity of the 1960s–1970s on clustering and diffusion of innovations in the 21st century have received new impetus for development with the approach of open innovation and growing importance of interregional network collaboration. Digitalization has provided access to new sources of big data on the movement of key elements of the knowledge economy, including publications—the formalized result of scientific activity. The aim of the article is to identify the center–periphery research ties of one of the largest macroregions of European Russia—the South. The problem was solved to assess the territorial patterns of the formation of interregional research networks with the identification of centers of gravity of various orders and ties between them at the local and national levels. The study was based on the spatial scientometrics method. Geocoded data on publications from the Scopus abstract and citation database were used. The hypotheses about the Moscow-centricity and Petersburg-centricity of the scientific space of the macroregion were verified. The influence of the factors of geographical proximity and diversity of interregional ties was assessed. The results of the analysis revealed significant cooperation in the research field between regions of the South (and the wider South) of the European part Russia. The hypothesis on the presence of several centers of attraction for scientific activity in the macroregion, including Rostov oblast, Krasnodar krai, and Volgograd oblast, has been confirmed. The hypothesis on the interdependence of the level of publication activity and branching of the research network was confirmed. The influence of the factor of territorial proximity in the formation of cooperative ties is low and is manifested mainly in southern Russian regions with relatively low indicators of scientific productivity (primarily in the national republics). Interregional scientific cooperation of advanced regions is not limited to immediate geographical proximity, it is determined by a combination of nonterritorial factors. The Moscow-centricity of regions of the macroregion is typical of most southern federal subjects and is especially pronounced in regions with low internal scientific potential, as well as in new regions that have undergone a period of transformation of scientific systems.