Evolution of gender research in the social sciences in post-Soviet countries: a bibliometric analysis

While interest in mapping the patterns of publication and research in post-Soviet countries has been growing steadily, there is a gap in knowledge about how gender is featured in post-Soviet research and publications. Using a descriptive bibliometric approach and metadata extracted from 2822 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database for 1993-2021, this study seeks to understand the evolution of gender research in post-Soviet countries. The analysis revealed a notable increase in gender research and publications since the breakup of the Soviet Union, particularly between 2017 and 2021; however, the contribution of the post-Soviet countries to international research on gender remains insignificant. Russia, Estonia and Ukraine are at the forefront of gender research among post-Soviet states, while Caucasus and Central Asian countries, except Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, contribute to the lower degree. Although research collaboration among post-Soviet researchers is increasing, researchers tend to mainly collaborate internally with authors from the same countries and institutions, and very few authors collaborate across post-Soviet states or internationally. The topics of publications in post-Soviet gender research incorporate different subjects, with most articles published within psychology and behavioral sciences, while gender research in sociological and political economy disciplines is still evolving.