An analysis of the response of highly urbanized Russian regions to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic shows that regions with a high urban population share and many small and medium-sized businesses were most vulnerable; that regional differences were largely determined by the severity of health-related restrictions on business and social activity; and the extent to which regionally differentiated economic support measures and the adoption of digital technologies, new delivery methods, and a focus on new sectors stabilized aggregate supply and demand. Examination of the evolution of a resilience index permits identification of four paths: adaptively stable, vulnerable labile-adaptive, remission-adaptive and low-adaptive economies, and it reinforces the interpretation of the main drivers of regional resilience.

The recent years have seen increasing support for open science in academic circles. However, the large number of scientometric databases calls into question the comparability of the search and analysis tools they provide. Using the subject area of regional resilience as an example, in this study, the aim was to analyze the capabilities of widely used databases to serve as alternatives to Scopus and Web of Science in solving research problems. As alternatives, in the present article, the following open, free scientometric databases were considered: AMiner, Wizdom.ai, the Lens, Dimensions, and OpenAlex. Their capabilities were demonstrated for the subject area under study, and the obtained results were compared. The study results showed that alternative databases provide essential data on trends in scientific development. It is noteworthy that they largely replicate the provided data, supplementing and expanding them by using different types of data sources. However, open databases do not guarantee a high quality of materials and exhibit a relatively low level of metadata. Thus, it is premature to abandon the use of Scopus and Web of Science in research activities. Since scientometric databases were developed in different contexts, they are characterized by structural and functional heterogeneity, which complicates their comparison. Therefore, a selective approach should be adopted for the choice of scientometric databases, taking into account financial and other constraints, as well as the specifics of research problems.

The growing negative anthropogenic impact on the environment causes scientific interest in the problems of water management. The increasing number of publications in this scientific field requires their intellectual systematization. The purpose of this study is to conduct a bibliometric review of scientific publications related to water management issues in the context of solving the problems of increasing the sustainability of the socio-economic development of a region for better understanding of current research trends. To achieve this goal, bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software product (Manual for VOSviewer version 1.6.17) was used. The international database Scopus was taken as the source of information. This study examined 10,208 articles on water management issues from 2012 to 2022. The basic criterion for including a publication in the selection was that the topic of the work belongs to the subject areas of economics, econometrics and finance and business, management and accounting. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the problems of water resources management have not lost their popularity in the global research community and the research methodology is evolving towards the concept of “water–energy–food”. The centers of knowledge forming the vector of scientific research are the USA and the Netherlands; however, in recent years, the research of Chinese scientists has become increasingly important. It is concluded that the potential for the development of research in the field of water resources management in the context of solving the problems of the sustainable development of regions is associated with the search for opportunities for revealing the synergy of intersectoral interactions while taking into account their sectoral and regional specifics.

In the context of the recent developments in Russia, such as the termination of activities of several major scientific publishers and the blocking of access to two prominent bibliographic databases, Scopus and Web of Science, Russian scientists face a challenge in continuing their research and contributing to the scientific and educational community. This article aims to explore the potential of open bibliographic databases as a viable alternative to these two databases in addressing the main objectives of scientific and educational policies. The research methodology employed in this study involves a content analysis of relevant sources that examine science as a specialized field of human activity. Additionally, various aspects of utilizing bibliographic databases in decision-making processes related to scientific and educational policies and during actual research are considered. A comparative analysis is conducted on selected open databases to assess their suitability for different stages of scientific knowledge production. The study resulted in the characterization of several open access bibliographic databases: Russian Index of Scientific Citation (RISC), AMiner, The Lens, Dimensions, and OpenAlex. The criteria used for the analysis were: volume of content, period covered, availability of filters, data visualization tools, data upload capabilities, and additional features. Based on these criteria, it was proposed to form a subject area research program using these open bibliographic databases. It was concluded that these databases can fully replace Scopus and Web of Science in terms of solving the problem of defining the boundaries of world science and conducting scientific research. However, at the moment, there is no alternative to Scopus and Web of Science for evaluating scientific results. The study emphasizes the importance of using open bibliographic databases in scientific research and the need to develop them further. The results of the study can be useful for researchers, scientists, and policymakers who are interested in improving the quality and efficiency of scientific research in Russia

In modern conditions, re-industrialization in Russia is aimed at leveling the trend of reducing the share of the manufacturing industry in the GRP of a number of old-industrial regions in recent years due to the implementation of the strategy of restoring the leading role of industry, transition to a new technological structure, the formation of productive forces. The article deals with the problem of modernizing the economy of the old industrial regions of the South of Russia based on the restoration of the industrial sector of the economy on a modern technological basis. It was noted that during the years of market reforms in the South Russian regions (Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan regions) almost all mining enterprises were closed, the activities of many enterprises of mechanical engineering, machine-tool construction, instrument engineering, enterprises for the production of bearings, fabrics, footwear were curtailed, which led to the destruction of existing industrial chains and provoked a new liquidation of production in other regions, the loss of its southern industry positions in the structure of the national economy. The main trends in the industrial development of the South Russian regions, which are reflected in a change in the distribution of economic activity and population in space, as well as in a change in the properties of the economic space of the region, are identified. The specific development factors are defined. They include multistructured regional economy and high dependence on economic instability factors in neighboring countries. It was concluded that it is necessary to move from the implementation of point projects to a comprehensive solution of the problems of structural imbalance in the regional economy related to increasing the capitalization level of the industrial modernization potential. The authors concluded that the strategy of re-industrialization should be based on the priority development of industrial production, allowing to enhance synergistic effects through a rational combination of the economic potentials of industrial production in central and peripheral territories of southern Russia.