Initially created as a marketing and benchmarking tool, global university rankings have evolved into a part of research evaluation and policy initiatives. Governments around the world, concerned about the low rankings of national universities, have launched numerous excellence initiatives in higher education. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the literature on the use of university rankings in research evaluation and excellence initiatives. A systematic review of the literature on rankings in the context of research evaluation and excellence initiatives was performed. The majority of the review is based on English-language sources, but the review also covers literature from Russia, where the role of rankings is emphasized by their mention in the title and goal of the policy project 5top100. In addition, the review also includes gray literature. The general academic consensus is that rankings cannot be used in research assessment, though a few authors have a positive or neutral attitude. The literature reveals a lot of issues, such as technical and methodological flaws; biases of different nature, including bias towards research in evaluation of both universities and individual researchers; conflicts of interest; and risks to national identity. However, we must acknowledge the complexity of rejecting rankings.

The term “smart city” has recently become greatly widespread in academic and political discourse. Nevertheless, this is rather a marketing term that unites a number of technological (and other) areas: Internet of Things (IoT), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), communication networks. The latest generation of networks is essential for the development of digital ecosystems of smart cities. It has been assumed that the smart city and 5G networks form an emerging technological area. The goal of the work is to study the structure of the development and implementation of new technologies for the urban environment on the sample of 5G-based technologies. For the analysis of new technologies in the selected subject area, a study of patent landscapes and scientometric analysis of the topic field has been conducted. The object of the scientometric analysis is the study of citation patterns. The use of the patent landscape is based on the information systems and databases of patent information developed by patent offices and commercial companies and consists of visualizing the logical connections between various indicators of patent activity, on the one hand, and technological and market trends, on the other. Together, the scientometric and patent landscape show the most promising areas of technological research. The results of the study can be used in further theoretical and applied research, in the formation of government policy in research and development, as well as in decision-making in the field of urban management. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. III 47007]

The article studies the issues related to the compilation of the Russian Journal Whitelist, which is intended to be used in research evaluation. Currently, this list has been approved and posted on the website of the Russian Center for Scientific Information. Building a hierarchy of journals within this list is still under discussion. A number of questions have been raised in the academic community about the composition and principle of compiling the whitelist, and an answer is required. In addition, there are a number of broader questions, in particular, to what extent journal publications are the best way to evaluate research and researchers. I have formulated a number of such questions, inviting readers to reflection and discussion. Despite the difficult situation that has now developed in international scientific communication, one should look at it not only as a crisis, but also as an opportunity to create one of the best systems for research assessment at the moment, free from accumulated bias.

Regional studies are right in the center of scientific and political discourse at the moment; regional issues acquire special significance in the countries with a transition economy. However, there is still no clear definition of the term “region”. Due to its multifaceted nature, it certainly has natural, cultural, economic, political, and social dimension. At the same time, this term occupies a wide range of phenomena from small parts of countries to huge continental interstate formations. The goal of this paper is the analysis of various theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of the region. We have brought different approaches, from the classical school to the New Economic Geography. The latter considers the region as a unit of space for economic activities. Thus, the region becomes a multidisciplinary object of research within the framework of economic theory and economic geography. In Europe, the integration processes put the region on the forefront of economic policy. The issues of regional policy are equally important in the light of the economic modernization processes taking place in Russia and Serbia. This article also summarizes the experience of regional studies of Serbian and Russian schools. The results can be used in further theoretical and applied research, writing theses in the field of economics and economic geography.