"Geodesy and Cartography" Journal: Relevance in the Digital and Open Data Era

The author presents an analysis of the scientific activity and information accessibility of the journal “Geodesy and Cartography” over a 10-year period. The dynamics of visiting the journal’s website, which attracts audience from Russia and abroad are examined. The majority of traffic comes from Google and Yandex search engines. The study shows that the journal is indexed in leading databases, including Scopus, RSCI, Google Scholar, the list of the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK), and employs double-blind peer review, ensuring high publication quality but extending the article preparation time to 6–12 months. An analysis of scientometric data revealed a stable five-year impact factor (0,581), though a high self-citation rate reduces the journal’s external appeal. The study covers the distribution of articles across research categories and enterprises, highlighting the dominance of cartography and geodesy topics, as well as the leading role of institutions such as Moscow State University, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, and Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies. Special attention is paid to the shortage of specialized journals in the VAK list for fields 1.6.22 (geodesy) and 1.6.19 (aerospace research), where authors are effectively limited to just two or three active published works. Problems with regularity of issue releases among some journals are also noted. The importance of forming a Unified State Register of Scientific Journals to strengthen the national research infrastructure is emphasized