Enhancement of Science and Technology Cooperation Between Russia and MENA Countries Using Compatriot Scientists Potential and Publication Activity Data.

The most promising areas of interaction between Russian scientists and scientists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can be identified by analyzing the number of joint publications between scholars in the different regions. To define the forms of scientific cooperation it is important to understand the possibility of interaction between Russian scientists and compatriot scientists who live in MENA countries. The purpose of the study is to create a data base of organizations from the MENA countries recommended for scientific cooperation with Russian researchers based on the study of their publication activity. The authors provide a description of the analysis results of the publication activity of the scientists from 21 countries and present the identified directions of joint publications of scientists from Russia, the MENA countries and Western countries. The Russian scientific diaspora is poorly represented in the MENA region and little involved in international scientific cooperation. The authors used information retrieval technique based on set theory to search for information and create a database. The results of publication activity analysis results show that joint projects are likely to contribute to an increase in the level of international scientific cooperation. Our map of the region reflects the main areas of science in which it is advisable to develop cooperation. The database of compatriot scientists living in the MENA countries contains information on 84 people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]