The evaluation of Russian cancer research.

This article asks two questions: first, is there enough cancer research in Russia and does it reflect the health needs of the country? and second, how does its quality or impact compare with world standards? Cancer is a serious and growing problem in Russia, but the amount of cancer research, based on papers in journals covered by the Web of Science from 1997 to the present, appears to be inadequate, nor is it well distributed by disease site. However it is quite clinical in character and appears to be well regarded on a number of indicators, although insufficiently publicised. A study of the funding acknowledgements on 2009 papers revealed that cancer research in Russia is almost totally dependent on the state, although there is now foreign support through international co-authorship, including some from private-non-profit and commercial sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]