THE WAR AND SCIENCE IN UKRAINE: WE CAN CONTRIBUTE TO VICTORY

Abstract

We are happy to present a new issue of the Proceedings of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Medical Sciences, No. 1, 2022. First of all, we are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for this possibility, as today is the 100th day of the heroic resistance of Ukrainians in the criminal Russian war. We are proud of our defenders who are fighting the biggest threat to humanity in the 21st century. 12 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes, 1,123 educational institutions have been destroyed, and 641 healthcare facilities are no longer functioning, while the number of civil casualties cannot be identified due to the brutality and hostilities of the villains. The number of murdered and deported Ukrainians is impossible to determine. However, the entire world knows about the bravery of Ukrainians, about Mariupol and Azovstal – two symbols of steel resilience and invincibility of the morale of the Ukrainian people in the fight for the independence of its Motherland and resistance to rascism. In the article, Ya. Shuba provides a detailed explanation of the meaning of this term and its similarity to fascism [1]. Today, more than ever, we need a victory in the information and psychological war, waged by the enemy. Therefore, science and art (Fig. 1) are two leading tools in our fight for independence, which are also sensitive indicators of events in real-time not just in Ukraine, but across the globe, too. Be sure to read Y. Yaskiv’s address to the world academic community [2]. Coping with the challenges and hardship of the contemporary times and remembering the bitter experience of World War II, the primary task of the progressive global community is to maintain the functioning of Ukrainian scientific medical publications, publishing houses, and academic communities. Ensuring the possibility to conduct scientific research for our scientists in the laboratories of partner institutions and fellow scientists, will enhance the international presence of Ukrainian science. Such international publications will help successfully boost the readability and quotability of articles prepared by Ukrainian scientists and scientists of Ukrainian origin, as well as represent Ukraine in global science with dignity. Publications by Pishel V. et al. and Kukhlevskyy S. et al. are examples of fruitful cooperation encouraging further development of the international status of Ukrainian science [3, 4]. The success of the consolidation of Ukrainian science in the international arena is related to the need for changes in science management. Science warrants progress. Therefore, the science generating progress, ideas and products at the international level, should be supported. The science to be supported must not be determined by titles, positions and connections, but by actual international achievements. Diversification of funding tools, more freedom in the management of scientific works, and, certainly, personal responsibility of the scientist or supervisor for the results of their work, are those few mechanisms that have proved their efficiency. The internationalization of Ukrainian science also plays a positive role, as it will require the establishment of such quality assurance methods. The attention to the principles of academic integrity, elimination of the practice of predatory journals and predatory conferences hunting for new pray every day to implement their financial scams, will help create a healthy scientific environment contributing to progress and enhanced professional skills of young scientists and specialists. It is important to retain the organization of scientific and practical conferences by professional Ukrainian institutions that have many years of experience, are popular and constitute a required precondition for support from the real scientific society in Ukraine. They include Christmas readings in Lviv and conferences dedicated to the issues of scientific writing, reviewing and proof-reading articles prepared with support from the Shevchenko Scientific Society. We welcome you to review a detailed report about them prepared by Zubchenko S. et al. and U. Telishevska, O. Telishevska, and watch recordings of participants’ lectures on the YouTube channels [5, 6]. We do hope that planned conferences, like BeckFest 2022, but postponed due to the war-time will realized soon. We sincerely believe that readers will find articles devoted to medical issues of the coronavirus disease interesting [7-10] and they will help them understand its possible social and psychological consequences [11-12]. We believe that the active editorial policy of the Proceedings of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Medical Sciences, which has been indexed by the Scopus scientometric bibliographic database since 2021, has a positive trend for entering the contemporary international arena and will help bring our Victory closer (Fig. 2). Our belief in the Victory is reflected on the cover of our journal (collage by Ivan Dzis) – Glory to Ukraine! We will overcome all enemies: From plagues to people! Together to Victory!