Legal Regulation of the Integrity of the Russian System of scientific Certification

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issue of preserving the integrity of the Russian state system of scientific certification in the context of the growing diversity of regulatory and legal acts, as well as practices for awarding academic degrees. The recent expansion of the autonomy of a number of scientific and educational organizations raises a number of doubts, primarily related to the ability to ensure equal rights and opportunities for applicants for academic degrees in different parts of the system. The article provides a comparative analysis of state acts, as well as regulatory acts of organizations that carry out procedures for the independent awarding of academic degrees.  In the course of the study, three subsystems were identified that operate according to comparable rules, but provide different rights and opportunities. The first subsystem is dissertation councils under the leadership of the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. There a special place is occupied by special dissertation councils, in which the applicant avoids the publication of articles and the text of the dissertation, as well as other publicity requirements. The second subsystem is formed by scientific and educational organizations included in a special list. Within the framework of their local regulations, similar norms and requirements apply, but there are also noticeable differences. These include the reduction of the number of dissertation councils, the inclusion of candidates of sciences in them, the possibility of defending a candidate's thesis in the form of a scientific report, etc. The third subsystem includes spiritual educational organizations awarding theological degrees. At the level of federal legislation, the ambiguity of the attitude towards such degrees remains. Theological degrees are recognized along with other academic degrees during state licensing and accreditation procedures, but their holders are not guaranteed mandatory surcharges, apostille affixing, etc. The analysis made it possible to identify indicators that are important for checking the integrity of the system and determining the directions of its improvement.