Biomedical journals and databases in Russia and Russian language in the former Soviet Union and beyond

The current state of biomedical journals and databases in Russian language is rooted in the history of the USSR and Russia in 20th century. As with many other aspects of life in the Soviet Union, professional and research training was severely hampered during nearly 70 years of communist rule[1,2]. Some of the major issues impeding biomedical science were the change in style of professional training and the isolation of research groups from the rest of the world.In earlier Russian history – the 17th century – the educational system was biased towards specialized professional training in applied fields [3]. European style universities in what is now the former Soviet Union came into being in the 19th century [4]. This was followed by a system of educational reforms implemented by the Soviet government in 1930s which increased the number of technical and medical schools, or "institutes," and separated them from the universities [5]. New institutes discontinued teaching research methods and usually did not carry out any research themselves [3]. All research funding was channeled into a separate branch of "research institutes," thus further isolating centers of higher education from research [6].In the most glorious days of Russian science, the late 19th – early 20th century, the Russian university educational system was tightly interconnected with that of its European counterparts. It was common for graduates of Russian universities to undertake visiting fellowships and nearly all famous Russian scientists had international experience.In the1920s, the door was closed from the Soviet side, nearly 30 years before the "official" drop of the "Iron Curtain" [5]. A rigid hierarchy controlling the thoughts and impeding exchange with "ideological opponents" was introduced in both higher education and research, with only a few exceptions. One of exceptions – the Moscow State University, was created under a special category in the USSR national budget, consuming almost 50% of al