BULGARIAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION POLICY

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Authors: B.V. Toshev

Science advances as a sustainable process. The academic journals mark the new scientific results. The system of scholarly journals is developed in two levels: the first level includes the primary research journals; the secondary journals where the papers of the primary research journals are indexed and abstracted build the second level. The world system of indexing, abstracting and evaluation consists of about 75 000 primary research journals; about 10 % of them are under the control of the Thomson Scientific, f. Institute for Scientific Information. The journals that do not belong to that system are to be considered as marginal editions. Thomson Scientific gives annually several scientometric parameters of its journals. Likely the most important amongst them is the Impact Factor (IF), introduced by Garfield. IF is an intensive property of the academic journal. However the scientific creativity is cumulative and, therefore, a proper extensive quantity should characterize it. Such quantity may be the efficiency factor e=nk with n – factor of productivity (number of publications of a given author) and k – factor of utility (number of citations of author’s publications). From macroscopic point of view such an organization of the scientific process provides its sustainability and stability. However, the microscopic consideration exhibits disturbances that appear continuously. They are in the relationships between authors, referees and editors. They appear when the rules of scientific publishing and/or science ethics are violated by some of the participants in the scientific process. The most common cases of such offences are listed and commented.

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Authors: B.V. Toshev

The Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) is responsible for the promotion and career development of the Bulgarian scientists. There are two scientific degrees (Doctor and Doctor of Science) and two academic ranks (Associate Professor/Senior Research Fellow II Degree) and Professor/Senior Research Fellow I Degree). VAK’s activity is based on the “Classification of Scientific Areas and Topics” (1990). However this document does not take into account the new processes and changes in the world science. For instance the old pedagogical disciplines have recently amalgamated in a new science – the Science of Education with interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary character. Generally in the science, strong processes of subjects’ integration replaced the previous trends to subjects’ diversification. These new phenomena are not rendered in the Bulgarian Classification of Scientific Areas and Topics. Therefore, difficulties arise when attempting to shape in an adequate manner the new Bulgarian researchers community.

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Authors: C. Katansky

Lifelong learning, life-wide learning, continuing education, vocational education, professional education of adults, formal education, informal education, permanent education, etc. – the author of the present article seeks the relationships between these widely used terms and traces through the history of their introduction in the modern educational theory and practice.

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Authors: C. Katansky

Quality and effectiveness are categories which have content and meaning of their own but they belong together. In educational practice, e.g. in vocational training for adults, the quality and effectiveness are interrelated. The effectively functioning organization delivers training of good quality. The article presents a socio-pedagogical (andragogical) interpretation of the training quality and effectiveness. Their presence or absence can be judged by the indicators which are grouped as follows: training outcome; state of the process; training organization; innovation of training. With a view to these characteristics the delivery of high-quality and effective training is a complex activity. This actually means achieving and maintaining a balance between the above mentioned indicators.