Skopje, 25 September 2025 (MIA) – Ministry of Education and Science promoted on Thursday the cooperation with Clarivate – Web of Science, providing free access to the scientific databases of this platform for professors, scientists and researchers from public universities in the country and from the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU).

Clarivate representatives in Skopje introduced the opportunities offered by the Web of Science platform to the Macedonian academic and scientific community, following the government’s decision this spring to establish cooperation and provide free access.

In July, the Ministry of Education and Science signed an agreement for access to Web of Science with the database owner Clarivate. At today’s conference, company representative Radek Budzichowski and his team explained to the members of our academic community how to use the database more easily and what the benefits will be.

“We are proud of this new cooperation with North Macedonia and we truly appreciate your trust. We have over six years of experience working with governments, universities, and academic communities in many countries worldwide. We believe this experience will help North Macedonia advance its research and innovation,” Budzichowski said.

Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska announced that through this database, scientists, professors, and researchers will gain access to 26,000 journals and 182 million records.

“This is important because it will make the work of our scientists easier, give them access to the latest achievements, and, in line with current global trends, help them prepare their papers and projects. This cooperation will contribute to greater visibility of our research work worldwide and foster collaboration with renowned universities. But our main goal is to position at least one of our universities among the top 1,000 on the Shanghai Ranking. To achieve that, it is necessary to publish 1,200 papers annually in impact-factor journals. Unfortunately, the level of publishing in our country is low. I expect that cooperation with Web of Science will raise both the quality and the quantity of publications, as well as the speed at which we meet these requirements,” Janevska said.

She stressed that changes to the legislation on higher education and research will be needed, with “stricter selection criteria” to be introduced.

“In other words, the state will ask scientists, professors, and researchers who are already provided with the necessary conditions to give back by engaging in research and publishing, so that at least one of our universities can rank higher on that list,” Janevska said.

She also noted that the government remains committed to investing in science, with Mden 680 million earmarked this year, Mden 370 million of which have already been allocated.

“Ministry funds the publication of research papers in impact-factor journals, supports participation of Macedonian scientists and researchers in international conferences, issues calls for research projects, and provides funding for international collaborations, measures that are key to building a more productive, innovative, and prosperous society,” Janevska said.

Photo: MIA