Articles by Armenian scholars seriously offset Azerbaijani propaganda – young scholar

Armenian scholars' articles in international scholarly publications can serve as a counterbalance to the Azerbaijani propaganda, an Armenian young scholar has said.

At a news conference today, the head of the Young Historians' Council at the National Academy of Sciences, Artak Maghalyan, presented Armenian scholars works in foreign publications, saying that most of them are devoted to the Artsakh issue.

He said that only in 2008, Armenian scientists had a total of 540 scientific articles in international publications, while the scientists from Georgia and Azerbaijan had 328 and 292 articles, respectively. In 2010, 36 scholarly works and 138 articles were published only by the researchers of the History Institute, he added.

According to Maghalyan, the opportunity to get their scholarly works published in international journals enables Armenian scholars to introduce the product of their scientific efforts to the world and develop ties with the scholarly circles from around the world.

"Besides, if an Armenian scientist manages to have a publication in international journals, voicing the pro-Armenian position, that brings a lot to the country, as well as the scientist," the young scholar said.

Poet Artem Harutyunyan, also attending the news conference, noted further that Azerbaijani scholars mostly publish of their articles on the Internet, while appearing in international publications becomes possible only thanks to oil dollars.

"Our scholars get their articles published thanks to their talent. Most of the articles by Azerbaijani scholars is never referenced or used," Maghakyan added.

"A scholar with an average monthly salary of 50,000 drams (about $160) cannot be forced to do much," he added.