Participation in international scientific programmes opens up opportunities for researchers to obtain funding, develop scientific cooperation and increase the international visibility of their results. However, grant programmes have their own requirements, among which scientific publications play an important role. In this article, we will look at what publications are needed to obtain a grant from LZP, Horizon Europe and COST.
Why are scientific publications important for obtaining a grant?
Publication activity is one of the key criteria for evaluating a researcher and their ability to implement a scientific project. Grantors analyse not only the content of the project, but also how visible the applicant is in the scientific community, whether their work has scientific influence, and whether the team is capable of delivering high-quality research results.
Publications in Scopus, Web of Science or ERIH+ demonstrate compliance with international quality standards, the presence of external peer review and the potential for the research to be cited by other scientists.
LZP requirements for scientific publications for grant projects
The Latvian Council of Science (LZP) has established clear requirements for the indexing of scientific publications. For grant reporting, it is not enough to simply publish an article it is important to choose a publication that is included in certain international databases. For example, the document “Regulations for the Open Call for 2021 Fundamental and Applied Research Projects” stated that the project results must include scientific articles submitted or accepted for publication in journals or conference proceedings that are indexed in:
- Web of Science Core Collection
- Scopus
- ERIH+
This is because in Latvia, the assessment of scientific productivity is linked exclusively to publications in the above-mentioned databases. In particular, this is stated in the “Regulations on the Procedure and Criteria for Promotion”. Therefore, it is important for the LZP that the results of the grant project are visible to the international community and used by other researchers through citations. Indexing in Scopus, WoS or ERIH+ will confirm that a scientific article meets academic standards and can be found by other researchers.
Scientific publications for the Horizon Europe programme
Unlike LZP, Horizon Europe does not impose requirements regarding specific indexing databases. Horizon Europe programmes operate on the principle of open science. This means that all research results funded under Horizon must be published in open access, as specified in the “Model Grant Agreement”. It is worth noting that the journal can be freely chosen by the applicant, but it must include a high-quality peer review process and be open access.
COST programme: recommendations for scientific publications
The COST programme focuses on international cooperation and knowledge sharing rather than the number of scientific publications. In accordance with the requirements of the COST programme, the results obtained are mandatory for dissemination and may be presented in the form of a scientific article, conference, recommendations, etc. This is stated in the document “Guidelines for communication, dissemination and exploitation of COST Action results and outcomes”.
ERIH+, Scopus or WoS: which database to choose for grant projects?
In grant programmes, the choice of indexing database must be consistent with the funding conditions. If the grant provider requires publication in specific databases, as is the case with the Latvian Council of Science (LZP), where Scopus, Web of Science or ERIH+ are officially designated as acceptable for reporting purposes. In Horizon Europe, indexing databases are not regulated, so the decision depends on the scientific field and the project's visibility strategy, but publications in the above-mentioned databases will be an advantage.
For COST, indexing is not an evaluation criterion; instead, the dissemination of results is more important, so researchers can publish in the most relevant database. For example, in humanities projects, ERIH+ is often the best option, as it contains professional publications that are sometimes missing from Scopus or WoS.
So, the choice of database depends on the requirements of the grant programme, the specifics of the discipline, and the expected level of international visibility of the project.
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