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Internal and International Migration of Scholars in Times of Conflict: The Case of Ukraine, 2009‐2022

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  • Michael Zaslavsky
  • Aliakbar Akbaritabar

Abstract

Current migration theories occasionally ignore the potentially negative aspects of scholarly migration as a form of high‐skilled migration, largely viewing it in a positive light. Yet scholarly migration is not always a tale of freedom and innovation, as the labels “researchers at risk” and “scientists in exile” demonstrate. We document the problematic aspects of conflict‐related scholarly migration among researchers with Ukraine‐affiliated publication histories from 2009 to 2022. We primarily draw on OpenAlex bibliometric records to reconstruct affiliation‐based migration histories and aggregate them to Ukraine's first‐level administrative regions. Results suggest that after 2014 there was substantial internal and international out‐migration from the occupied Eastern Ukrainian regions as well as the annexed Crimean peninsula, with over 50 per 1,000 scholars leaving the Eastern regions to both internal and international destinations and over 100 per 1,000 scholars out‐migrating from Crimea to international destinations in the first three years after the start of the conflict in 2014. These results show how armed conflict can be associated with a reorganization of national science systems by changing where researchers work and publish, thereby calling into question accounts that treat scholarly mobility primarily as voluntary high‐skilled migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Zaslavsky & Aliakbar Akbaritabar, 2026. "Internal and International Migration of Scholars in Times of Conflict: The Case of Ukraine, 2009‐2022," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 52(3), pages 1031-1063, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:52:y:2026:i:3:p:1031-1063
    DOI: 10.1111/padr.70088
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