We are pleased to present to you a new journal – Creative Industries R&D.

Creative Industries (CI) represent the sector of the economy which is based on intellectual property, creativity, and digital technologies. Our journal aims to play a key role in the systematization of knowledge, supporting research, and shaping the professional community.

Creative industries are a young, interdisciplinary field (economics + cultural studies + digital technologies).

CI research will undoubtedly help to transform academic knowledge into applied science, the same way as audience research helps to create content. An important role will be given to trend analysis: VR art, NFTs, algorithmic music generation, the conflict between commerce and science - such as corporate pressure (e.g., how game developers influence the studies of gaming addiction). We will also focus on studies of local creative industries, including the cultural heritage of small ethnic groups worldwide. We plan to experiment with publication formats, presenting the results of laboratories and research groups that include both scholars and practitioners.

Research in creative industries serves as a bridge between academic environment and rapidly changing digital reality, combining creativity and academic rigor.

Scientific journals play a key role in disseminating of knowledge, verification of research and formation of scientific communities. Their emergence in the 17th century was a result of the development of science and the need for systematic exchange of information.

Modern science can’t exist without academic journals because they serve as a tool for publishing, peer-reviewing, and archiving of research. Their origin was driven by the need to consolidate and organize the growing flow of scientific discoveries. The first journals appeared in Europe in the 17th century, and in Russia in the early 18th century – during the reforms of Peter the Great and formation of the Academy of Sciences.

Before the emergence of specialized journals, scientists exchanged ideas through letters (e.g., the correspondence of Galileo and Newton) and books. However, the growth of scientific knowledge demanded a better and faster means of communication.
1665 – the publication of the world’s first scientific journal,  ‘’Journal des sçavans’’ (France), dedicated to books, discoveries, and experiments.
1665 – founding of ‘’Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society’’ (England), the first journal to publish original research (including articles by Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton).
The above-mentioned publications laid the foundation for peer review and scientific periodicals.

In 18th century, scientific journals had become an important part of academic culture:

• Emergence of specialized publications (Chemical Journal, Annals of Mathematics);
• Development of peer review as a quality control mechanism;
• Expansion of subject areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, humanities.

The development of scientific periodicals in Russia began with the founding of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1724). The first Russian scientific journal was published in 1728 only a few years after the Academy was established, its name was:

• Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae (“Scientific Notes of the Imperial Academy of Sciences”). The journal was published in Latin and included works by Leonhard Euler and Daniel Bernoulli;
• Notes to ‘Vedomosti’ (1728–1742) – a popular annex to the well-known newspaper, which covered recent scientific discoveries.

In the 19th century, the number of scientific journals in Russia continues to grow:

• Proceedings of the Free Economic Society (1765–1915) – the first publication on agronomy and economics;
• Bulletin of Moscow University (since 1805) – the oldest continuously published Russian journal;
• Journal of the Ministry of Public Education (1834–1917) – combined pedagogy and science.

By the early 20th century, dozens of specialized journals in medicine, physics, and chemistry were being published in Russia.
Scientific journals have come a long way — from isolated publications in the 17th century to a complex system of modern research and publication. In Russia, their development was closely tied to the work of the Academy of Sciences and universities. Today, in the digital era the traditional journals keep their role and simultaneously adapt to open access principles and new formats of scientific communication.
Scientific journals remain a key element of academic communication, but their role and function in the 21st century have significantly changed due to digitalization, open access, and the globalization of science. Let’s look at several key aspects of their modern role:

Journals still serve as the primary channel for official research publication, ensuring:

• Prioritizing of scientific research
• Long-term preservation of information in standardized formats;
• Indexing in databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed), facilitating search and citation.

Quality control is achieved through peer review:

• Peer review remains the "gold standard" of research verification;
• However, the system is criticized for being slow, subjective, and prone to misconduct (e.g., the sale of reviews);
• Alternatives are emerging: post-publication review (on platforms like F1000Research), open peer review.

New transformations and challenges include: Digitalization and open access (OA) – a shift away from subscription models to OA (when authors or institutions pay for publication, making the article freely available); Preprints (arXiv, bioRxiv) speed up knowledge exchange but compete with traditional journals; Pirate platforms (like Sci-Hub) violate copyright but provide access to knowledge for researchers in low-income countries.
The modern system also has drawbacks, such as: Commercialization: major publishers (Elsevier, Springer) make large profits while scholars work for free as authors and reviewers; Predatory journals publish articles without proper review for a fee; Metrics vs. quality: the race for impact factors and h-indexes distorts researchers' motivations.

Alternative models are emerging: Non-reviewed platforms: ResearchGate, Academia.edu; Mega-journals (PLOS ONE) publish studies based solely on methodological soundness, not perceived importance.

The future of scientific journals likely lies in hybrid formats that combine open access, preprints, and traditional peer review. AI may assist with reviewing – by analyzing data, checking for plagiarism (e.g., using tools like GPT-4).

In the 21st century, scientific journals clearly remain the main tool of scientific communication, but they must adapt. Their future depends on a balance between openness, quality, and sustainable economic models.

That’s why in 2025, we offer a new journal – "Creative Industries" – where we will publish original research in both Russian and English, aimed not only at researchers, but also at a broader audience interested in the development of creative industries.

Tatiana Rivchun 

HSE University (RF, Moscow), PhD (Dr.Sc.) in Economics, Professor,

Editor-in-Chief