Future of Scientific Publications and Artificial Intelligence: KazNMU Hosts a Master Class by Elsevier Expert Sergey Varnavsky
On October 12, 2026, the Journal Club of the School of Pharmacy at Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University hosted an online master class featuring Sergey Varnavsky, Candidate of Chemical Sciences and Director of the Life Sciences Department at Elsevier for Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
The event brought together early-career researchers, doctoral students, master’s students, and undergraduate students from the School of Pharmacy. The master class addressed current mechanisms for disseminating and indexing scientific publications, as well as key aspects of applying artificial intelligence technologies in scientific research.
During the first session, “The Journey of a Scientific Article: How Publications Become Part of the Global Scientific System,” Sergey Varnavsky provided an overview of the scientific publication lifecycle. He discussed the principles of article indexing in international scientometric databases and the factors influencing research visibility, citation impact, and researchers’ academic reputation.
The second session, “Artificial Intelligence and Scientific Literature: Limitations of PDF Analysis and Ways to Overcome Them,” focused on how artificial intelligence systems process scientific publications. The speaker explained the principles of information extraction from PDF documents, highlighted common errors in the recognition and interpretation of scientific data, and emphasized the importance of expert verification of AI-generated results.
The master class provided participants with valuable insights into the international scientific publishing system, modern digital tools supporting research activities, and the prospects for using artificial intelligence in scientific work.
The Journal Club of the School of Pharmacy continues to implement initiatives aimed at strengthening research competencies and fostering a culture of scientific publishing by organizing meetings with leading representatives of the international academic and scientific publishing communities.
