ИНИОН (i.e., INION) stands for Институт Научной Информации по Общественным Наукам, or The Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences. However, most Western libraries use alternate names, such as the Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications – the name used by U of I - or the Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies.

Full text copies of most materials are available through the databases, both via the library’s subscription and the INION website version. If you need assistance locating the full text of a source, please contact us.  

The Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also known as INION, is a well-known center for research in social studies and humanities in Russia. The INION bibliographic databases, also sometimes called the “Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications,” provide unparalleled coverage for Russian & Eastern European materials, especially Russian-language materials.  The databases comprise nearly 4 million records including bibliographic records for articles, books, manuscripts, and dissertations in the humanities and social sciences in 140 Slavic, East European, English, and other world languages since the 1980s.  It contains many special collections for Russia, particularly documents from international organizations including the League of Nations, the United Nations, UNESCO, as well as government documents from other countries, especially the United States and Great Britain. 

INION bibliographic databases may be accessed through the University Library’s subscription interface or freely on the open web. Each interface has advantages and disadvantages.  

Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications (subscription interface)

Though often referred to as one resource, INION comprises numerous smaller bibliographic databases covering individual disciplines such as literature, government and law, and so on. The University Library’s subscription interface, called the “Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications,” allows the user to simultaneously search all or multiple bibliographic databases, which can be helpful for interdisciplinary research.  

Users may search the database in Russian, Ukranian, and Belarusian text in either Cyrillic or transliteration using the Library of Congress Russian transliteration system. More information on searching in transliteration is available from East View, the database vendor. 

INION (Open web interface)

On INION’s website, the user must search the discipline-specific bibliographic databases separately. It is possible to search all disciplines simultaneously, but only in three-year chunks (i.e., items published between 1996 and 1998, etc.). However, INION’s search interface tends to provide more consistent search results and has some search options that are not available through the subscription interface. INION also offers archived thematic databases.  

It is typically best practice to perform searches in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts to find the broadest range of sources. For example, a search for “Ceauşescu” in Latin script yields mostly English and Romanian language results, while the Cyrillic spelling "Чаушеску" yields mostly Russian-language sources. Researchers should also consider transliteration issues – INION appears to use the ISO system. 

Searching INION

After selecting a database and logging in, users can perform either a simple search or an advanced search. A screenshot of the search interface is below: 

The screenshot below shows a record from a search for “Чаушеску,” which includes broad, clickable Russian-language descriptors, some of which are also translated into English. This record also includes a brief abstract in Russian, which is common but not universal.  

If the number of results is very low, make sure that you have selected the appropriate database. Researchers should also check their search parameters to ensure they are not too limiting. 

Search instructions are available from INION, below the list of databases.