AbstractScience in Israel has two inherent difficulties — distance from centres of science and a limited dimension. Although from its inception, science has been conceived as an important component of the national upbuilding, there was a clear policy of preference for publication in international forums rather than in local ones. Thus local scientists were channeled to compete with their research products in the international market. Publications abroad and constant entrance into new fields of research were among the most important means of cultivating science at appropriate standards.