The article presents an overview of information systems for the collection and dissemination of information about scientific research (Current Research Information System, CRIS), which describes their main purpose and functions. The division into institutional and national CRIS systems is introduced; the experience of building such systems in Italy, the Czech Republic, Croatia, India, Finland is considered; comparative characteristics for these and other countries are given. Trends in the development of CRIS systems are considered, including issues of improving the quality of data and their use in scientific performance assessment systems. The European initiatives on standardization and development of responsible approaches to research assessment are discussed. As an answer to the question about the existence of a national CRIS system in Russia, the existing system of the USISU R&D is analyzed.
CRIS; Current Research Information System; euroCRIS.