Abstract <p>The rapid development of scientific journals published by Russian universities in the last two decades requires closer attention. In many respects, journals make it possible to evaluate the scientific achievements of the host universities and the state of academic publishing; study collaboration among academic, ministerial, and university research at the level of coauthorship and editorship; and explore other scientometric problems. Some important issues include the quantitative evaluation of the correlation of parent and external papers in university journals and the determination of the role of parent journals in the overall scholarly output of a university. Apart from obtaining general data on the main routes of disseminating university research results, the consideration of these problems allows for an assessment of the openness of the system of university journals that can affect reader interest in journals and their rankings. Moreover, the results may create the basis for subsequently resolving publication ethics issues. This paper uses a large sample of 496 Russian journals from the List of the Higher Attestation Commission that were founded by federal universities, national research universities, and basic universities. The typical approaches to the use and development of parent university journals and the specific differences depending on types of universities and individual organizations are demonstrated.</p>