Objective. To compare the publication activity of 6 psychiatric institutes based on the data from the Russian Citation Index (RCI). Material and methods. Weighted average data of the last five years was selected for analysis: number of publications and citations per author, number of citations per publication, impact factor of journals published the papers. The analysis of the dynamics of publication activity and citations for the period of 2006—2013 for 6 institutes has been performed. Results. The analysis shows that the Research Center of Mental Health of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS) is the leader among in publication activity in the field of «psychiatry and addiction medicine». In second place the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry and the National Research Center of Addictology. Then, by a large margin, are the Bechterev St.Peterburg Research Psycho-Neurological Institute, the Serbsky National Research Center of Social and Forensic Psychiatry and the Siberian Research Mental Health Institute of RAMS. Conclusion: RCI data is an important source of information regarding scientific activity of research institutes although the data should be interpreted with caution.