The article is devoted to the comparative analysis of the current functioning of science in Russia and Kazakhstan. The author proposes a triad of comparison of national sciences, consisting of scientometric indicators, ways of organizing the research process and the specifics of the functioning of the principles of academic freedom. On the basis of its application, it is alleged that at present, despite the formal unity of national science management in Russia and Kazakhstan the national science of the latter is developing more dynamically, continuing for many reasons to remain less effective than the Russian one. The latter circumstance is considered in the article using statistical data. It is established that the science of Kazakhstan is now aimed primarily at openness, although it continues to occupy an outsider position in the global research process.