Novikov's work up to 1971 was on algebraic and differential topology; in particular he studied calculating stable homotopy groups and classifying smooth simply-connected manifolds of dimension greater than 4.
Novikov ng trabaho hanggang sa 1971 ay sa algebraic at kaugalian topology; sa partikular na siya-aral ng pagkalkula pirmi homotopy grupo at classifying makinis na lamang-connected manifolds ng laki na mas malaki kaysa sa 4.