May 6, 2020 SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Qatari Institutions and Elsevier Sign the Region's First Combined Reading and Publishing Pilot Agreement

AMSTERDAM, May 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Qatar National Library Consortium and Elsevier, a global leader in information analytics, specializing in science and health, agreed a new pilot agreement for fully open access publishing in Qatar, which represents the company's first combined reading and publishing agreement in the Gulf region.

The three-year agreement gives Qatar National Library patrons, Qatar Foundation, and Qatar University access to 2,300 journals published on ScienceDirect, Elsevier's premier platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature.

The agreement facilitates a cost-neutral transition to open access, enabling Qatari researchers to publish their work Open Access. More information on the scope of the pilot agreement can be found here.

In addition, Qatar National Library Consortium and Elsevier have concluded a three-year agreement to enable Qatar National Library patrons, Qatar Foundation, and Qatar University access to Scopus, the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.

Milan Vasiljevic, Manager of Electronic Resources and Licensing at Qatar National Library, and chief negotiator for the Consortium, said: "Qatar National Library Consortium is spearheading open access in the region, and this agreement echoes initiatives by other library consortia in Europe and North America in their transition to open access. Given the significant number of articles that our researchers publish with Elsevier, we are pleased that Elsevier's journals are joining our portfolio of open access publishing options. The agreement is in alignment with our licensing principles that support the shift towards making all articles published by corresponding authors from Qatar open access."

"The pilot agreement is a significant step forward," said Asma Saleh Al-Buainain, Acting Director of Qatar University Library and Section Head of Acquisition and Collection Development. She added, "Besides being cost effective, the agreement will benefit everyone especially the researchers and students in the university. They will not only be able to access Elsevier subscription journal content, but will also be able to publish with Elsevier, maximizing the visibility of their research and accelerating discovery of knowledge that Open Access publishing has to offer."

Gino Ussi, Elsevier's Executive Vice President, said: "We are delighted to have concluded this new license in Qatar and we look forward to continuing to support the Qatari research community. Like Qatar, Elsevier is committed to Open Access and remains one of the fastest growing publishers in this area, with 40 percent more open Access articles published in 2019 than the previous year. We have created this innovative pilot agreement together, by working closely with both the Qatar National Library and Qatar University to understand their specific objectives and help deliver their ambitious research goals."

Qatar National Library offers ongoing support to Qatari research institutions, which includes hosting Open Access Week, featuring related lectures and discussions. The Library's Open Access Fund is a national service that provides researchers the opportunity to publish with open access journals from 14 different publishers, greatly increasing the visibility of Qatar-based researchers and their work. In 2019, the fund supported 455 articles from 22 institutions in Qatar.

About Qatar National Library

Qatar National Library acts as a steward of Qatar's national heritage by collecting, preserving and making available the country's recorded history. The Library provides equal access to all types of information and services and aims to enable the people of Qatar to positively influence society by creating an exceptional learning and discovery environment.

His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, officially inaugurated Qatar National Library on 16 April 2018. The Library was granted the status of national library under the Emiri Decree No. 11 of 20 March 2018. www.qnl.qa

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians to find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, we have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, we're committed to bringing that rigor to a new generation of platforms. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, 39,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com