Elsevier and the African Academy of Sciences Work Together to Support Researchers through Publishing Training Program

AMSTERDAM, May 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced it is working together with the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), an Africa-wide scientific organization that aims to encourage the development of research and technology throughout Africa, on a joint initiative to support African researchers' drive for quality research output.

With 233 active Fellows from 36 countries across the African continent, the AAS has the goal to help African researchers enhance their academic profiles and research productivity. Elsevier and the AAS first came together in corporation hosting the conference "Open Access in Africa" held in Nairobi, Kenya in April 2013, and their collaboration has since continued.  

As part of this new joint initiative Elsevier will undertake to provide AAS members with access to a host of research capacity building services including:

• Access to the Elsevier Publishing Connect training module information. Topics include: Introduction to Scholarly Publishing; How to get your research published in high impact journals; Research & Publication Ethics; Successful Grant Writing; How to review a manuscript, and more.
• Support for AAS to host live, online webinars to their network of researchers across Africa in skills such as those mentioned above. This webinar program can bring AAS members in direct contact with Elsevier publishers and editors to hear and learn from their expertise.

Both of the above initiatives aim to help the AAS deliver a wider program to their researcher network, support the growth in publishing skills across institutes in Africa and critically, drive for continued increase in quality research output.

Throughout this year the AAS plans to make the content of these services available to its members through direct correspondence, its website, workshops and conferences.

"By working with Elsevier on this initiative we hope our Fellows and Affiliate members will more easily be able to enhance the international scope and visibility of their academic professions," said Professor Berhanu Abegaz, Executive Director, African Academy of Sciences.

Hannah Foreman, Elsevier's Head of Researcher Relations and Program Manager for Publishing Connect, said, "By opening up access to this educational content we support the outstanding but vital work of organizations like AAS to further develop the knowledge and experience of their top researchers, preparing them for a career in international publishing success."

This initiative is part of Elsevier's continued commitment to enable the education, development and enhancement of African research output and quality. It complements many of the additional activities supported across the African continent, including among others: Elsevier Foundation's Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries program and Research4Life, a free and low-cost access initiative to provide researchers, doctors, nurses and policymakers with the information they need to boost research output and improve evidence-based treatment and policies.

About African Academy of Sciences 

The AAS mission is to serve, first, as an honorific society with the primary function of honouring African science and technology achievers and, second, as a development oriented mobilizer of the entire African science and technology community with the fundamental role of facilitating the development of scientific and technological capacity for science-led development in Africa, promoting excellence and relevance in doing so. (http://www.aasciences.org/index.php/homepage/about-us)

About the Elsevier Publishing Connect Program  

Publishing Connect is Elsevier's early career researcher capacity building workshop program. Last year more than 300 complementary workshops were hosted at institutions and conferences around the world to more than 30,000 early career researchers. Some workshops are also available online: http://www.elsevier.com/trainingwebcasts  

About Elsevier 

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence, and ClinicalKey -  and publishes nearly 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works.

The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact
Sacha Boucherie
Sr Press Officer Elsevier
+31-20-4853564
s.boucherie@elsevier.com

Benjamin Gyampoh
Programme Officer, AAS
+254728741632
b.gyampoh@aasciences.org