ADO EKITI, Nigeria, June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Collaboration aims to enhance visibility and impact of Nigeria in global scientific community  

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced it has signed a licence agreement with the Nigerian Government providing continued access to ScienceDirect, Elsevier's full-text platform for research literature and Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature as well as access to SciVal, part of Elsevier's Research Intelligence portfolio of tools and services. 

The license agreement, signed by the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) on behalf of the Nigerian Government, provides researchers and faculty of a consortium of 79 government funded academic institutes with expanded access to peer-reviewed scholarly content. In addition, consortium members will benefit from access to research information management tools to measure the quality and impact of research, providing insights on how to raise Nigeria's visibility within the global scientific landscape. Finally, as part of the agreement Elsevier will produce and host a number of Nigerian journals to increase the journals' visibility and impact and offer consortium researchers with access to 14 biomedical journals from Cell Press.

Professor Michael Faborode, AVCNU's Secretary General, said: "Our collaboration with Elsevier fits the Government's aspiration to be a Top 20 world economy by the year 2020. Access to Elsevier's content and tools is an important step in delivering an information infrastructure necessary for growing Nigeria's R&D, a key step to achieve the 2020 vision. I'm confident this collaboration will increase our significance in the global research community."

Martijn van Baardwijk, Elsevier's Finance Director Research Solutions Sales, and representing Elsevier at the signing ceremony, commented, "We are pleased to continue our collaboration with the Nigerian research community and support them in all aspects of the research process: from doing the actual research through accessing high quality content, showcasing their research results and supporting research analysis and evaluation."

About AVCNU 

Established in 1994, the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) is an association composed of vice-chancellors of higher education institutions in Nigeria. The objective of the Committee is to promote the scientific, educational, cultural and economic cooperation between Nigerian universities and foster the dialogue with other national and international organizations.

About ScienceDirect 

ScienceDirect is home to almost one-quarter of the world's peer-reviewed full-text scientific, technical and medical content. Over 15 million researchers, health care professionals, teachers, students and information professionals around the globe rely on ScienceDirect as a trusted source of nearly 2,200 journals, almost 900 serials and more than 26,000 book titles. ScienceDirect supports research and education with interactive elements in articles such as audio, video, graphs, tables and images, and offers tools so users can easily set alerts. Content on ScienceDirect also features embedded links to external datasets, including earth and environmental science data from PANGAEA, abstract and indexing data from Scopus and chemical reactions data from Reaxys. With almost 13 million content pieces available-including pre-publication release of articles and open access content from Elsevier journals-ScienceDirect is a premier platform for discovering the world of research.

About Scopus
Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize scholarly research. Its vast database contains abstracts and references from 21,000 titles from more than 5,000 publishers worldwide, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences and Arts & Humanities. Scopus was designed and developed with input from researchers and librarians internationally; and features direct links to subscribed full-text articles, other library resources and interoperability with applications such as reference management software.

About Elsevier Research Intelligence
Elsevier Research Intelligence is a comprehensive research information management portfolio which improves the ability to establish, execute, and evaluate research strategies. The portfolio includes the new-generation SciVal tool, the Pure system, and our custom Analytical Services, as well as rich data assets like Scopus, and the reference management technology of Mendeley. Elsevier Research Intelligence enables research organizations, funders, policy-makers, and individual researchers to make better decisions, improve collaboration, attract investment, and optimize expenditure - all to enhance research strategy, execution, and performance. 

About Cell Press 

Cell Press is a leading publisher of cutting-edge biomedical research. Cell Press reviews and drives science forward and promotes cross-pollination of ideas with passion for excellence and commitment to innovation. The aim is to engage the scientific community by communicating important, exciting discoveries made today that will impact the future of research. 

Cell Press' flagship journal, Cell, was launched by Benjamin Lewin in 1974 under the aegis of MIT Press. In 1986, Cell Press became established as an independent publisher and subsequently launched hallmark journals including Neuron, Immunity, and Molecular Cell. In 1998, Cell Press joined the Elsevier family, our parent company. 

Today at Cell Press, the editorial and production teams collaborate with authors and reviewers to publish 13 hallmark primary research journals, 3 primary research journals published on behalf of learned societies and 14 Trends review journals, including gold open access publications such as Cell Reports and Stem Cell Reports (on behalf of the ISSCR). Cell Press continues leading in the innovative presentation of exciting scientific discoveries, consistently focusing on delivering highly valued research that drives scientific discovery, spanning a wide range of biomedical disciplines.

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
Mohamed Sayed
Elsevier
+20-100-144-122-8
m.sayed@elsevier.com

SOURCE Elsevier