ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, February 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced the results of its first "Quiz for Science" held for the academic community in Pakistan. The quiz was launched in July 2013 and attracted participation from more than 30 leading universities and institutions in Pakistan over a four-month period.

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"Quiz for Science" was designed as an innovative and interactive way for researchers to enhance their scientific knowledge through exposure to world-class and internationally peer-reviewed research available online on ScienceDirect, Elsevier's database of almost a quarter of the world's peer-reviewed full-text scientific, technical and medical content.

All Pakistani students, researchers, university faculty and institutions that are a part of the digital library program of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and have access to ScienceDirect were automatically qualified to take part in the quiz. Over 4000 students, researchers and faculty members took part in the quiz.  Twenty entries scored 100%; of these, three winners were chosen through a random draw.

The three winners were recognized at an award ceremony which took place at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) office in Islamabad; winners were announced by the Chairman HEC, Engr. Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, Chief Guest at the ceremony.

The winners are:

• Muhammad Nouman Aslam Khan, Lecturer, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST)

• Sajida Noureen, Lecturer, Islamia University Bahawalpur

• Syed Hani Abidi, PHD Student, Aga Khan University, Karachi

Said Dr Tariq Mehmood, Advisor R&D of HEC and, "For an emerging research market such as Pakistan, it's important that the scholarly community leverage all the opportunities and resources available to them in order to advance their work. With "Quiz for Science", Elsevier has certainly helped expose our researchers to world-class research materials and enhance their scientific knowledge."

"We are encouraged by the academic community's overwhelming response to our first "Quiz for Science", which aims to showcase Pakistan's research capabilities," said Saurabh Sharma, Elsevier's Regional Director for its Science & Technology division in South Asia. "This is a great way to promote local research as well as bring world-class scholarly content to Pakistan through access to ScienceDirect."

For the official results and more information, go to: http://www.QuizforScience.com/Pakistan.

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 25,000 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 12 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 Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and 25,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, helping research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. 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
Jason Chan
Director, Corporate Relations, Asia Pacific
Elsevier
+65-63490240
j.chan@elsevier.com

SOURCE Elsevier