Elsevier's ScienceDirect Delivers Enhanced Mobile Reading Experience on Tablets and Smartphones

AMSTERDAM, May 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

 Growth in researchers' use of mobile devices to access scholarly content drives need for outstanding user experience when reading scientific literature

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of an optimized mobile version of ScienceDirect, its leading full-text scientific database.

The updated mobile version of ScienceDirect now allows researchers to read journal articles on mobile devices through a specifically designed interface offering high readability and a streamlined page layout. Users of ScienceDirect that access journal articles on a mobile device will automatically be directed to a dedicated page which offers an online experience tailored for mobile use. The mobile view is designed around how people work when they use mobile devices, including simple browse, scan, read or save-for-later features. The mobile view is also built with high performance principles to counter the high latency, low bandwidth and limited processing power of mobile devices.

"Too many websites that claim to be built for mobile are actually designed for the desktop and then shrunk into a mobile device format, resulting in an uneasy compromise. Simultaneously, researchers are used to accessing consumer sites on mobile devices with amazing user experiences - why shouldn't they have the same experience at work? This updated mobile version of ScienceDirect is streamlined to perform optimally on mobile devices; delivering the mobile experience that has become the norm outside of work environments," said Ammy Vogtländer, Vice President ScienceDirect Product Management at Elsevier. "We wanted to be certain we were giving our users every means possible to access the content they want, when they want it and where they want it - supporting better research outcomes."

The updated mobile version of ScienceDirect has been designed based on user feedback and consultation. Users want focused and fast access to articles, with easy reading and navigation that keeps resizing, panning and scrolling to a minimum. The mobile version of ScienceDirect now supports fast navigation, access to similar results, easy access to references, the ability to view tables and a pinch-to-zoom feature. Users can also choose to open articles as a PDF and can export articles to Mendeley, RefWorks, and in BibTeX format, among others.

Beta user experience has been very positive. Dr Katja J. Teerd of Wageningen University, one of the beta testers, commented, "Overall it's a very clear, pleasant experience! Articles read like a book on an e-Reader, and the readability is very good with a great font size. It's also very handy that I can get to the full text from the reference list."

More information is available on ScienceDirect including a video demonstration of the enhanced mobile view, or connect on Twitter

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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 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
Liz Griffioen
Elsevier
+31-20-485-2247
L.Griffioen@elsevier.com 

SOURCE Elsevier