Elsevier and NWO Collaborate to Enhance Research Excellence in the Netherlands

AMSTERDAM, January 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

5 year access agreement to Elsevier's Reviewer Finder and Scopus®

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information solutions and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), today announce their collaboration with a 5 year access agreement to Elsevier's Reviewer Finder and Scopus, which will further improve NWO's assessment process of research grant applications.

As a leading research funding council in the Netherlands, NWO's mission is to actively contribute to the growth of Dutch science by structurally and continuously investing in world-class scientists and research excellence. Using Reviewer Finder, a component of Elsevier's SciVal® suite, NWO will more efficiently identify the best matching peer reviewers to assess its grant applications. Furthermore, Reviewer Finder will help NWO identify conflicts of interest between potential reviewers and applicants, ensuring the applications are reviewed by the most appropriate experts. With Scopus, NWO will have access to the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed scholarly literature (nearly 20,500 journals from more than 5,000 publishers worldwide) providing an extended view on the world's peer-reviewed published research.

"For certain research fields Reviewer Finder is an effective way to find the most suitable experts for the assessment of grant applications and will help us shorten the assessment time and enhance our capabilities to focus on research excellence," said Mr. Cas Maessen, Senior Policy Officer at NWO. "Through our research programs we fund thousands of top researchers at universities and institutes across the Netherlands, steering the course of Dutch science. Selecting the best research projects is critical in this process and therefore requires having the best tools at hand."

"We are very pleased that a major research funding organization like NWO has chosen to use our analytical tools," said Nick Fowler, Managing Director A&G Institutional Markets at Elsevier. "We aim to deliver insights and tools that help major funding organizations and research institutions allocate their resources and achieve their desired research outcomes as efficiently as possible."

About NWO

The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) is the national research council in the Netherlands promoting quality and innovation in science by selecting and funding the best research. NWO manages research institutes of national and international importance, contributes to strategic programming of scientific research and brings science and society closer together. Research proposals are reviewed and selected by researchers of international repute. More than 5000 scientists can carry out research thanks to funding from NWO.

NWO is the largest financer of scientific innovation in the Netherlands and operates as an intermediary between researchers, (international) science centers and society; NWO finances, coordinates and monitors thousands of research projects and numerous collaborations in all sciences, and mediates for the use of state of the art facilities - such as telescopes and super computers; NWO is the national partner with regard to knowledge exchange and scientific collaboration within and outside Europe; NWO promotes (the use of) scientific breakthroughs by NWO subsidized research in the Dutch society and industry.

NWO sets out to secure the Netherlands' top ranking in science worldwide and to make sure that the current strong position is further strengthened. NWO is also committed to ensure that the results of scientific research quickly gain presence and exposure in society, either as new expertise or practical applications. http://www.nwo.nl/

About Scopus

Covering the world's research literature, Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Featuring smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research, Scopus was designed and developed with input from over 500 users and librarians internationally. Its unique database contains abstracts and references from nearly 20,500 peer-reviewed journals from more than 5,000 publishers worldwide, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. Direct links to subscribed full-text articles, library resources and other applications like reference management software, make Scopus quicker, easier and more comprehensive to use than any other literature research tool.

About Elsevier's SciVal suite

Designed to support the many stages of the research planning cycle, Elsevier's SciVal® suite of solutions provides information about research performance, funding and expertise to enable informed decision-making and drive successful outcomes. Serving research institutions, funding agencies and policy bodies, SciVal delivers objective analytical capabilities that can enhance the performance of individuals, teams and organizations. SciVal integrates institutional and external data sources with information from Elsevier's Scopus®, the standard for bibliometric research tools, to offer trusted solutions including SciVal Experts, SciVal Funding, SciVal Spotlight, SciVal Strata, SciVal Analytics and Pure.

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 close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help 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
Harald Boersma
Director, Corporate Relations
Elsevier
+31-20-485-27-36
h.boersma@elsevier.com