AMSTERDAM, November 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
University
library introduces and promotes bibliometrics to help improve the
university's research impact
Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and
medical information products and services, and the University of
Surrey, U.K., have signed a
three-year agreement for access to Elsevier's research performance
benchmarking tool SciVal Strata.
The University of Surrey is one
of the few universities in the United
Kingdom with a dedicated bibliometrician as part of its
library staff. As a result, the role of the library is taking
on a new, innovative dimension by driving the use of bibliometrics
to help improve the institution's overall research impact.
SciVal Strata, part of the SciVal suite, is a flexible
benchmarking tool enabling analyses of internal and external team
and researcher performance which includes, among others,
productivity, citation history, and collaboration activity. Access
to SciVal Strata enables the university's research faculty to
benchmark their current performance and illustrate their impact, in
comparison to other institutions, which can in part, be used to
determine future research strategies.
"Our experiences with SciVal Strata have been very positive,"
states Kate Price, Head of
E-Strategy and Resources of the University of Surrey Library. "On
one hand it has enough depth and flexibility to assess our current
performance, but on the other hand the interface is simple enough
to use as an introduction to bibliometrics and impact measurement
for faculty and research staff. We have found that the impartiality
of the Library has greatly helped raise the positive perception of
bibliometrics within the institution."
"The role of the librarian in spearheading the effort to
introduce bibliometrics to improve their research impact is
significant," said Niels Weertman,
Vice President, SciVal at Elsevier. "The deployment of SciVal
Strata demonstrates yet another critical expert advisory role
played by the university's library to drive improvements in their
internal processes that, ultimately, will help them maintain their
leadership in cutting-edge science."
Recent enhancements to SciVal Strata developed in collaboration
with Elsevier's online community of research administrators, have
helped align the tool with the requirements set by the Research
Excellence Framework (REF) and other guidelines. The Research
Excellence Framework in the UK uses Scopus as the data source for
the bibliometric indicators, the same data source that powers
SciVal Strata.
About the University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is one of the UK's leading
professional, scientific and technological universities with a
world class research profile and a reputation for excellence in
teaching and research. Ground-breaking research at the University
is bringing direct benefit to all spheres of life - helping the
industry to maintain its competitive edge and creating improvements
in the areas of health, medicine, space science, the environment,
communications, defence and social policy. Programmes in science
and technology have gained widespread recognition and it also
boasts flourishing programmes in dance and music, social sciences,
management and languages and law. In addition to the campus on 150
hectares just outside Guildford,
Surrey, the University also owns
and runs the Surrey Research Park, which provides facilities for
140 companies employing 2,700 staff.
About the Elsevier SciVal Suite
Elsevier's SciVal® suite of services supports academic and
government leadership in evaluating, establishing and executing
research strategies that optimize the performance of existing
assets and maximize investments to enhance near and long-term
productivity. SciVal tools leverage Scopus® data, Elsevier's
trusted source of bibliometric data, to offer innovative yet
authoritative solutions. Current suite offerings include: SciVal
Spotlight, a strategic tool that generates unique institutional and
country maps of existing and emerging research strengths based on
an interdisciplinary perspective of current performance; SciVal
Funding, an online solution that provides targeted recommendations
on grants to pursue based on pre-populated research profiles and
historical awards; SciVal Strata, a web-based research performance
tool that offers users the flexibility to construct relevant
contextual data to evaluate research teams or individual
researchers, using a range of indicators based on Scopus data;
SciVal Experts, a semantic technology-based application that
enables researchers to identify and locate sources of expertise at
an individual or departmental level within and across
institutions.
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 publisher and information provider, 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
Iris Kisjes
Elsevier
+31-20-485-3072
i.kisjes@elsevier.com