Scopus Credited as Tool to Boost Research Funding

SYDNEY, Australia, July 5 /PRNewswire/ --     Scopus(R), the world's largest 
abstract and citation database of research
information and quality Web sources, today announced that three universities
- University of South Australia, University of Tasmania and University of
Western Sydney - have chosen Scopus to support their literature research
workflows.



    Scopus will serve the needs of all at these sites enabling faculty to
monitor the performance of their researchers, students to instantly identify
the hottest topics and most cited papers and researchers to identify
collaborators and keep up to date with the latest developments in their
field.



    Another factor driving the universities' decision to adopt Scopus is its
bearing on the Research Quality Framework; an initiative introduced by the
Australian government in 2004 to assess the quality and impact of publicly
funded research and its contribution to scientific innovations.



    Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson
MP stressed in his forward to a report commissioned by the commonwealth of
Australia that Australia's future depends on a collective effort by the
Australian Government, industry and the community to identifying areas of
international research excellence in Australia. Perhaps more importantly for
Australia's universities, the results of the RQF will inform the distribution
of research funding in the future.



    Stephen Parnell, Deputy Director of Library Services at the University of
South Australia says: "the application of Scopus within our university has
changed over time; growing from a useful research tool to an indispensable
resource that plays an integral role in the assessment required for the
Research Quality Framework."



    The Framework recommends the use of quantitative indicators such as
bibliometrics to support the assessment of research quality.



    Innovations such as the Scopus Author Identifier and Citation Tracker
make it easy for universities to provide this data.



    These progressive universities join many others in the region already
capitalizing on their investment in Scopus, such as Swinburne University of
Technology, University of Newcastle, University of Auckland, Central
Queensland University, University of Otago and Auckland University of
Technology.



    Niels Weertman, Head of Scopus Product Development says: "It's great to
see that so many institutions believe in our commitment to supporting
scientific advancement. It's never been this easy to get comprehensive
insights into research".



About Research Quality Framework (RQF)

    The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that resources 
provided to carry out research are directed to areas of research excellence 
and public benefit. In May 2004, the Government appointed an Expert Advisory 
Group, chaired by Professor Sir Gareth Roberts, to develop a new Research 
Quality Framework that would be used to measure both the QUALITY and IMPACT 
of research undertaken by Australian Universities and Publicly Funded 
Research Agencies.



    Details about how the RQF will be implemented in the higher education
sector are still being developed. However, it is intended that the Framework
will strongly influence the allocation of some major research-related block
grant allocations to universities.



    About Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF), the New Zealand equivalent
to RQF



    The primary goal of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) is to
ensure that excellent research in the tertiary education sector is encouraged
and rewarded in New Zealand. This entails assessing the research performance
of tertiary education organisations (TEOs) and then funding them on the basis
of their performance.



About Scopus

    Covering the world's research literature, Scopus is the largest and 
easiest to use navigation tool ever built. Scopus is designed and developed 
with over 300 users and librarians internationally. Its unique database 
contains abstracts and references from over 15,000 titles from 4,000 
different publishers, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. In addition, 
Scopus not only offers users citation information about the articles covered, 
but also integrates web & patent searches directly from its clean and simple
interface. Direct links to 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. For
more information about Scopus please visit www.info.scopus.com.



About Elsevier

    Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical 
information products and services. Working in partnership with the 
global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 
offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per 
year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such 
as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (
http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/),
bibliographic databases, and online reference works.



    Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of
Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading
publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical,
legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides
high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing
emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker
symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and
ENL (New York Stock Exchange). (LSE: REL , NYSE: ENL)


    
    For more information contact:

    Nick Ludlum
    Fusion Public Relations
    T: [phone]
    E: [e-mail]


    For further information about Scopus in Australia and New Zealand please
contact Account Managers Nigel Ashworth ([e-mail]), Linda
Dunne ([e-mail]).