University of Florida and Elsevier Collaborate to Maximize Visibility, Impact and Dissemination of Research Articles by UF Authors

GAINESVILLE, Florida, May 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Pilot Project Enhances University of Florida's Institutional Repository With ScienceDirect API Services 

The George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida (UF) and Elsevier have embarked on a pilot project to maximize visibility, impact and dissemination of articles by UF researchers that have published in Elsevier journals. Starting today, article links and metadata are automatically delivered to UF's institutional repository (IR@UF) through ScienceDirect application programming interfaces (APIs) that are freely available to libraries.

"The project addresses several university needs including showcasing UF's body of works, providing a better user experience for researchers who use its repository and facilitating compliance with US policies on public access to federally funded research," said Judith Russell, Dean of University Libraries, UF.

Among UF authored articles, the largest portion is published in Elsevier journals, and they represent a large share of citations. For Elsevier, this pilot provides an opportunity to get a better understanding of information and content presentation requirements of institutional repositories. Combined, these facts made it a natural choice to collaborate.

"The project is a great example of libraries and publishers working together to expand access, to increase compliance with funder policies, and to reduce duplication of cost and effort," said Alicia Wise, Director of Access & Policy at Elsevier. "Our shared aim is to broaden this approach to include other libraries and other publishers."

This is how the IR@UF works after implementation of ScienceDirect APIs:  

ScienceDirect shares article metadata and links to the full text directly within the institutional repository, so the university's output is more easily found by users. Users can access the published article on ScienceDirect which enables tracking and reporting of article usage and reach. Linking back to the full article on ScienceDirect also means that users add to overall aggregated data of the article which is helpful for both the author and the institution. These aggregated data would not be available if different versions of the article existed across multiple platforms.

The automated population of the repository is applicable for both open access and subscription articles. Open access articles, which are available to everyone, are identified by an indicator in the search results.

The full article on ScienceDirect is available to all users of IR@UF that have access to ScienceDirect, not only those affiliated with UF. In instances where users are not entitled to access ScienceDirect, articles can be accessed through an interlibrary loan request, or options to purchase the article are specified.

In the next phase, the University of Florida and Elsevier will work together to also embed accepted manuscripts within IR@UF. This means all IR@UF users will be able to read a full-text version of the article - the final published version of the article for entitled users and the post-embargo accepted manuscript for other users. Indexing will be based on the full text.

Looking ahead, this approach holds opportunity to scale to other libraries and publishers. This could potentially happen via organizations such as CHORUS - a nonprofit organization that facilitates a simple compliance process, optimized search and dashboard services, and multi-party archiving and preservation capabilities - and SHARE - an initiative of the Association of Research Libraries, Association of American Universities, and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. 

Related links:

• View the enhanced functionality within IR@UF
• Learn more about the pilot program and to register your interest

About The George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida 

The Libraries of the University of Florida form the largest information resource system in the state of Florida. The UF Libraries consist of seven libraries; six are in the system known as the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The libraries hold about 6.1 million volumes, 6.5 million microfilms, 899,296 e-books, 170,522 electronic journals, 1,165 electronic databases, and over 11 million digitized pages in the UF Digital Collections. The Libraries have built a number of internationally and nationally significant research collections, including the Latin American and Caribbean, Judaica, Florida History, Children's Literature, and Maps and Imagery Collections. The Smathers Libraries are a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), and the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL).

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 over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 33,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

Media contacts
Barbara Hood
Director of communications for Libraries, UF
[email protected]
+1 352 273 2505

Sacha Boucherie
Communications Manager, Elsevier
[email protected]
+31 204 853564

SOURCE Elsevier