Webinar Library

Research output in the digital age is more than text and images: computer code, data, multimedia, and domain-specific data formats are increasingly important elements of the scientific record. Supporting researchers to disseminate this work calls for solutions that go beyond the traditional print or PDF medium. Elsevier has been a pioneer in this space with projects like the Article of the Future and SciVerse Applications that leverage modern web technologies to enhance online publications.

For the author who wishes to display geospatial data in an interactive manner and the editor who wishes to provide this functionality via their journal, this webinar will cover:

1.       Article of the Future - a new online article format that allows researchers to express their work in its full (digital) breadth

2.       Interactive Map viewer- this tool allows authors to upload KML/KMZ files with geospatial data to be displayed in an interactive Google Maps viewer integrated into their online article

3.       Added value to researchers and editors and what authors need to do to make optimal use of this feature

We invite you to submit your thoughts or questions during the registration process so that we can address as many of these as possible. Are you familiar with Geographical Information Systems (like Google Earth) to organize your data? Do you have best practices to share with your peers? If you have submitted KML/KMZ files with your article, how was your experience? How do you think interactive maps can be useful for readers and for the peer-review process? During the webinar, there will be a live Q&A session so we encourage you to add your perspective to this discussion.

Did you know that 93% of University researchers report1 that access to journal articles is ‘easy or very easy’? Yet only 70% of researchers in small businesses can report the same. Access to journals is 14th on researchers’ list of concerns (lack of funding is number one; too much paperwork is number five). We also know that journal articles are the easiest form of research content to access, while being the most important according to researchers. Why then is access such a hot topic?

‘Open Access’ is a widely used umbrella term that covers a number of different initiatives, models, motivations, and objectives. The term ‘Universal access’ is Elsevier’s vision to enable the broadest possible access to quality research content in ways that meet needs sustainably. We are open to any business model that helps us achieve this vision, and believe that a viable information ecology requires a diverse mix of funding models. This means benefits and costs are spread equitably across stakeholders.

Join us fvor a live discussion on the publishing models and initiatives currently shaping the ‘access’ question. Tell us what you think about the quality of open access published research and what you see within your own research community. There is still work to be done to close access gaps, and Elsevier is committed to doing this in sustainable ways – as editors you are a key stakeholder in this discussion.

Love it or loathe it the journal Impact Factor remains a consistent and widely used benchmark by authors to decide which journal to submit their manuscript to. Eagerly awaited and diligently scrutinized by journal editors, publishers and published (or prospective) authors, the Impact Factor has become one of the most dominant measurements of journal quality.  But it doesn’t come without shortcomings and whilst we recognize the Impact Factor at Elsevier, we also nurture the idea of using other indicators of journal performance for a multi-dimensional perspective.

Furthermore, as the gatekeepers of research, your role as journal editors stands central to the discussion on journal performance and measures. The decisions and actions you take are pivotal to improving journal quality. Join us for a live discussion where we will focus on three key points:

1. Examining data and indicators used to measure the performance of a journal, and how to build the bigger picture.
2. Real-life experience from an Elsevier journal editor on how to improve journal quality and attract the best manuscripts in the field.
3. Additional perspectives and tips from Elsevier on ways to improve your journal performance.

We invite you to submit your thoughts or questions during the registration process. We hope to address as many of these as possible. Share with us your experience of journal quality measurement either as an editor or as an author. Perhaps tell us how you feel about the importance of publication speeds and rejection rates and how they can be improved. Share your thoughts on the role that Elsevier and other publishers play in this important discussion. During the webinar, there will be a dedicated open Q&A session so we encourage you to add your perspective during the registration process and the live event itself.

The scientific publishing world is witnessing rapid change, especially in the speed-of-light world of genetics and genomics.

You are invited to join Professor Andre van Wijnen, Editor-in-Chief of GENE and Bart Wacek, Publisher (Elsevier), together with the wider genetics community to discuss how authors, reviewers, and editors can not only benefit from, but contribute to, the editorial process.

This webinar will feature Professor Andre van Wijnen whose experiences as a fellow author, reviewer and editor have led him to rethink the way people publish in his journal. He will explain how a re-launch of GENE will better meet the needs of the changing genetics community by introducing:

• Platforms for rapid paper submission and review
• Manuscript transfers between journals
• Reviews that focus less on rejections and more on retention

Bart Wacek will also give us a brief glimpse into the future with some of the latest developments designed to help authors disseminate their research.

This is a unique opportunity to discuss your publishing questions during an open question and answer session, hear from your community and help to shape the way you will be publishing in the future.

32% of researchers believe the current peer review system is the best we can achieve.* But what about the other 68%?

In the last few years many editors have experienced a growth in the number of submissions. At the same time, a number of editors indicate that they have found it difficult to find qualified reviewers, which is putting pressure on the peer review process. This trend combined with a number of stories in the media has lead to some discussion around the traditional peer review system vs. emerging models.  Some journals are piloting ‘’radical’’ changes such as full access to reviewers’ reports to all readers; the skipping of a second review round; or sharing review reports between a cluster of journals, saving precious time.

So what are the pain points in peer review? What improvements in peer review have been tried by editors and publishers?  Which areas of peer review innovation should Elsevier focus on?

In this webinar we would like to address three key points of discussion:

• The perceived purpose and value of peer review
• The impact of the peer review system on you as an editor and what role Elsevier can play to overcome challenges
• Current thoughts and initiatives surrounding peer review.

Join us to discuss these issues and take part in an open debate on peer review. We invite you to submit your thoughts or questions during the registration process so that we can endeavor to address as many of these as possible. During the webinar, there will be a dedicated open Q&A session so we encourage you to add your perspective to this important discussion.

*http://www.publishingresearch.net/PeerReview.htm

Research professionals are in great demand in industry and academia. But while the proportion of women in the Science, Technology and Medical (STM) fields has grown steadily, women still hold no more than 15% of the full professorships in both the US and Europe - and the participation of women scholars as authors and on editorial boards reflects a similar imbalance. Where does this across-the-board gender gap come from? How do different family roles and responsibilities factor in? What are different players in the STM community doing to address the gap?

During the past five years the Elsevier Foundation’s New Scholars program has focused on fighting attrition in the academic pipeline by supporting early career researchers with travel and childcare grants, mentorship programs, work-life satisfaction workshops, campus-wide lactation space and dual career relocation services. But what else can Elsevier and the STM community do?

Join us on September 21st for a discussion with David Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation, Janet Bandows Koster, Executive Director of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and Donna Dean, past president of AWIS and senior scientific advisor and advocate for underrepresented groups in science and engineering to discuss three burning questions:

• What is the greatest obstacle to career development for dual career couples?
• What role can editors play to close the gender gap?
• What can your journal proactively do to support the careers of women in research and academia?