Elsevier and the Robert Koch Institute partner to broaden access

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and the Robert Koch Institute announced they have entered into a two-year trial agreement enabling researchers at Robert Koch Institute to systematically post their manuscripts in the institutional repository.

Elsevier and the Robert Koch Institute share the goal of broadening access to scientific information. The partnership serves this goal, and it makes the work of authors of the Robert Koch Institute and the contribution of the institute to research more visible and useful. Many scientists have a desire to post their manuscripts in their institutions' repositories, but feel reluctant to do so without the consent of their publisher. This type of agreement helps solve that issue.

"Elsevier is committed to ensuring universal access to research articles in a sustainable way," said Alicia Wise, Director of Universal Access at Elsevier. "We permit voluntary posting by authors on their web sites or in repositories organized by institutions to which the author is affiliated - or was affiliated at the time of the preparation of the manuscript. Agreements like this between Elsevier and a research institution enable authors to post their manuscripts with full confidence that they are consistent with the requirements of both the institution and publisher.

"This type of agreement facilitates access to research through institutional repositories, helping authors, institutions and publishers reach out to an even wider audience," she added. "We hope to achieve similar agreements with other institutions in 2011."

Provided by Elsevier