Reduced publication times

Elsevier Editorial System (EES) enhances the productivity of scientists, researchers and practitioners by reducing publication times and decreasing workload per article. The average time between article submission and acceptance for publication has dropped from 26 to 17 weeks. Editor handling time has also been reduced by 25% which means that on average, editors handle 20-30% more papers in the same amount of time.

Scopus for Editors and Reviewers

Elsevier editors and reviewers using EES now benefit from the integration of Scopus. Editors enjoy unlimited access, while reviewers receive 30 day access. A Scopus search bar appears on the reviewers' assignments page in EES, which enables them to directly search for related articles, references, citations, and papers by the same author.
Reviewers may also use Scopus for their own purposes at any time during the 30-day period. If they are already using Scopus at their institute, having this 30 day full access means that they will also be able to access Scopus from home.

Early online availability of citable articles

Once a manuscript has been accepted it will appear on ScienceDirect within 5 days with a fully citable Digital Object Identifier (DOI), the electronic alternative to traditional references.

Publisher neutrality and independence

Elsevier, as a commercial publisher, is independent from governments, lobby groups and other stakeholders in the discourse of science. This ensures editorial independence and publisher neutrality and continues to build upon a long tradition of publishing.

Liberal copyright policies

• Significant rights are granted to or retained by Elsevier journal authors with respect to the use of their own work. Without charge or requesting permission from Elsevier, journal authors have the right to:
• Make copies (print or electronic) of the article for their own personal use, including for their own classroom teaching use;
• Make copies and distribute such copies (including through email) of the article to known research colleagues, for the personal use by such colleagues (but not for commercial purposes);
• Post a pre-print version of the article on internet websites including electronic pre-print servers, and to retain indefinitely such version on such servers or sites (with some exceptions);
• Post a revised personal version of the final text of the article (to reflect changes made in the peer review and editing process) on their personal or institutional website or server, with a link (through the DOI) to the article as published, provided that such postings are not used for commercial purposes;
• Present the article at a meeting or conference and to distribute copies of the article to delegates attending such meeting;
• For their employer, if the article is a ‘work for hire, made within the scope of employment, the employer may use all or part of the information in the article for intra-company use (e.g. training);
• Retain patent and trademark rights and rights to any process or procedure described in the article;
• Include the article in full or in part in a thesis or dissertation (provided that this is not to be published commercially);
• Use the article or any part thereof in a printed compilation of their own works, such as collected writings or lecture notes (subsequent to publication of the article in the journal); and
• Prepare other derivative works, to extend the article into book-length form, or to otherwise re-use portions or excerpts in other works, with full acknowledgement of its original publication in the journal.

Digital archiving

As a result of an investment of over $40 million to scan and digitize backfiles of Elsevier journals, all Elsevier’s Economics journals are now accessible online via ScienceDirect back to volume 1, issue 1.

In addition, Elsevier ensures that published research is preserved in perpetuity for scientists and clinicians and invests in the digitization of its publications for future generations of scholars. Elsevier protects library holdings by granting our librarian customers the right to archive their electronic holdings in the same manner as physical holdings (books and journals), ensuring libraries and their users have permanent access to any subscribed electronic Elsevier publications.

In addition, Elsevier works with others to preserve the posterity of published journal articles. In 2002, Elsevier and the National Library of the Netherlands (KB) reached a groundbreaking agreement in electronic archiving when the KB agreed to be the first, official, independent, digital archive of all Elsevier journals. Elsevier continues to explore archiving initiatives with other institutions around the world to ensure maximum protection for the archive.

Investments to improve scientific communication

CrossRef – Elsevier co-founded CrossRef™, which enables researchers and practitioners to link to content across publishers and provides around 25% of CrossRef’s operating budget.

International DOI Foundation – Elsevier is a founding member of the International DOI Foundation, incubating and supporting use of the Digital Object Identifiers.

Copyright Clearance Center – Elsevier was a founding member of the Copyright Clearance Center and has been on the board for over 20 years.

NISO – Elsevier is a board member of NISO and an active participant in the ongoing development of Open URL standards, addressing bi-directional interaction between linking systems.

COUNTER – (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) An international initiative leading to a single, accepted, extendible Code of Practice to measure the usage of online information products and services. As a founding member of COUNTER, Elsevier has signed a declaration of compliance for online usage reporting.