Amsterdam, 19 March 2009 – Elsevier announced today that its flagship product 
Scopus, the world’s largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, was chosen by the Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance (iFQ) to be used in the development of its new German Competence Centre for Bibliometrics. The iFQ is a scientific institute that was created by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) to focus on assessing Germany’s funding programs, and analyzing their global impact.
The Competence Centre is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF). The centre’s goals are to set up a bibliometric database and develop checked bibliometric methods and indicators that meet today’s requirements in reliability and validity. Scopus data and other bibliographic datasets will be used to quantify German research output and evaluate the impact it is having on the global scientific landscape. This insight will allow for a better understanding of how local researchers, institutions and funding agencies perform in areas key to German science policy and will ultimately be used to identify excellence and weakness within the German research system.
“Among other data sources we will work with Scopus for the depth and international breadth of its citation database,” said Professor Stefan Hornbostel of iFQ. “The analytical capabilities that the content provides will help us achieve our mission of supporting the German science system with carefully examined and relevant information feeding into policies that will allow Germany to continue to be a global scientific leader.”
“We are excited to be a part of the iFQ’s new German Competence Centre for Bibliometrics,” said Niels Weertman, Director of Scopus for Elsevier. “Making the right investment decisions is an integral part of achieving scientific breakthroughs and we are confident we can deliver valuable insight through Scopus.”
Information about the German Competence Centre for Bibliometrics is available at
www.bibliometrie.info.
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About the Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance (iFQ)
The Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance (Institut für Forschungsinformation und Qualitätssicherung, iFQ) is mainly funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) as a "central research facility". The institute is designed as a scientific institution that initially concentrated on the evaluation of DFG’s funding programs. The German Competence Centre for Bibliometrics is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF). For more information about iFQ please visit
http://www.forschungsinfo.de.
About Scopus
Covering the world’s research literature, Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality Web sources with smart tools to track analyze and visualize research. Scopus was designed and developed with over 500 users and librarians internationally. Its unique database contains abstracts and references from over 15,000 peer-reviewed journals from 4,000 publishers worldwide, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. In addition, Scopus not only offers users citation information about the articles covered, but also directly integrates Web and patent searches. 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,
MD Consult,
Scopus, bibliographic databases, and online reference works.
Elsevier is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of
Reed Elsevier Group plc, 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).
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