In previous issues of Editors’ Update, you may have read about Research4Life and Elsevier’s role as a founding partner in these three programs that give developing countries free or low-cost access to scientific literature. These programs are helping to enhance the work of scientists in some of the world’s most underdeveloped nations, allowing them to introduce innovations that have a real impact on people’s lives.

For several years, Elsevier has been a major partner in three information philanthropy initiatives. Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI), Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) and Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE) are aimed at those countries that have the least amount of access to information resources. In most advanced countries, access to research is not a pressing problem for researchers, when compared to other issues, such as funding. In the poorest countries, it is a more fundamental barrier. Publishers like Elsevier have been working hard to close down this gap. Together the programs offer scientists in 114 eligible countries free or low-cost access to some 7,500 scientific journals, books and databases.

Getting the story across
The programs are valuable resources for academics, but promoting them to the media, potential funders and additional partners presents its own problems. “Have you tried saying HINARI-AGORA-OARE in quick succession during a phone call?” says Shira Tabachnikoff, Elsevier Director of Corporate Relations. “When you’re talking with a journalist, you want something quick and easy to get the essence of the story across.” As a result, the program partners recently launched Research4Life, an umbrella brand that encompasses the three initiatives. “The program names still exist,” explains Tabachnikoff. “The new brand just makes it easier to communicate what we’re doing.”

The need to promote Research4Life and increase the number of registered institutes and find potential new partners, was one of the reasons why Tabachnikoff recently visited Nairobi. “When you talk about the programs, it’s often in terms of statistics: how many institutes are registered, how many publishers are involved,” she says. “I wanted to get a better understanding of the impact the programs are having on local communities.” She chose Nairobi because it has a large number of institutions that utilize the Research4Life programs. In addition, the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA) was holding a three-day training course to teach researchers and librarians how to use HINARI efficiently. It was an ideal opportunity for Tabachnikoff to meet the course participants and find out how they were planning to use the program. “I was really impressed by the number of participants who recognized the importance of the training,” she says. Professor James Kiyapi, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Medical Services, officially opened the proceedings. He wanted to be present to encourage people to participate fully in the training, so that they could return to their institutes and teach others.

Value of current research
The importance of access to current research was underscored by the results of an analysis conducted by Elsevier last year. This study showed that from 2002 to 2006, countries with access to HINARI saw a 63% growth in the number of authors publishing in peer-reviewed journals, compared to 38% in countries without access. “Having access to this level of science clearly does make a difference,” adds Tabachnikoff. “We want more scientists from developing countries to participate in the global scientific debate.”

“In the past, people in underdeveloped countries would often do research without realizing that they weren’t utilizing the most up-to-date resources,” she says. “They would then try to publish only to be told that it had been done already or their results were outdated.” Tabachnikoff met a biochemist, a young woman, who was using HINARI in her research. She said that knowing the material was current made a huge difference.

Changing lives
Another scientist Tabachnikoff met in Nairobi was Dr. John Weru, a senior medical officer at Kenyatta Hospice that deals largely with cancer patients and people with HIV/AIDS. HINARI is Dr. Weru’s main information resource for his research into palliative care, a healthcare field that is relatively undeveloped in Kenya. Access to HINARI has enabled him to define and practice palliative care and to train others to deliver it as well. “It is helping us to put life into the days of patients, instead of simply putting days into their lives”, Weru has said.

As well as changing the face of healthcare delivery, Research4Life is also having an impact on agriculture. A team led by Professor Paul Kimurto at Egerton University is using AGORA to identify drought-tolerant crops of chickpea and sorghum that will grow in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands. Farmers involved in Kimurto’s project have seen a tremendous turnaround in production compared to previous years and, although no official data is available yet, an increase in sustainable crop production of 20% to 30% is expected.

With results like these, it is hardly surprising that the Research4Life partners are committed to continuing the programs until at least 2015. This ties in with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals for sustainable improvements in agriculture, environmental management and health. The UN has even recognized Research4Life as the ideal type of private/public partnership needed to achieve the Millennium Goals.

Even in the current economic downturn, Tabachnikoff is optimistic about Research4Life’s future. “Developing countries need to have access to science that can help them take their economies and scientists to the next level,” she explains. “We’ve made a commitment to the programs even in tough times. Hopefully Research4Life can help these countries overcome their own economic problems in the future.”

Research4Life is just one of the many philanthropic initiatives in which Elsevier participates. To learn about others, please download the   Information Philanthropy Pamphlet, sponsored by Library Connect and Elsevier’s Department of Research & Academic Relations.

Useful links:

To learn more about how Research4Life is benefiting science in Kenya, watch this short video made during Tabachnikoff's recent trip to Nairobi.   Values in Motion (video)

  Research4Life

  HINARI

  OARE

  AGORA

  Millennium Goals

If you would like to get involved in Research4Life, please contact Shira Tabachnikoff.