Commercial hosting platforms
As a signatory to the STM Article Sharing Principles(opens in new tab/window) we are committed to making it simple and seamless for researchers to share their research on platforms of their choice. To support this we are actively working with platforms to facilitate sharing options and to develop industry technology, standards and best practices for article sharing.
Working together
Technology plays a crucial role in making it easier to share research. We want to support innovative platforms, tools and services by working together to form industry best practices for both publishers and technology providers. We recognize the technological challenges we all face which include:
Ensuring everyone can trust the content they read online: Different platforms that host content need to work together to ensure the coherence and integrity of the scientific record so that everyone can read, use and trust the latest research online.
Encouraging researchers to share: We all have a role in ensuring that researchers understand clearly how to share their research output and in ensuring they continue to receive appropriate credit. Hosting platforms and publishers following STM Article Sharing Principles(opens in new tab/window) will help to promote responsible sharing in invitation-based workgroups.
Continued technology development: To enable seamless sharing, hosting platforms, particularly not-for profit repositories and small start-up companies, may not have extensive technical resources to develop the required technology in-house which will facilitate and implement industry best practices.
Elsevier already supports platforms to host and share research content. Further sharing options are available for commercial platforms by agreement and we encourage you to get in touch via our contact form.
Technology support
We are already taking steps to develop new technology and tools which will automate:
Displaying the right version of an article to users: Through our ScienceDirect APIs, you can show full text articles to entitled users so they can view the final published article without having to leave your site. Your platform can also use an API to check if your user has access to the published journal article and use this to direct users to the best available version on your platform.
Gathering and sharing usage information: We believe this is an industry-wide challenge that will take time to solve and are asking platforms to collaboratively address this challenge. We are participating in a Crossref working group, click here(opens in new tab/window) for more details.
Elsevier already supports platforms to host and share research content. Further sharing options are available for commercial platforms by agreement and we encourage you to get in touch via our contact form.
Hosting options
Elsevier already supports platforms to host and share research content. All commercial platforms may host abstracts, links and preprints uploaded by authors. Additional hosting options are available for commercial platforms by agreement. These agreements include sharing of copyrighted content (accepted manuscripts and published journal articles) between users as part of an invitation-only workgroup. In our agreement we ask platforms that would like to do so to commit to:
Facilitating the measurement of the amount and type of sharing, using standards such as COUNTER and the Crossref DOI Event Tracker, to better understand the habits of researchers
Ensuring that sharing will be allowed only within academic groups, namely groups of scholars or researchers who have joined at the invitation of an individual researcher, for the purpose of specific scholarly or academic research or collaboration. Academic groups would:
be of the size that is typical for research groups of that discipline
only share articles within and for the purposes of the group
not be open to participation by the general public
allow journal article sharing between subscribers and non-subscribers within the group
Public sharing, after an embargo period of accepted manuscripts that have been uploaded by one of the authors of the article. In our agreement we ask commercial platforms that would like to facilitate this to commit to:
Ensuring Elsevier articles are made available in line with our posting policy
Verifying if users are entitled to access the full text journal article on ScienceDirect, clearly indicate to the user when they are entitled to access the full-text and link entitled users to the ScienceDirect journal article.
Facilitating the measurement of the amount and type of sharing, using standards such as COUNTER and the Crossref DOI Event Tracker, to better understand the habits of researchers
If you would like to discuss these possibilities, please fill out this form and we will be in touch to discuss your needs further.
Help and Support
Please see our hosting policy for ways you can already host content
Please see our FAQ below for further details
Other enquires and for those interested in working with us on pilots or technology development contact [email protected](opens in new tab/window)
FAQs
Elsevier already supports platforms to host and share research content. Further sharing options and news services are available for commercial platforms, tools and services that also support the STM Article Sharing Principles(opens in new tab/window). For further details please contact us.
Yes, we will provide a list of commercial platforms and tools where researchers have more sharing options available to them. Our aim is to be clear and helpful in explaining how researchers can share their research online and will continue to develop our communications.
It is in all our interests to facilitate access to the best available version of an article that a reader is entitled to access. This means if they are entitled to see the final published journal article, they should ideally see the final published article and not another version such as an accepted manuscript. In all cases, we want readers to trust what they are reading is correct and up to date including information about retraction notices, etc.
You can find the embargo period for individual journals from the journal homepages, or for a complete overview here.(opens in new tab/window)
You can embed PDFs of published journal articles on your site, using our full text API. The benefit of embedding is that entitled users can view the best available version without having to leave your site. Non-entitled users will be able to see the first page of the PDF. The metadata you will need to include in the API request is the Crossref DOI or the Elsevier article identifier, called PII. We have detailed technical instructions available on our developers site(opens in new tab/window) or contact us for more information.
Platforms can easily check this using one of our APIs. The metadata you will need to include in the API request is the Crossref DOI or the Elsevier article identifier, called PII. You will also have to ensure the user’s IP is passed on in the API request. Please contact us for more information. Access to this API will be a part of our API offering for Institutional Repositories. Commercial platforms are requested to contact us for API access.