AMSTERDAM, April 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- New and Forthcoming Enhancements Designed to Optimize Research Workflows

Elsevier, a leading publisher of Scientific, technical and medical (STM) information, today announced that new intuitive reference and navigational features have been added to its online STM platform, ScienceDirect. The new features, which were developed in cooperation with researchers, deliver clearer results with fewer clicks. Additionally, researcher comments and ratings from 2collab, Elsevier's free Web-based collaborative platform, will be integrated with the articles in ScienceDirect. With this upgrade researchers will experience a boost in productivity and a faster and more seamless research process.

Navigational Improvements

Researchers typically want to evaluate the relevance of an article without reading through it, and they do so by using the article abstract, figures/graphs and references. To speed up this process, ScienceDirect now offers preview tabs - on the results page or table of contents page - that facilitate one-click access to these components, without the page reloading, enabling a seamless and simple research process.

An article toolbox also improves navigation by bringing together all of the article-related functionality including "Cited By", "E-mail Article" and more, into one easy-to-find location. The toolbox will save time and help customers easily find the tools they need.

Inline reference preview

Researchers can now view reference information when their cursor moves over a reference marker in the body of an article. The information shown includes links to the referenced articles (if available). Researchers will be able to view or download the referenced paper immediately if they wish. Previously, reference information was only available at the foot of the article page.

Results filtering

A new navigation pane on the left of the screen allows researchers to search within results and refine results using four filters: "content type"; "source title", "date" and "topics". By enabling filtering users can refine their search results without having to return to the search form.

Social Media Integration for Improved Collaboration

ScienceDirect will also make it easier for researchers to share and evaluate papers with peers and colleagues by using Elsevier's online collaboration platform, 2collab (http://www.2collab.com). Subject to a phased release over the coming months, the integration of 2collab will let researchers easily share, discuss and rate article bookmarks to articles and organize articles by adding tags. The comments, ratings and tags that researchers add to articles will be included on each article page in ScienceDirect. This will allow users to post immediate feedback on articles and instantly start global discussions with their peers.

"The new features are part of our ongoing efforts to improve researcher workflows and help them to conduct their research in a faster, more productive manner," said Jay Katzen, Managing Director, Academic and Government Products, Science and Technology Division, Elsevier. "Extensive user testing showed that as research platforms become more efficient, research output is greatly increased and more breakthroughs occur."

ScienceDirect is always striving to add functionalities that help customers research more efficiently and find their desired search results faster. For more information on ScienceDirect, please visit http://www.info.sciencedirect.com.

About ScienceDirect

Over a quarter of the world's full-text scientific, technical and medical (STM) articles - managed by renowned editors, written by respected authors and read by researchers from around the globe - are available in one place: ScienceDirect.

Elsevier's extensive and unique full-text collection covers authoritative titles from the core scientific literature including high impact factor titles such as THE LANCET, Cell and Tetrahedron. Almost nine million articles are available online, including Articles in Press which offer rapid access to recently accepted manuscripts. The critical mass of information available on ScienceDirect is unsurpassed. Coverage includes over 2,500 journals published by Elsevier and dynamic linking to journals from approximately 2,000 STM publishers through CrossRef. An expanding program of online major reference works, handbooks, book series and eBooks in all fields of science seamlessly interlinks with primary research referenced in journal articles.

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 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult ( http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), 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).

Lauren Hillman +1-202-898-2000, ext. 117 lauren.hillman@fusionpr.com

Lauren Hillman, +1-202-898-2000, ext. 117, lauren.hillman@fusionpr.com