Beta-release of Zendy offering academics free and easy access to over 100 million publications
Oct 11, 2018 |
5 Mins ReadFrankfurt Book Fair – FRANKFURT, Germany, 11th October 2018 – Zendy has been created with the aim to radically facilitate access to academic literature; it sees the light today in the form of a beta release. Zendy has been developed by Knowledge E in a growing collaboration with academic researchers, students, institutions and publishers.
“By addressing the key challenges that we face through traditional ways of accessing academic literature, Zendy serves to provide peace of mind, a zen day, for all researchers and students”, says Kamran Kardan, CEO at Knowledge E.
Many academics feel the opposite of zen on most days – overwhelmed by the sheer availability of knowledge hidden in not-so-easily-accessible nooks and crannies of the vast body of academic publishing output, unable to retrieve just that one piece of available quality research that solves a problem, enables a discovery, enlightens a hungry mind, broadens horizons, opens new doors and – a bit further down the line – changes the world for the better. Pitfalls are plenty, many of which revolve around discoverability, reliability and trustworthiness of sources.
Martin Jagerhorn, Chief Innovation Officer at Knowledge E, outlines the objectives of Zendy in more detail. “We have set out to ensure that Zendy provides an outstanding user experience. Typically, there is a complex path towards the full text – going across different sites and several clicks before you can finally download the full-text article. Our ambition is to ensure that the full-text material can be accessed directly for all articles on Zendy. Currently, we have only achieved this for a small fraction of the publication records.”
Dr. Tanguy Pierog, who is a Particle Physics Researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and a part of the beta users providing input to the development process, explains that: “You feel that this new service has been designed in close collaboration with the research community. Zendy is already incredibly intuitive and easy to use, and will save us valuable time for accessing relevant literature and let us focus more on the actual research.”
Furthermore, the content will be reviewed based on a set of quality criteria to ensure that it is reliable and of high quality, in particular, making sure that there will be no content from any predatory publishers. This is a major undertaking, which will take time before it becomes available on Zendy, but it will be crucial for researchers and students to fully trust the content and be able to progress their work more effectively.
The third pillar of Zendy, next to an outstanding user experience and high-quality content, is to offer an affordable access to paid content. While the Open Access material will stay free for everyone on Zendy, the ambition is to enable anyone to access paid content for a modest subscription fee through Zendy Premium. Martin adds: “We invite all publishers to join the collaboration to support the vision for Zendy as we believe this will be important to academics globally, but particularly in developing countries, where universities commonly cannot afford to subscribe to many of the key databases required for quality research and studies. Zendy will in this way facilitate the democratization of access to knowledge, which we know is key to learning”.
Even without the paid content, Zendy realizes the dormant power in openly accessible research that might not quite have made its way to end users in all its vastness until now. Already containing more than 100 million publications from over 20,000 peer-reviewed journals, Zendy channels this impressive quantity of data to anyone and anywhere, and to be consumed online or be downloaded.
About Knowledge E
Established in 2012, Knowledge E’s name was fast to become synonymous with collaboration, professionalism and innovation. Head-quartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and supported by a team of 30 highly engaged professionals, Knowledge E works passionately with all types of organisations and government entities within the research and education sector to support their continued innovation and development by providing them with leading expertise, information resources and software solutions. Knowledge E’s three core offerings are the 3D’s; ‘Discover’, ‘Develop’ and ‘Disseminate’. ‘Discover’ through the KnE Digital Library Solutions for research literature discovery, ‘Develop’ through the KnE Learning Services, supporting capacity building and skills development within academia and ‘Disseminate’ through the KnE Publishing Services and the platform for Open Access publishing and indexing of regional journals and conference proceedings. www.knowledgee.com
Zendy at Charleston Conference Asia 2026: Supporting Research Access in Emerging Communities
In January 2026, Zendy will be heading to Charleston Conference Asia, taking place in Bangkok, Thailand. This marks the first-ever Asia edition of the Charleston Conference, an event long known for bringing librarians, publishers, and information professionals together for practical, honest conversations about scholarly communication. The Asia edition builds on that same spirit, while focusing on the realities, challenges, and opportunities shaping research access across the region. A space for real conversations about access and equity Charleston Conference Asia brings together voices from across libraries, publishing, and research support to explore how knowledge is discovered, accessed, and shared, particularly in emerging and underrepresented research communities. For Zendy, this aligns closely with our mission: supporting more equitable access to trusted scholarly content, while giving institutions practical tools that reflect how research is actually done today. Zendy session spotlight We’re proud to have Sara Crowley Vigneau, our Partnership Relations Manager, speaking at the conference on January 28 at 11:45 AM. Her session, “Empowering Early-Career Researchers in Emerging Research Communities,” explores inclusive models for improving access to research, looking beyond theory to what works in practice for institutions, libraries, and early-career scholars. Sara will be joined by a strong panel of speakers bringing perspectives from publishing and academic libraries: Alexandra Campbell, Senior Editor, Springer Nature Christopher Chan, University Librarian, Hong Kong Baptist University Mayasari Abdul Majid, Library Director, LSL Education Group Sdn. Bhd. Together, the session will examine how libraries, publishers, and platforms can better support researchers working within diverse institutional and regional contexts. Why this matters for libraries and institutions Early-career researchers often face barriers that go beyond funding or publishing, from limited access to content, to fragmented discovery tools, to language and regional constraints. Events like Charleston Conference Asia create space to address these challenges openly and collaboratively. Zendy’s participation reflects our ongoing focus on: Expanding access to trusted academic content Supporting libraries with flexible, cost-aware models Providing AI-assisted research tools built with transparency and integrity in mind Let’s connect in Bangkok If you’re attending Charleston Conference Asia 2026, we’d love to connect. Whether you’re a librarian, publisher, or research leader, this is a great opportunity to exchange ideas and explore how access, discovery, and responsible AI can better support research communities across Asia and beyond. To schedule a meeting with our team, please email us at info@zendy.io For full event details, visit Charleston Conference Asia. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 65% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
What’s New in ZAIA: Our Biggest Update Yet
We’ve rolled out one of the biggest updates to Zendy AI Assistant, ZAIA. These improvements focus on making research faster, more intuitive, and far more reliable. Here’s what’s new. Inline References You Can Trust You no longer have to scroll, copy, or cross-check to figure out where an insight came from.ZAIA now adds references directly inside its responses. If ZAIA summarises a study, explains a concept, or pulls a fact from a paper, the source appears right there in the answer, clear, traceable, and easy to verify. It feels more like reading a well-cited academic explanation than an AI output. Ask in Any Language, Get Answers in the Same Language Whether you’re researching in Arabic, Spanish, French, or Swahili, ZAIA now responds in the language you use, automatically. There’s no need to switch tools, tweak settings, or use separate translators. Just ask your question in your preferred language, and ZAIA replies in the same one.It’s a smoother experience for multilingual classrooms, international research teams, and anyone working beyond English. Search Smarter with the SOLR Agent Sometimes you know the exact paper you need, you just don’t have the title, DOI, or permalink memorised.Now you don’t have to. ZAIA’s new SOLR Agent can search using: DOI Paper title A Zendy permalink Just drop in any of these, and ZAIA fetches the correct paper instantly. It’s especially useful when you’re deep in a literature review and need to track down sources without losing your rhythm. How does it work? SOLR is the search engine behind ZAIA’s paper search.It helps ZAIA find the exact research paper you’re looking for using clear identifiers like a DOI, paper title, or Zendy link. Instead of guessing keywords or scanning long result lists, SOLR matches your input directly to the right paper, fast and accurately. ZAIA Can Now Help With Your Zendy Account You can now ask ZAIA about your subscription, billing questions, or common FAQs directly inside the platform. No switching tabs.No waiting for replies.No digging through help pages. ZAIA now serves as a support companion as well as a research assistant, especially helpful when you want quick answers in the middle of studying or writing. A Clearer, More Transparent UI One of the most noticeable upgrades is the updated interface.You’ll now see clearer “thinking” steps that show how ZAIA processes your request. It’s more transparent, easier to follow, and gives you a better sense of how ZAIA arrives at each answer, something many researchers have been asking for. Why These Updates Matter Every improvement in this update has one goal: to make research smoother and more trustworthy.Whether you're analysing papers, fact-checking a claim, working across languages, or sorting out your subscription, ZAIA is now better at supporting the full research journey. And we’re not done.This update is part of a larger shift toward a more personal and adaptive ZAIA, one that learns from how each researcher works. For now, we hope these updates make your experience on Zendy faster, clearer, and more enjoyable. If you’d like to see these features in action, just open ZAIA, Zendy AI Assistant, and try them out. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
Zendy and Casalini Libri Partner to Expand Access to European Humanities and AI Research Tools
Oxford, UK – Dec, 2025 – Zendy, the AI-powered research library, and Casalini Libri, one of the leading providers of European scholarly content and library services, have signed a partnership agreement to expand access to high-quality academic research in the humanities and social sciences. This strategic collaboration will make Casalini Libri’s extensive collection of European scholarly publications, including academic journals, monographs, and specialist research outputs, available on Zendy’s platform. The content will be discoverable through ZAIA, Zendy’s AI research assistant, helping librarians, researchers, students, and academic institutions worldwide find and engage with relevant European scholarship more efficiently. With over 800,000 users across 191 countries and territories, Zendy continues to grow as a trusted destination for discovering academic knowledge. By integrating Casalini Libri’s content, Zendy strengthens its mission to improve access to regionally significant scholarship and ensure that important European research is more visible, searchable, and widely used. Casalini Libri is internationally recognised for its deep expertise in European humanities and social sciences, with a particular focus on Southern Europe and broader continental scholarship. Through this partnership, these resources will reach a wider global audience, helping address long-standing discoverability challenges faced by non-English academic content. The collaboration also reflects Zendy’s commitment to linguistic and regional diversity in research. In a scholarly ecosystem where English-language publications dominate, increasing access to European research traditions is essential for a more balanced and representative academic landscape. Zendy users will now be able to explore Casalini Libri’s content seamlessly on the platform, supporting teaching, research, and interdisciplinary work rooted in European intellectual traditions. Together, Zendy and Casalini Libri aim to increase the global reach and impact of European scholarship. For more information, please contact:Lisette van KesselHead of MarketingEmail: l.vankessel@knowledgee.com About Zendy Zendy is an AI-powered, mission-driven, trustworthy research library dedicated to increasing the accessibility and discoverability of scholarly literature, particularly in the global south and underserved regions. The platform currently serves over 800,000 users across 200+ countries and territories, offering a comprehensive collection of academic journals, books, and reports to empower researchers, educators, and students. Zendy also provides AI tools, including its research assistant ZAIA, to help users read, analyse, and summarise academic content more efficiently. Website: https://zendy.io About Casalini Libri Casalini Libri is a leading supplier of European scholarly publications and library services, specialising in humanities and social sciences research. For decades, Casalini Libri has worked closely with publishers, libraries, and research institutions to curate, distribute, and preserve high-quality academic content, supporting the global exchange of European scholarship. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
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