Mar 14, 2023 |8 Mins Read

Open Access is a popular topic in the world of academia and research. Open Access is a movement that seeks to make academic and scientific research available to everyone, free of charge. Due to the movement gaining momentum in recent years, there has been an observed increase in open access library databases. While open access benefits users and readers, let’s take a dive into how this revolutionary publishing route can also benefit researchers and authors. Benefits of Open Access Publishing Increased collaboration among researchers This provides researchers globally with access to the latest information. Which further aids in collaboration on projects without having to pay expensive subscription fees or purchase textbooks. When paywalls and other restrictions are absent, this also allows for interdisciplinary research to grow and disseminate, helping researchers broaden their network and explore emerging and established disciplines alike. Interdisciplinary study allows for ideas and characteristics from many disciplines to be synthesised. Simultaneously, it addresses a researcher’s individual differences and helps to develop important, transferable skills. Removes barriers to promote inclusivity Open Access is also helping bridge the gap of inequality in access to research, allowing everyone equal access to scientific literature. This highlights the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) publishers compact, wherein UN signatories work towards the 10 commitments to publish knowledge and research in a way which benefits their focused SDG. Inclusivity in academic research is essential for the advancement of knowledge and lifelong learning. It ensures that all voices are heard and respected, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or any other factor. By including diverse perspectives in research, we can gain a better understanding of the world around us and create more meaningful solutions to global problems. Inclusivity in academia also aids in ensuring research is conducted ethically and with respect for all participants. It encourages researchers to consider the impact of their work on different communities and take into account any potential biases they may have when conducting their studies. Increased Citations and Overall Usage A recent study has depicted that research published in open access journals and databases gains 18% more citations than restricted research. This promotes the dissemination of an author's work at a faster pace. An increase in citations and downloads drives more traffic to academic research, indicating an improved impact factor for the research. Citations and downloads are important measures of the impact of a research paper. When research is cited by other researchers, it depicts that it is relevant to the research community. Similarly, when research papers are downloaded more frequently, it indicates that this specific research is attracting the attention of the readers. This recognition and visibility can help researchers further establish themselves as experts in their respective field. Furthermore, when research papers are widely cited and downloaded, it increases the chances of securing funding for future research. Funding institutions, bodies and organizations often observe citations and download statistics to evaluate the impact of academic research. Compliance with Open Access Mandate An open-access mandate is a policy implemented by a research institution which requires the researcher to make their published, peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers open access by self-archiving their final, peer-reviewed drafts in a freely accessible institutional or disciplinary repository. An alternative route would be by publishing them in an open-access journal. Adhering to open access mandates can help researchers to further comply with funders or institutional requirements for reporting and sharing research outputs. Many funding agencies and institutions require researchers to report on the outputs of their work, including publications, data, and software. This ensures that academic research published in open access contributes to a wide research community. Furthermore, compliance with open access mandates can increase the visibility and impact of research. As discussed, a wider reach equates to a higher number of citations and downloads of academic research. In conclusion, open access publishing is revolutionising the academic publishing spectrum. With a wider reach and an increase in the adoption of open access publishing; it can be deduced that both reader and researcher benefit from open access publishing. Researchers are increasingly opting to publish their work via open access pathways due to increased visibility, reaching a wider audience which translates to a higher number of citations. Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy Open. Access unlimited research across an array of disciplines and languages while enjoying a smooth research process with comprehensive filters now on Zendy.

Mar 14, 2023 |4 Mins Read

UAE-based startup Zendy (a product of Knowledge E) recently showcased at STEP Conference Dubai, the region's leading technology festival for emerging markets. Renowned for empowering diversity and innovation, STEP boasts a cutting-edge atmosphere, fueled by trailblazing MENA-based startups. The STEP conference is an annual event that brings entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts together to showcase their technology-driven startups At STEP 2023, startups across digital, sustainability, education, and fintech industries showcased their technology. With a key focus on making academic content more accessible and affordable, especially in emerging regions, Zendy showcased the limitless potential of its digital academic research library to hundreds of founders, funders, and technology enthusiasts. Artificial intelligence was a key trend at STEP Conference 2023. With more companies adopting AI to create user-friendly and highly persoanlised experiences, it is evident that the market is pivoting. Zendy’s vision of being like ‘Netflix for researchers’ will come to life with a host of new feature updates to be launched in the coming quarters. Powered by AI and machine learning algorithms, Zendy will soon deliver a truly personalised experience to users. Collaborative filtering and content-based filtering will ensure researchers receive recommendations and highly targeted search results based on their profile, helping them save time in the research process. “One of the many benefits of building a technology company in MENA is the immense energy, support, and talent that exists in the region. There really is an ecosystem of breakthrough innovation that is inspiring. STEP Conference never disappoints in bringing together the best of the region and it was great for Zendy to have its first showcase - especially in a year largely dedicated to advancements in AI,” said CEO of Knowledge E and Zendy Co-Founder, Kamran Kardan. Zendy’s digital research library will continue to enhance its experience with features and content that not only is inclusive of all demographics but also streamlines the process of research. Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy now.

Mar 7, 2023 |8 Mins Read

Understanding H-Index The H-index is a metric that measures an author’s productivity by the number of publications that have published their work and the impact of the work based on the number of citations their research receives. In general, authors with a higher h-index score will have produced more research and therefore published more content which, to their peers, creates their reputation of credibility. This quantitative metric was brought about in 2005 by Argentinian-American professor of physics Jorge E. Hirsch to analyse publication data. Finding an author’s H-index There are multiple platforms on which you may find an author’s H-index score. To name a few, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of science etc. However, in this blog, we’ll take you through the process of locating an author’s H-index on google scholar as shown below. Visit Google Scholar Enter the author’s name in the search bar If a profile exists for the author, it will appear at the top of the search results, click the author's name, and their profile page will open. View their h-index on the right side of the screen. Calculating H-Index Score The H-index measures the importance, significance, and impact of research contributions. To calculate an author’s H-index, you’d need to create a list of all publications in which the author has been published and rank them in descending order of the citations his/her work has received. Understanding the H-index of an author is an indication of their credibility, so that brings us to the question: What is a good H-index score? J. E. Hirsch (2005) observes that Noble Prize winners in physics have an average H-index score of 30, this highlights that Noble prize winners are selected with a scientific body of research and a history of contributional impact. This proved that successful scientists do need a good h-index score. Hirsch stated that after 20 years of research; an H-index score of 20 was good, 40 was outstanding and 60 was truly exceptional. Does the H-index score evaluate an author in all important aspects? Undoubtedly, it is appealing to have a singular value that measures an author's productivity and impact. Many committees have opted the H-index as their metric of choice as well. Bordons and Costas (2007) stated that the key advantage of the H-index metric is that it measures the scientific output of a researcher with objectivity. This plays a vital role in making decisions about promotions, fund allocation and awarding prizes. However, there are suggestions that H-index does not take other important variables into account. According to Enago Academy (2022), a higher H-index score does not indicate better quality of research. The article further elaborates that the H-index score does not account for an author’s career stage, research and journal quality and contribution to the scientific community. The score also has potential unintended negative impacts; for example, a younger researcher may not challenge a researcher with a high h-index score and researchers aiming for a higher h-index may only pursue popular fields of science. Furthermore, BiteSizeBio (2021) states that the H-index score does not take into account the number of authors on a research paper. If a paper has 1 author with about 100 citations, this researcher deserves more recognition than a paper that had 10 authors with similar citations. The fluctuation of the H-index score The H-index score does not decrease unless the paper is redacted or deleted. Older papers may continue to gain new citations, and the h-index can potentially increase indefinitely, even after the researcher has stopped actively publishing. What is the difference between H-index and the journal impact factor? The Journal Impact Factor metric is used to evaluate the importance of a journal within its respective field or discipline. In simpler terms, it measures the frequency of citations the average article within this journal receives. On the contrary, the H-index metric is used to measure the productivity and quality of an author’s publications. While they are both measures of research quality, they measure different aspects of research and can therefore not be compared. To conclude, having a good H-index score is impressive. However, every author’s research contrasts with that of another. There are many more aspects to investigate when evaluating a researcher. Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy.

Feb 27, 2023 |5 Mins Read

At Zendy, we aspire to make access and discovery of academic research more seamless. We’re excited to announce a suite of new features to the platform: reading lists, read history, and favourites. The process of academic research is often a complex cycle involving large volumes of reading, interpretation, re-reading, and then ultimately shaping a hypothesis. To simplify the cycle of reading and saving academic research, we've developed reading lists and a read history function to help students, researchers, and professionals organise research by project. You can also favourite key articles you want to read later while you search through journals and proceedings. Create personalized reading lists This reading list can be customized entirely by you! You get to arrange your articles, e-books, journals, and so much more, however you may like. You no longer have to search again for what you need; you can pick up right where you left off. Create your reading list tailored to your preferences. Access your read history Read something 2 weeks ago and didn’t add it to your reading list? We’ve got you covered because you can now access your read history! Your read history collates every piece of academic research that you have accessed on Zendy. Favourite research articles while you search Have you ever wanted to create a wish list but for research you come across? You can now do that with our latest favourites feature. You can essentially add articles to read either later or come back to. Quickly find all your favorite research and save time scrolling. As signatories to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) compact, this feature, along with a host of new platform enhancements, is aimed at simplifying the process of research. We've developed our online research library to promote greater inclusivity in the academic spectrum, with over 45 languages and millions of articles from researchers around the world. Explore our range of new tools and academic resources that are in line with our commitment to SDG-4, which is quality education. Use our reading list feature and discover new research now on Zendy.

Feb 21, 2023 |10 Mins Read

Open access gives the public unrestricted online access to academic content found in scholarly publications. Over a third of all research articles are now published in Open Access (STM Association 2021). The increased adoption of Open Access in research fields comes as no surprise. Open Access creates value by streamlining the process of publishing for authors and enhancing readership by making more quality academic content available for free. Open access publishing drives a wider conversation with scholars, policy makers, practitioners, clinicians, and the public to be able to read and circulate research. This dissemination of research can potentially improve current methods of practices and policies across a variety of fields and disciplines. The surge in Open Access publishing and usage has created a movement with ardent support from social impact groups who are campaigning for open access to help bridge the gap of inequality that exists in academic publishing. Open access allows for greater inclusivity in scholarly communities. Open Access research means more people can make evidence-based decisions and continue learning with our barriers throughout their life. Learning should not stop when you finish school or complete your degree. Benefits of Open Access Increased readership: The ease of Open Access publishing means more people around the world can read the latest research for free. This helps build knowledge communities globally and supports lifelong learning. Opportunity for citations: citations act as a roadmap in research. The more citations an article gets, the greater the chance for future research. Since Open Access is free and available globally, more people can cite the research Transparency: Integrity is strengthened by the free availability of research. Especially if access is openly granted to this data. Thereby making said research more transparent. If you’re a student, researcher, or professional, you can join the Open Access movement and access millions of journals, proceedings, articles, and more for free now. Here are 10 of the most popular Open Access library databases: Zendy Open Zendy is an online library that provides open access research worldwide. With over 43 million articles, journals, and e-books, Zendy is a publishing platform that offers a diverse selection of research across all major disciplines. From science to mathematics, technology, humanities, biology, physics, and more. What makes Zendy unique is that we help you make research easy. You can save lists based on your projects, favorite articles you want to read later, and even access your full reading history. Research4Life Research4Life equips institutions in low and middle-income countries with online access to academic peer-reviewed resources. This open access library specialises in teaching, research, and policymaking in health, agriculture, environment, and physical and social sciences. DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals DOAJ was launched in 2003 and started with 300 open access journals and has now grown to 18,000 journals. This publisher offers community-curated lists of open access material and holds together a variety of reputable researchers and content. Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible search engine that locates full text or metadata of scholarly literature in an array of fields and formats. Google Scholar offerspeer-reviewedonlineacademic journalsand e-books, conference papers, dissertations,abstracts,technical reports, and other scholarly literature. OAPEN OAPEN is a non-profit organization that is based in the Netherlands. This open access library is a great source for open access academic research. Creating a platform for a diverse set of fields and disseminating the research within those fields, OAPEN is a very reliable publisher of peer-reviewed books. ScienceOpen ScienceOpen functions as a research and publishing network. Offering over 74 million articles in all areas of science, all you need to do to access full-text articles is register for free. ResearchGate Established in 2008, ResearchGate is a valuable platform that allows researchers to connect, collaborate and share their research with everyone. Most researchers on the platform specialize in medicine or biology however academic content on engineering, computer science, agriculture sciences, and psychology is also abundant. OpenDOAR OpenDOAR was launched in 2005; the platform is a collaboration between Lund University and the University of Nottingham. OpenDOAR serves as a global directory of open access repositories. Social Science Research Network The social science research network houses academic sources across all scientific disciplines. Dedicated to worldwide open access dissemination of research, SSRN is a great open access platform that works across a plethora of networks and disciplines. arXiv e-Print Archive arXiv is an open access archive for over 2 million scholarly articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, electrical engineering, and economics. Publishing across these various disciplines, the network has well-rounded academic content that is posted after a series of moderation but is not peer-reviewed. It’s a transformative time for Open Access. Together with leading global publishers, Zendy is committed to empowering discussions about how Open Access content can contribute to a more equitable future. Discover millions of journals, proceedings, e-books, and more now on Zendy