Philippe Terheggen, director of Elsevier, a prestigious publisher of scientific and medical journals, made a visit to Peking University on October 21, 2015 to discuss the future cooperation between Elsevier and Peking University. In the Linhuxuan Building near Weiming Lake, those present in the meeting included Professor Wang Jie, vice principal of Peking University, and Xiao Long, vice director of Peking University Library, and other members from the university’s administrative office.
Professor Wang began with a remark on Peking University’s efforts in the recent years to foster creation of new knowledge by encouraging more researches, while perfecting its mission to teach pre-existing knowledge to the students. Cooperation with other institutions is crucial to create such an environment, he said. Mr. Terheggen greeted this remark by pointing out Elsevier’s long history of success in helping scholars and universities effectively spread their knowledge, at the same time acquiring capability of access and gaining insights from its large database. Meanwhile, he stressed that the publisher’s focus is on the impact of the research, not its volume. He stated that “About 27.9% out of our total publications each year are breakthrough research articles … the authors have decided (for us that) we are the largest publisher” to add support. When it comes to Elsevier’s relationship with Peking Univeristy, Mr. Terheggen and Professor Wang agreed that both institutions should put more focus on the articles’ usage and impact, mainly reflected by the their citations.
During his presentation, Mr. Terheggen emphasized Elsevier’s substantial database and innovative approach to visualizing it, including data mapping, 3D models, and other effective tools to make the data more accessible to the readers. He further hinted at the publisher’s vision to promote transparent data sharing in and out of Elsevier, providing publishing support, brain migration, data structuring, data analysis, and data visualization. Mr. Terheggen stated that there has been great increase in the number of international co-authored researches, reaching 29% of the total. Some of the most significant researches have come from international collaborations and it is beneficial to both parties, said Terheggen.
As a response to Mr. Terheggen, Xiao Long of Peking University Library emphasized the library’s leading position in China’s academic library consortium, and the library’s plan to establish Peking University Library Research Center. In order to do so, it is critical to develop an effective system for long-term preservation of digital publication resources and training of librarians and researchers. “It has been nearly 120 years since the university was established, and Peking University has been striving to make progress and look into the future”, she said. Mr. Terheggen acknowledged her by stating Elsevier’s own effort on eternal data preservation, and convinced that its partnership with Peking University Library will surely help develop an effective system for the research center.
On an ending remark, Professor Wang addressed that the recent surge of Chinese scholars publishing in English and collaborating with foreign scholars will have a positive impact for Peking University and the entire academia. He suggested further cooperation between the two institutions in scientific research, data sharing, and development of the research center.
The future of academia lies in data preservation and data transmission, thus it is practical for universities and publishers to build partnerships. Elsevier has transformed itself into a world-leading provider of information solution over the years. Instead of simply limiting itself to publishing journals, it seems to have developed means to create further value out of its substantial database. Elsevier’s partnership with Peking University will be conducive for the progress of both institutions.
Written by: Sung Hoon Lee
