Universities purchase Elsevier's SciVal Spotlight tool to enhance research strategies

Dec 9 2009

Multiple Leading Institutions Purchase New Strategic Decision-Support Tool

Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced that several universities have purchased its new SciVal Spotlight tool. The institutions, including National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan), St. Petersburg University (Russia), University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and the University of Vigo (Spain), will use the tool to analyze current output in order to enhance their near and long term research strategies.

SciVal Spotlight is a customizable web-based tool that offers institutions a multidisciplinary perspective of research performance. Using an innovative visualization technique, the tool produces customized maps that provide graphical views of an institution's research output over time and across scientific fields, focusing on specific topical areas.

"We've selected SciVal Spotlight to help us understand our competitive strengths as well as assist us in making the best possible investments for our university," said Chain-Shu Hsu, Vice President of National Chiao Tung University. "We are excited about the tailored insight the tool can offer and its ability to give us a better understanding of our position in the global research landscape."

"By pinpointing a university's topical strengths and identifying leading researchers and institutions in each area, SciVal Spotlight is designed to help academic decision-makers optimize funding allocations and enhance hiring and collaboration decisions," said Helen de Mooij, Academic & Government Products Group, Elsevier. "We are pleased at the interest we are seeing in the market as universities recognize the value the tool can offer in evaluating, establishing and executing research strategies."