Research journals and databases have been around for quite some time, and have aided people in academia to further their knowledge in their field of study as well as to give authors an opportunity to publish their work for others to read. Therefore it is no wonder that databases giving access to such information only keep growing in numbers.
A new one to reach our region is QScience. QScience.com is the collaborative and advanced online publishing platform from Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ). It offers a fast and clear Open Access scholarly publishing process, which is centered on the author, bringing their research to a global audience.
QScience Connect is a new kind of peer-reviewed, open access journal which publishes research in all fields of study which meets a simple criteria request that the workd be: ethical, valid and correct. According to the QScience team, “no emphasis is placed on the perceived interest of the article, or the magnitude of the advance being described”. Meaning, the readers that log onto the website and view these articles, are given access to contribute to the evaluation process by reading and citing the article. The number of time that certain articles are accessed or viewed, as well as the number of times it is referenced in other academic journals is calculated as part of the evaluation process.
Writing is not the only thing that is encouraged by QScience, authors are also encouraged to submit articles that come in video or audio format. Meaning, if you are not the best of authors, but can pass your message eloquently audibly, then you have an opportunity to participate. These submissions will be reviewed and, as with regular manuscript submissions, they will be published if they are found to describe novel and valid research.
Alongside these articles, QScience.com has also introduced an online commenting facility, linked to the readers’ social media accounts, which allows for direct communication on the article with the author and other readers. All access to their services have been facilitated also by allowing browsing of their content as well as constant notifications for handsets such as Blackberry, iPhone and Android.
With all of their content being available for free and accessible to the general public, QScience’s is allowing cutting edge research to be available for both, academic as well as the general public. QScience.com already hosts eight scholarly journals covering diverse subject areas such as information & library studies, sustainable energy, education, medicine and bioscience, Middle Eastern healthcare, law, design and Islamic studies. The best part is that come 2012, many more other journals are scheduled to be available upon the New Year.
– Ghadeer Al-Otaibi
Images: qscience.com
