AMSTERDAM, June 13, 2012  -- Elsevier has added a new enhancement to SciVal Strata, a web-based performance evaluation tool that allows users to conduct highly customized performance assessments of research teams and individual researchers. The new functionality provides the capacity for objective assessment of a specific selection of a researcher's work in addition to their complete publication output. This option is critical when selecting the most impactful papers to be submitted for various government or institutional assessments. In addition the enhanced functionality will prove useful to individuals applying for grants and showing funders the impact of the research they supported. 

SciVal Strata is a flexible benchmarking tool providing multi-tier analysis of team and researcher performance such as productivity, citation history, and collaboration activity. The added functionality was developed in global collaboration with users and with Elsevier's online community of research administrators.

The new functionality to SciVal Strata will help administrators and researchers:

- Apply for funding by demonstrating the value of research carried out to the supporting funding source. - Secure tenure in the U.S. through the evaluation of four hand-selected papers. - Submit four papers per researcher for the UKs Research Excellence Framework national assessment exercise - Assess researchers based upon a selection of their work connected to a specific institution.

"At Elsevier we are in the business of enhancing the scientific research processes," said Niels Weertman, Vice President, SciVal, at Elsevier. "Scientific research is about helping to solve some of the world's most pressing problems; our comprehensive range of resources and tools allow our customers to be more productive and increase the quality and value of their work, rather than spending time on paperwork. The new SciVal Strata functionality will help researchers and administrators fulfill requirements set by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and other national guidelines. It is part of our mission and commitment to the scientific community to support their vital work."