MADRID, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- King Saud University and Elsevier have signed an agreement to provide access to a series of scholarly journals from Saudi Arabia, improving and accelerating the dissemination of research from this increasingly important region.

Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce a journals partnership with King Saud University in Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The first eight journals in chemistry, health science, pharmacology and biological sciences are now available and additional journals will be added in the near future.

For many years, King Saud University (KSU) has published English language scholarly journals, both in print and online. Now KSU and Elsevier have formed a partnership aimed primarily at improving the accessibility and discoverability of the KSU journals. The online version of the journals will be accessible through ScienceDirect whilst print issues will be distributed by KSU in the Gulf region.

We are very happy to be working with one of the most prestigious universities in the region, explained Bernard Aleva, Senior Vice President Innovation Product Development at Elsevier Science Technology Journals. And that we can aid KSU in disseminating its journals, he added. According to Stephen Troth, Executive Vice President, International Business Development for Elsevier Health Sciences, The breadth of these journals reaches across our company from fundamental research to clinical medicine.

It is part of our strategic plan to be working with the world's largest science, technology and medical publisher, said Professor Khaled El-Rasheid, Director of Distinguished Scientist Fellowship Program (DSFP) of KSU. This will tremendously increase the journals' visibility and potential in reaching wider groups of users within the scientific community, he remarked.

About King Saud University

King Saud University is Saudi Arabia's oldest and most prestigious multidisciplinary university, located in the country's capital, Riyadh. The university was founded by King Saud in 1957, and it was renamed King Saud University in 1982. It was created to meet the higher education and professional growing needs of Saudi Arabia. Today the university has over 70,000 students.

The University aspires to meet the educational and development needs of society by providing high-quality academic programs, pioneering innovative research and creative articulation, and through the active involvement in the community for a prosperous cultural and economic development of the country. To learn more about KSU visit: http://www.ksu.edu.sa

About ScienceDirect

Over a quarter of the world's full text scientific, technical and medical (STM) peer-reviewed articles - managed by renowned editors, written by respected authors and read by researchers from around the globe - are available in one place: ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/).

Elsevier's extensive and unique full-text collection covers authoritative titles from the core scientific literature including high impact factor titles such as The Lancet, Cell and Tetrahedron. Over nine million articles are available online, including Articles in Press which offer online access to recently accepted manuscripts. The critical mass of trusted information available on ScienceDirect is unsurpassed. Coverage includes over 2,500 journals published by Elsevier and dynamic linking to journals from approximately 2,000 STM publishers through CrossRef. An expanding program of online major reference works, handbooks, book series and over 4,400 eBooks in all fields of science seamlessly interlinks with primary research referenced in journal articles.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com) and Cell (http://www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (http://www.scopus.com), Reaxys (http://www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult (http://www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (http://www.scival.com) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (http://www.medai.com), which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier ( http://www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (http://www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media Contact Monique Lamine +31-20-485-2449 m.lamine@elsevier.com Haifa Mughrabi +962-6533-3321 m.mughrabi@elsevier.com

SOURCE: Elsevier

CONTACT: Media Contact: Monique Lamine, +31-20-485-2449,m.lamine@elsevier.com . Haifa Mughrabi, +962-6533-3321,m.mughrabi@elsevier.com .