Research4Life Partners and the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine work to ensure continued access to information resources
In response to the crisis in Ukraine, the Research4Life publisher partners have agreed to waive payment from institutions in the Ukraine for 2022, and full access will be available for the coming calendar year, and have taken steps to expand access to information resources for Ukraine institutions. We are now pleased to share a letter we received from the Minister of Education and Science, Serhiy Shkarlet: we hope that these decisions help in some small way during the situation that faces Ukraine, and our thoughts are with them in these difficult times. You can also see the original letter here.
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To Andrea Powell
Outreach Director and Publisher Coordinator, Research4Life
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep and sincere respect to you. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is grateful for the support provided for Ukrainian scientists through the Research4Life project by the Research4Life Partner Publishers and the Research4Life team.
During the war access to the resources of scientific information is especially important for Ukrainian researchers to continue their scientific activity.
The decision made by the Research4Life Partner Publishers to provide Ukrainian scientists with free access to their electronic resources of scientific information (journals, books, databases) through the Research4Life platform till the end of 2022, which was announced in March of this year, became a significant support for Ukrainian science. It helps scientists to be effective in the current difficult conditions.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine together with the State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine informed Ukrainian higher education institutions, research institutions and other organizations about the possibility to get and use access to electronic resources on the Research4Life platform.
Thanks to the support of the Research4Life team, which provides rapid processing of applications from Ukraine, hundreds of Ukrainian institutions have got access to the Research4Life platform over the past three months and have been able to set up such access for their researchers.
Unfortunately, the full-scale war started against Ukraine by the Russian Federation with the support of the Republic of Belarus, is still ongoing and remains a serious obstacle to the normal development of education and science in Ukraine.
Many Ukrainian educational and research institutions have been destroyed. Thousands of education professionals and researchers have been forced to relocate from areas of active hostilities to save themselves and their families.
The war is causing huge economic losses for Ukraine (according to World Bank forecasts, Ukraine’s economy is expected to shrink to 45 percent this year). Ukraine’s struggle against Russian military aggression requires enormous financial resources. The Ukrainian government is redirecting funds to the needs of security and defense sector, which were previously planned to be allocated to other areas, including education and science.
The recovery of Ukraine from the war will also require a lot of time and significant financial and economic resources. At the same time, the preservation of Ukraine’s scientific and technical potential and the support of Ukrainian science are especially important for such a recovery.
That is why we will be grateful if the Research4Life Partner Publishers keep for Ukrainian scientists access to the electronic resources of scientific information provided on the Research4Life platform during 2023. This will significantly support Ukrainian science in the difficult conditions caused by the war and will help in the recovery of Ukraine.
Yours sincerely,
Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine
Serhiy SHKARLET
