Qatar National Library announced the launch of the Qatar Research Platform “Lighthouse”It is an open platform for academic research established in Qatar with the aim of collecting, preserving and facilitating access to it.
The platform aims to enhance the participation of Qatari research in all disciplines, and expand its impact and spread globally. Qatar National Library stated, in a statement today, that it will undertake the management of the Manara platform (which is co-financed by the Qatar National Research Fund, as the launch of the platform is in line with the library’s mission, which is to create a reliable information environment that is easy to benefit from, ensure its sustainability, and present it in an environment Technologically and culturally advanced, as well as through the development of innovative programs and services.
The platform supports traditional research outputs in both Arabic and English, such as articles, conference reports, and studies, as well as non-traditional outputs such as databases, computer programs, multimedia, research posters, and presentations. On the occasion of the launch of the platform “Lighthouse”Ms. Hosem Tan, Executive Director of Qatar National Library, said: “It enriches the country research platform “Lighthouse” Research infrastructure in the country by supporting researchers to achieve a wider spread of their work, which would enhance its impact and global availability, adding “We seek to be a reliable and sustainable joint service beacon platform that follows best practices for managing research outputs and preserving them for future generations in Qatar”.
Open access is one of the core values of the National Library. Therefore, the library has been making every effort to improve and support Open Access for Research in Qatar internationally for many years.
In this context, the Open Access Support Program comes, one of the library’s main initiatives, which aims to facilitate the process of publishing research and reusing research outputs published under the Open Access system. The program also supports researchers by covering the costs of publishing research papers. Since its launch in 2017, the library’s OA Support Program has supported 1,500 researchers from 33 Qatari institutions, who have published more than 3,300 OA research papers.
All research papers published through the library’s open access support program will be stored on a platform “Lighthouse” With the aim of expanding the scope of service to include all research outputs under the open access system in Qatar. It is a platform “Lighthouse” One of the fruits of cooperation between Qatar National Library and the Qatar National Research Fund, as the two institutions cooperate on a larger scale in research data management and preservation projects. The Manara platform was designed and developed in partnership between the two institutions.
The platform is distinguished by supporting the archiving and publishing of research data in line with the requirements and standards of open access publishing according to international research funding agencies and publishers.
