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See the Top 5 Reads of February 2023

February 2023 has been great for Zendy. From launching new features and creating a smooth research discoverability process to attending the annual STEP conference and utilising the opportunity to showcase our fantastic online library, it has been a whirlwind of positives! 

This curated list of February 2023 top reads is an exciting one; join us in discovering the state of refugees globally, machine-learning diagnostics, the response healthcare professionals should have upon the spread of a celebrity’s cancer journey, the financial issues among farmers in Malaysia and the history of Mathematics. 

  1. Uncovering the state of refugees around the world

This journal article explores the state of refugees on a global scale. It was recorded that by the end of 2011, 42 million refugees had been forced to evacuate their homes due to ongoing or arising conflict. Analysing and differentiating between refugee populations in rural and urban areas in cities all around the world, this article identifies that urbanization plays a role in the delayed responses to forced displacement.

Read more here: The State of the World’s Refugees

  1. Machine-learning diagnosis of EEG pathology

Dissecting the potential of machine-learning diagnosis of EEG pathology, this journal article highlights and compares hand-crafted features to learned features by creating a comprehensive feature-based framework. This article argues that machine-learning methods possess the potential to automate clinical EEG analysis, the study conducted found that the proposed feature-based decoding framework can achieve accuracies on the same level as state-of-the-art deep neural networks. 

Read more here: Machine-learning and EGG Diagnosis

  1. How should celebrity cancer journeys be perceived? 

Due to the rise of celebrity culture in the 21st century, the general population relies on celebrity cancer experiences and journeys for their personal cancer care and treatment decision-making. This journal article focuses on how the media coverage of Angelina Jolie, John McCain and Jimmy Carter’s cancer journeys had consequences on individual patients. The piece further highlights that clinicians should be comfortable in having conversations regarding celebrity medical treatments and procedures with their patients. 

Read more here: How Should Clinicians Respond When Patients Are Influenced by Celebrities’ Cancer Stories?

  1. Financial issues among farmers in Malaysia

Dated to 2015, this journal article assesses how Islamic agricultural finance can potentially play a role in Malaysian agriculture development. Given the farmers’ financial issues and the government’s efforts to resolve their agricultural sector, this study derives first-hand data from the farmers via interviews and questionnaires to identify the most suitable solution for the Malaysian agriculture sector. 

Read more here: Financial Problems among Farmers in Malaysia: Islamic Agricultural Finance as a Possible Solution

  1. An Episodic History of Mathematics

This e-book will acquaint readers with mathematical language, thought, and mathematical life by uncovering the lives of historically important mathematical figures. An Episodic History of Mathematics has engaging stories and anecdotes about Pythagoras, Galois, Cantor and Poincaré. These mathematicians were complex individuals who led colourful and fascinating lives, and brought about thought-provoking mathematics. 

Read more here: An Episodic History of Mathematics : Mathematical Culture Through Problem Solving


Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy now.

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The Growth of Open Access: Why Researchers are Opting to Publish in OA

Open Access is a popular topic in the world of academia and research. Open Access is a movement that seeks to make academic and scientific research available to everyone, free of charge. Due to the movement gaining momentum in recent years, there has been an observed increase in open access library databases. 

While open access benefits users and readers, let’s take a dive into how this revolutionary publishing route can also benefit researchers and authors.

Benefits of Open Access Publishing

  • Increased collaboration among researchers

This provides researchers globally with access to the latest information. Which further aids in collaboration on projects without having to pay expensive subscription fees or purchase textbooks. When paywalls and other restrictions are absent, this also allows for interdisciplinary research to grow and disseminate, helping researchers broaden their network and explore emerging and established disciplines alike. 

Interdisciplinary study allows for ideas and characteristics from many disciplines to be synthesised. Simultaneously, it addresses a researcher’s individual differences and helps to develop important, transferable skills.

  • Removes barriers to promote inclusivity

Open Access is also helping bridge the gap of inequality in access to research, allowing everyone equal access to scientific literature. This highlights the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) publishers compact, wherein UN signatories work towards the 10 commitments to publish knowledge and research in a way which benefits their focused SDG. 

Inclusivity in academic research is essential for the advancement of knowledge and lifelong learning. It ensures that all voices are heard and respected, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or any other factor. By including diverse perspectives in research, we can gain a better understanding of the world around us and create more meaningful solutions to global problems.

Inclusivity in academia also aids in ensuring research is conducted ethically and with respect for all participants. It encourages researchers to consider the impact of their work on different communities and take into account any potential biases they may have when conducting their studies.

  • Increased Citations and Overall Usage

A recent study has depicted that research published in open access journals and databases gains 18% more citations than restricted research. This promotes the dissemination of an author’s work at a faster pace. An increase in citations and downloads drives more traffic to academic research, indicating an improved impact factor for the research. 

Citations and downloads are important measures of the impact of a research paper. When research is cited by other researchers, it depicts that it is relevant to the research community. Similarly, when research papers are downloaded more frequently, it indicates that this specific research is attracting the attention of the readers. This recognition and visibility can help researchers further establish themselves as experts in their respective field. 

Furthermore, when research papers are widely cited and downloaded, it increases the chances of securing funding for future research. Funding institutions, bodies and organizations often observe citations and download statistics to evaluate the impact of academic research. 

  • Compliance with Open Access Mandate

An open-access mandate is a policy implemented by a research institution which requires the researcher to make their published, peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers open access by self-archiving their final, peer-reviewed drafts in a freely accessible institutional or disciplinary repository. An alternative route would be by publishing them in an open-access journal. 

Adhering to open access mandates can help researchers to further comply with funders or institutional requirements for reporting and sharing research outputs. Many funding agencies and institutions require researchers to report on the outputs of their work, including publications, data, and software. This ensures that academic research published in open access contributes to a wide research community.

Furthermore, compliance with open access mandates can increase the visibility and impact of research. As discussed, a wider reach equates to a higher number of citations and downloads of academic research. 

In conclusion, open access publishing is revolutionising the academic publishing spectrum. With a wider reach and an increase in the adoption of open access publishing; it can be deduced that both reader and researcher benefit from open access publishing. Researchers are increasingly opting to publish their work via open access pathways due to increased visibility, reaching a wider audience which translates to a higher number of citations.

Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy Open. Access unlimited research across an array of disciplines and languages while enjoying a smooth research process with comprehensive filters now on Zendy.

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Zendy Showcases Online Library at Step Conference Dubai 2023

UAE-based startup Zendy (a product of Knowledge E) recently showcased at STEP Conference Dubai, the region’s leading technology festival for emerging markets. Renowned for empowering diversity and innovation, STEP boasts a cutting-edge atmosphere, fueled by trailblazing MENA-based startups. 

The STEP conference is an annual event that brings entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts together to showcase their technology-driven startups 

At STEP 2023, startups across digital, sustainability, education, and fintech industries showcased their technology. With a key focus on making academic content more accessible and affordable, especially in emerging regions, Zendy showcased the limitless potential of its digital academic research library to hundreds of founders, funders, and technology enthusiasts. 

Artificial intelligence was a key trend at STEP Conference 2023. With more companies adopting AI to create user-friendly and highly persoanlised experiences, it is evident that the market is pivoting. 

Zendy’s vision of being like ‘Netflix for researchers’ will come to life with a host of new feature updates to be launched in the coming quarters. Powered by AI and machine learning algorithms, Zendy will soon deliver a truly personalised experience to users. 

Collaborative filtering and content-based filtering will ensure researchers receive recommendations and highly targeted search results based on their profile, helping them save time in the research process. 

“One of the many benefits of building a technology company in MENA is the immense energy, support, and talent that exists in the region. There really is an ecosystem of breakthrough innovation that is inspiring. STEP Conference never disappoints in bringing together the best of the region and it was great for Zendy to have its first showcase – especially in a year largely dedicated to advancements in AI,” said CEO of Knowledge E and Zendy Co-Founder, Kamran Kardan. 

Zendy’s digital research library will continue to enhance its experience with features and content that not only is inclusive of all demographics but also streamlines the process of research. 

Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy now.

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Let’s Analyze What Makes a Good H-Index Score

Understanding H-Index

The H-index is a metric that measures an author’s productivity by the number of publications that have published their work and the impact of the work based on the number of citations their research receives. In general, authors with a higher h-index score will have produced more research and therefore published more content which, to their peers, creates their reputation of credibility.

This quantitative metric was brought about in 2005 by Argentinian-American professor of physics Jorge E. Hirsch to analyse publication data.

Finding an author’s H-index

There are multiple platforms on which you may find an author’s H-index score. To name a few, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of science etc. However, in this blog, we’ll take you through the process of locating an author’s H-index on google scholar as shown below.

  1. Visit Google Scholar
  2. Enter the author’s name in the search bar
  3. If a profile exists for the author, it will appear at the top of the search results, click the author’s name, and their profile page will open.
  4. View their h-index on the right side of the screen.

Calculating H-Index Score

The H-index measures the importance, significance, and impact of research contributions. To calculate an author’s H-index, you’d need to create a list of all publications in which the author has been published and rank them in descending order of the citations his/her work has received. Understanding the H-index of an author is an indication of their credibility, so that brings us to the question:

What is a good H-index score?

J. E. Hirsch (2005) observes that Noble Prize winners in physics have an average H-index score of 30, this highlights that Noble prize winners are selected with a scientific body of research and a history of contributional impact. This proved that successful scientists do need a good h-index score.

Hirsch stated that after 20 years of research; an H-index score of 20 was good, 40 was outstanding and 60 was truly exceptional. 

Does the H-index score evaluate an author in all important aspects?

Undoubtedly, it is appealing to have a singular value that measures an author’s productivity and impact. Many committees have opted the H-index as their metric of choice as well. Bordons and Costas (2007) stated that the key advantage of the H-index metric is that it measures the scientific output of a researcher with objectivity. This plays a vital role in making decisions about promotions, fund allocation and awarding prizes.

However, there are suggestions that H-index does not take other important variables into account. According to Enago Academy (2022), a higher H-index score does not indicate better quality of research. The article further elaborates that the H-index score does not account for an author’s career stage, research and journal quality and contribution to the scientific community. The score also has potential unintended negative impacts; for example, a younger researcher may not challenge a researcher with a high h-index score and researchers aiming for a higher h-index may only pursue popular fields of science.

Furthermore, BiteSizeBio (2021) states that the H-index score does not take into account the number of authors on a research paper. If a paper has 1 author with about 100 citations, this researcher deserves more recognition than a paper that had 10 authors with similar citations. 

The fluctuation of the H-index score

The H-index score does not decrease unless the paper is redacted or deleted. Older papers may continue to gain new citations, and the h-index can potentially increase indefinitely, even after the researcher has stopped actively publishing. 

What is the difference between H-index and the journal impact factor?

The Journal Impact Factor metric is used to evaluate the importance of a journal within its respective field or discipline. In simpler terms, it measures the frequency of citations the average article within this journal receives. On the contrary, the H-index metric is used to measure the productivity and quality of an author’s publications. While they are both measures of research quality, they measure different aspects of research and can therefore not be compared.

To conclude, having a good H-index score is impressive. However, every author’s research contrasts with that of another. There are many more aspects to investigate when evaluating a researcher.

Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy.

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New Academic Research Feature: Optimise Your Workflow With Reading Lists!

At Zendy, we aspire to make access and discovery of academic research more seamless. We’re excited to announce a suite of new features to the platform: reading lists, read history, and favourites. 

The process of academic research is often a complex cycle involving large volumes of reading, interpretation, re-reading, and then ultimately shaping a hypothesis. To simplify the cycle of reading and saving academic research, we’ve developed reading lists and a read history function to help students, researchers, and professionals organise research by project. You can also favourite key articles you want to read later while you search through journals and proceedings.

Create personalized reading lists

This reading list can be customized entirely by you! You get to arrange your articles, e-books, journals, and so much more, however you may like. You no longer have to search again for what you need; you can pick up right where you left off. Create your reading list tailored to your preferences.

Access your read history

Read something 2 weeks ago and didn’t add it to your reading list? We’ve got you covered because you can now access your read history! Your read history collates every piece of academic research that you have accessed on Zendy.

Favourite research articles while you search

Have you ever wanted to create a wish list but for research you come across? You can now do that with our latest favourites feature. You can essentially add articles to read either later or come back to. Quickly find all your favorite research and save time scrolling.

As signatories to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) compact, this feature, along with a host of new platform enhancements, is aimed at simplifying the process of research. We’ve developed our online research library to promote greater inclusivity in the academic spectrum, with over 45 languages and millions of articles from researchers around the world. Explore our range of new tools and academic resources that are in line with our commitment to SDG-4, which is quality education. 

Use our reading list feature and discover new research now on Zendy.

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Top 10 Open Access Library Databases: Best for Academic Research

Open access gives the public unrestricted online access to academic content found in scholarly publications. Over a third of all research articles are now published in Open Access (STM Association 2021). The increased adoption of Open Access in research fields comes as no surprise. Open Access creates value by streamlining the process of publishing for authors and enhancing readership by making more quality academic content available for free.

Open access publishing drives a wider conversation with scholars, policy makers, practitioners, clinicians, and the public to be able to read and circulate research. This dissemination of research can potentially improve current methods of practices and policies across a variety of fields and disciplines.

The surge in Open Access publishing and usage has created a movement with ardent support from social impact groups who are campaigning for open access to help bridge the gap of inequality that exists in academic publishing. Open access allows for greater inclusivity in scholarly communities. Open Access research means more people can make evidence-based decisions and continue learning with our barriers throughout their life. Learning should not stop when you finish school or complete your degree.

Benefits of Open Access

  1. Increased readership: The ease of Open Access publishing means more people around the world can read the latest research for free. This helps build knowledge communities globally and supports lifelong learning.
  2. Opportunity for citations: citations act as a roadmap in research. The more citations an article gets, the greater the chance for future research. Since Open Access is free and available globally, more people can cite the research
  3. Transparency: Integrity is strengthened by the free availability of research. Especially if access is openly granted to this data. Thereby making said research more transparent.

If you’re a student, researcher, or professional, you can join the Open Access movement and access millions of journals, proceedings, articles, and more for free now. Here are 10 of the most popular Open Access library databases:

Zendy Open

Zendy is an online library that provides open access research worldwide. With over 43 million articles, journals, and e-books, Zendy is a publishing platform that offers a diverse selection of research across all major disciplines. From science to mathematics, technology, humanities, biology, physics, and more. What makes Zendy unique is that we help you make research easy. You can save lists based on your projects, favorite articles you want to read later, and even access your full reading history.

Research4Life

Research4Life equips institutions in low and middle-income countries with online access to academic peer-reviewed resources. This open access library specialises in teaching, research, and policymaking in health, agriculture, environment, and physical and social sciences.

DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals

DOAJ was launched in 2003 and started with 300 open access journals and has now grown to 18,000 journals. This publisher offers community-curated lists of open access material and holds together a variety of reputable researchers and content.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible search engine that locates full text or metadata of scholarly literature in an array of fields and formats. Google Scholar offers peer-reviewed online academic journals and e-books, conference papers, dissertations, abstracts, technical reports, and other scholarly literature.

OAPEN

OAPEN is a non-profit organization that is based in the Netherlands. This open access library is a great source for open access academic research. Creating a platform for a diverse set of fields and disseminating the research within those fields, OAPEN is a very reliable publisher of peer-reviewed books.

ScienceOpen

ScienceOpen functions as a research and publishing network. Offering over 74 million articles in all areas of science, all you need to do to access full-text articles is register for free.


ResearchGate

Established in 2008, ResearchGate is a valuable platform that allows researchers to connect, collaborate and share their research with everyone. Most researchers on the platform specialize in medicine or biology however academic content on engineering, computer science, agriculture sciences, and psychology is also abundant.

OpenDOAR

OpenDOAR was launched in 2005; the platform is a collaboration between Lund University and the University of Nottingham. OpenDOAR serves as a global directory of open access repositories.


Social Science Research Network

The social science research network houses academic sources across all scientific disciplines. Dedicated to worldwide open access dissemination of research, SSRN is a great open access platform that works across a plethora of networks and disciplines.

arXiv e-Print Archive

arXiv is an open access archive for over 2 million scholarly articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, electrical engineering, and economics. Publishing across these various disciplines, the network has well-rounded academic content that is posted after a series of moderation but is not peer-reviewed.

It’s a transformative time for Open Access. Together with leading global publishers, Zendy is committed to empowering discussions about how Open Access content can contribute to a more equitable future.

Discover millions of journals, proceedings, e-books, and more now on Zendy

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Top 5 Reads of January 2023

We are kicking off 2023 strong with January’s top reads! The new year’s resolutions that you have set are said to set the tone for the rest of your year. However, have you ever wondered where new year’s resolutions stem from?

The ancient Babylonians are the first recorded civilization to celebrate new year’s, although their new year fell mid-march after their crops were planted. It is said that they were the first people to make new year’s resolutions. This tradition was then modernized into the new years we know today. During the reign of Julius Caesar, Ancient Romans celebrated and recognized the New Year to be on January 1st. Ancient Romans selected this date in honor of the Greek God Janus, who they believed symbolically looked back into the previous year and ahead into the future. To celebrate the New Year, the Romans committed to good deeds for the coming year.

If reading often was one of your resolutions, this run-down of top reads may inspire your new discoveries. To give you an idea of all the topics you can dive into on Zendy, we’ll be exploring why healthcare professionals should be more involved in combatting false beliefs on the internet and how WhatsApp can be used as a learning tool to pick up a new language, we also peek at color associated emotional and behavioral responses. We also discuss severe depression in late life and how to tackle it, and finally, the impact that sustainable labeling has on consumer behavior.

The role healthcare professionals play outside of medical settings

This journal article explores the thin line between freedom of speech and the spread of misinformation on the internet. In this technological age, information is always a click away. We’ve all received threads on certain weight-loss tips and steps we should be taking to improve our health. We tend to forget that many of these tips, experiences, and personal views are not regulated or accurate information. This article argues that the threat of misinformation lies beyond clinical settings, and therefore so do the obligations of healthcare professionals. This piece also highlights the types of speech the government can regulate and how healthcare discourse can potentially be governed and monitored without dabbling in the First Amendment rights.

Read more: Why Healthcare Professionals Should Speak Out Against False Beliefs on the Internet

Exploring WhatsApp as a learning tool

This journal article discusses how WhatsApp can be used as an educational tool. This is interesting because WhatsApp’s features align well with the online tools one would need to grasp a new language. The study is aimed at English foreign language learners to significantly improve their conversational English using WhatsApp’s convenient features such as videos, voice notes, texting, and even the use of emojis. However, since this is a classroom setting, certain rules would need to be applied to using social media as a means of education.

Read more: WhatsApp and its Use to Improve Student’s Pronunciation

The psychology behind colors

We come across a plethora of colors every day. Colors hold much more biological and psychological significance than we might think. According to this journal article, colors can trigger psychological, physical, biological, and metabolic reactions within humans. It explores whether the way we react to colors is a learned response or an innate one. Honoring psychology’s well-known nature vs. nurture debate, this article highlights the significance of each color and how literature supports and proves the emotions and feelings each color can invoke in human beings. It also carefully studies the effect of culture and religion and how those factors affect how an individual perceives certain colors.

Read more: Color-associated emotional and behavioral responses: A study on the associations emerged via imagination

Severe depression in late life

This unique case study explores the severe depression that elderly people face. We follow Mrs. B’s journey into her medical and psychological treatments and dissect how clinicians should play a more active role in scanning depression in older adults. This study proved that signs of inactivity and feeling neglected should not be dismissed as the effects of aging but rather should be perceived as symptoms of depression. The depression that older adults face can be tackled through treatments such as psychotherapy, behavioral activation, and electroconvulsive therapy. While the elderly become more dependent, this study proves that therapy can, once again, have them thriving independently.

Read more: Older Adults with Severe, Treatment-Resistant Depression: “I got my mother back.”

How sustainable labeling affects consumer behavior

As consumers become more aware of the products and transparency becomes the best marketing tool, this journal article discusses the impact green labeling has on consumer behavior. The researchers discuss how sustainable labeling may work for some products as consumers assign different levels of importance to them. For example, green labeling on dairy products might not grab consumer attention as the environmental issue comes from the very consumption of dairy. The article explores the variables that drive a consumer to attempt to shift to sustainable buying habits and willingly pay more to support these practices. Conscious consumers want to see how brands adapt their products and re-position themselves to be environmental-friendly.

Read more: Hey, did you see that label? It’s Sustainable!: Understanding the role of sustainable labeling in shaping sustainable purchase behavior for sustainable development

Discover millions of journals, proceedings, e-books, and more on Zendy.

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Zendy’s 2022 in review: a year of triumphs, challenges, and new developments!

As we reach the end of 2022, we’re celebrating a unique and incredibly exciting year for Zendy. As I type this, we now welcome over 40,000 users to the Zendy platform. A milestone that I am certainly proud of but not surprised by. 

I’m not surprised by the positive response to Zendy because as an industry, we have a long way to go to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has equal affordability and accessibility to knowledge. But we are certainly taking steps in the right direction. There’s never been a time when we need more evidence-based research. 

When I Co-founded Zendy in 2019, Zendy’s ‘hybrid’ subscription-based access model was a new concept for publishers to visualize. Despite this, our passionate and inspired mission to democratise access to scholarly literature was felt and we gained the support of some of the world’s leading publishers. If there’s something I’ve learned in my many decades in the industry, it’s that collaboration is the fundamental ingredient to foster change in the academic publishing spectrum successfully. 

A big thanks to our publishing partners who continue to support our mission and work with us to promote lifelong learning opportunities for individuals in over 130 countries.

As I reflect on collaboration, I think of the endless hours of work put in by the Zendy team. Those who were with us from the beginning, and our many recent joiners – everyone has pioneered together along the way. When you are creating something from scratch, the challenges keep coming. The resilience and commitment of our team is second to none, and I couldn’t be prouder of all the milestones we have reached together. 

It was great to see the team’s talents recently recognized at the Middle East Technology Excellence Awards where Zendy received Best Startup in the Education Technology category. 

We had a long list of goals in 2022. A key objective was to participate in as many conversations as possible. It’s a pivotal moment in academic publishing, digitisation is in full effect, and end-user consumption trends continue to spotlight the need for publishers and service providers to diversify content and focus on accessibility and affordability. 

Earlier this year, I joined ChronosHub on a webinar to discuss Affordable Access & Open Access Publishing. The webinar showcased the progress that has been made on the OA front to encourage greater diversity and representation in academic publishing. However, it’s still evident that researchers on the ground, especially in emerging regions, still face hurdles in basic access to journals. 

Watch the full webinar here: https://bit.ly/3PA8GM3

As we see news globally of pirated academic content platforms terminating, it’s critical that, as an industry we focus on how we can continue to deliver value to students, researchers, professionals, and self-learners around the world. By right, everyone should have equal access to scientific literature. Ultimately the goal of research is to enhance society, and the only way to do that is to disseminate research as far and wide as possible. 

The message of dissemination fits well alongside the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As joint signatories of the SGD Publishers Compact, it was excellent to join industry players at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. We had positive meetings with existing publishers and successful meetings with new publishers on the Open Access and paid content front.

We look forward to sharing news of new partnerships in early 2023.  

Shortly after Frankfurt Book Fair, we hosted a collaborative webinar with OAPEN at the beginning of Open Access week to discuss the importance of OA participation and to explore the link between OA content and climate action. The webinar featured two Open Access authors who detailed their publishing experience as authors – a great watch for aspiring authors. 

Watch the full webinar here: https://bit.ly/3V6Hx4f

Q4 has been incredibly busy for us, and we are looking forward to announcing new feature releases that will significantly uplift users’ experience on the platform. Our technology is what sets us apart, and this year we made considerable improvements to enhance the accuracy and value of our data for users based on data association and topic modeling algorithms.

Another recent milestone is that we launched Zendy in Nigeria, allowing users to search both Open Access content and subscribe to top journals on one seamless platform. We’ve already welcomed over 8,000 users in Nigeria, and we look forward to creating more access opportunities in the region. 

As we bring 2022 to a close, we thank all of you who support us in big and small ways. Looking forward to more conversations and collaboration in 2023. 

Best wishes for a happy new year from the entire Zendy team!

Kamran Robert Kardan

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Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan interview with Asian Business Review

The Middle East startup landscape is buzzing with breakthrough innovation and creativity. Zendy is proud to play a role in the ecosystem of MENA-based startups and we’re thrilled to accept the award for Best Startup – Education at the Middle East Technology Excellence Awards. 


Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan recently sat down with Asian Business Review to accept the award and discuss Zendy’s mission, vision, and values. 

Kamran commenced the interview by giving a big shoutout to the Zendy team for their tireless commitment to Zendy’s mission of providing affordable and accessible academic content to knowledge enthusiasts globally. 

Zendy: knowledge without barriers

In 2019, Zendy embarked on an ambitious journey to offer an alternative model of access to scholarly literature. The traditional pay-per-article model was and still is increasingly unattainable for individuals and researchers, especially in emerging regions where access is already limited. 

Looking at the success of the subscription market, namely products like Netflix and Spotify, Zendy founders thought why not offer the same experience for users to discover academic literature? Thus, Zendy was born. Zendy is an affordable academic library that offers unlimited access to journals, articles, e-books, proceedings, and more for the monthly price of a single research paper. 

With Zendy, students, researchers, and professionals can read, cite, and download leading research. The added benefit of Zendy is saving money, traditional models of access force individuals to pay between $15 – $40 per research paper. 

What does the future of academic access look like?

When asked about the future of Zendy and what’s next, Kamran Kardan spoke of Zendy mission which is to continue to reduce inequalities of access to knowledge. As a firm supporter of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Zendy (a product of Knowledge E), is working hard to reach new emerging regions. 

To strengthen its mission of creating a global knowledge economy without barriers, in October 2021, Zendy launched its free Open Access platform. Zendy Open features over 43 million free Open Access publications on one easy-to-use platform. 

With the support of leading publishers, Zendy’s growth is a collaborative effort, and the next 12 months will be defining for the company. In September 2022, Zendy launched in Nigeria and has since acquired over 7,000 from the booming African region. 

“We’re grateful to be recognised as a leading EduTech Startup in MENA and we’re inspired by the many other innovators in the industry who are using technology to make a positive impact in communities globally. The team is currently working on significant updates to the Zendy experience and we’re so excited to launch new features in Q1 2023. Day by day we inch closer to our mission of creating a world where everyone, everywhere can access knowledge without barriers,” said Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan. 

Click here to watch the full interview: https://bit.ly/3PcgxPB

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Middle East Technology Excellence Award 2022 for Startup in Education was presented to Zendy

The platform won the award for startup in the education category, joining the league of past winners such as Du, Amazon (MENA), the Entertainer, & BLOOVO to become one of the most innovative companies in the Middle East.

Zendy Online Library

For tech startup Zendy, it is simply unfair that students, researchers, and professionals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and other developing regions cannot access the same depth of research as those in developed countries. This is despite the rapid shift in the academic publishing spectrum.

Zendy is a product of Knowledge E, a private technology company providing access to digital libraries, training, consulting, and publishing services in the academic sector. Co-founded by entrepreneur Kamran Robert Kardan, it was built in response to the high cost of access to scholarly literature and the limitations of access to academic content in emerging and developing regions.

As such, Zendy, being a fast mover in the industry, offers an alternative to traditional access models. The startup works with publishers and researchers to bridge the gap in equality in emerging regions. It also offers a unique hybrid model for accessing content to meet the consumption needs of academic and non-academic professionals whilst offering publishers a share of the subscriptions’ revenue.

It offers users two options to access content: Zendy Plus and Zendy Open. The former is a subscription-based solution that provides individuals and organisations unlimited access to premium journals from major publishers, whilst the latter is a global open-access solution that features millions of OA resources from leading academic publishers.

Zendy Plus offers unlimited access to research for an average monthly cost of $15, whilst Zendy Open is free and available from anywhere around the world.

Zendy’s monthly user growth rate is 11%, with a sign-up projection of 35,000 by Q4 2022.
Zendy is also an avid supporter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals relating to equality and inclusivity in education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for everyone.

“We’re delighted to be recognised amongst leaders in the technology sector in MENA. What started as a simple concept of creating an affordable and accessible digital library, has now developed into a meaningful platform that empowers individuals to leverage research. The best part is that we’re just getting started. Our recent launch in Nigeria and soon-to-be-released feature updates are all designed to continue our mission to support lifelong learning opportunities for everyone, everywhere,” said Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan.

It has won the Startup – Education category in the recently held Middle East Technology Excellence Awards for this innovation.

The prestigious awards programme honours outstanding companies in the region that have made exceptional contributions in the pursuit of technological innovation in their respective industries.

This article orginally appeared on Asian Business Review.