With the objective of supporting existing and future users to learn how to get the most out of the available resources in Research4Life, Research4Life and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are happy to announce the second edition of the Research4Life Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

Research4Life is a knowledge platform that provides access to up to 100,000 leading journals and books in the fields of health, agriculture, environment, innovation and law. More than 9,000 institutions in more than 120 low- and middle-income countries with free or low-cost online are benefiting from Research4Life.

Participants will become skilled users of the available resources of the Research4Life programmes (Hinari, AGORA, OARE, ARDI and GOALI) to access and use the platform efficiently. 

The course will take place from 20 April to 24 May 2020. 

The call for applications is now open here. 

Who should apply?

The target audience for this MOOC is aligned with Research4Life’s eligibility criteria. Eligible institutions include: national universities, professional schools (in medicine, agriculture, pharmacy, public health, socio-legal studies, engineering, etc.), research institutes, teaching hospitals and healthcare centers, government offices, national libraries, agricultural extension centers and local non-governmental organizations.

This course was developed for librarians, information professionals, IT specialists, researchers, academics, lecturers, educators, students including graduates and post graduates, and professionals, such as doctors, policy makers, extensionists, lawyers, social workers and statisticians in the eligible countries and institutions.

Participants are expected to spend on average six to eight hours per week on lessons and activities, such as contributing to discussion forums and webinars.

What do you get from this course?

The Research4Life MOOC follows a modular structure, which allows participants to study their area of interest throughout a five-week period. The course covers topics relevant across all Research4Life programmes, such as the scholarly communication landscape, information literacy skills, advocacy and capacity development strategies. Additionally, it provides discipline-specific information for Hinari, AGORA, OARE, ARDI and GOALI.

Participants of the course will be provided with a Certificate of Attendance after completing the exam at the end of the course. Those who pass the exam with grade of at least 70.00 grade, will receive a Certificate of Achievement.

How to apply?

The course is free of charge and is offered in English. It will take place between 20 April to 24 May 2020. Call for applications available here.

Deadline for applications is 7 April. Successful participants will be informed by 9 April 2020.

For further information, please contact us at [email protected].

What is included in the course?

Module 1: Scholarly communication and Research4Life: This module provides an overview on scholarly communication, the publishing landscape, key concepts about Research4Life including the details about the partnership,, programmes’ coverage, eligibility criteria, and registration. Lessons included in this module are:

• Lesson 1.1: Scientific landscape

• Lesson 1.2: Research assessment and bibliometrics

• Lesson 1.3: Research4Life

Module 2: Discovery and re-use of scholarly literature: This module covers key concepts of information literacy skills and competencies, including academic ethics, licensing and academic collaboration tools. Lessons included in this module are:

• Lesson 2.1: Identifying information sources

• Lesson 2.2: Using information resources

• Lesson 2.3: Intellectual property and copyright - Ethics and plagiarism

• Lesson 2.4: Citing, reference management and collaboration tools

Module 3: Discipline-specific browsing and searching: This module describes the five Research4Life programmes (Hinari, AGORA, OARE, ARDI, GOALI) in detail, including how to conduct discipline specific search, an introduction to Summon to search across programmes and the bibliometric analysis tools: Scopus and Dimensions, which are provided within Research4Life. Lessons included in this module are:

• Lesson 3.1: Hinari: Research in Health

• Lesson 3.2: AGORA: Research in agriculture

• Lesson 3.3: OARE: Research in the Environment

• Lesson 3.4: ARDI: Research for Development and Innovation

• Lesson 3.5: GOALI: Research for Global Justice

• Lesson 3.6: Search across Research4Life programmes

• Lesson 3.7: Citation databases

Module 4: Additional discipline-specific resources: This module focuses on additional discipline-specific resources and services in the five main disciplines of the Research4Life programmes. Lessons included in this module are:

• Lesson 4.1: Health

• Lesson 4.2: Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, climate, food security, related biological and environmental sciences

• Lesson 4.3: Environment

• Lesson 4.4. Development and innovation

• Lesson 4.5. Global justice

• Lesson 4.6. Interdisciplinary resources

Module 5: Advocate on Research4Life and Facilitate Capacity Development: This module teaches you how to design advocacy strategies to address decision makers and upper management. It also guides you on how to train local groups on how to use Research4Life. Lessons included in this module are:

• Lesson 5.1: Research4Life Advocacy Toolkit

• Lesson 5.2: Training Your Audience on How to Use Research4Life