Announcement re. Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals Initiative

["Okerson, Ann" <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Here's an interesting journals "startup" announcement.  Some very
experienced and connected people are working on this.  Ann
Okerson

________________________________________

(1)  Friday, January 01, 2010

Announcement of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals Initiative
"Bloomsbury Publishing, Qatar Foundation and Qatar National
Research Fund (QNRF) have announced the launch of an ambitious
new scientific publishing house to be based in Doha, Qatar. This
initiative will extend the unique relationship between Qatar
Foundation and Bloomsbury. The new publishing house, Bloomsbury
Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ), will publish scientific
research developed to the highest international peer review
standards in order to connect the international research
community to one of the fastest growing research and development
centres in the world"

*****

(2)  lis-e-resources  (UKSG list)

Subject: Announcement of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals Initiative
From: Arend Kuster <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:10:19 -0000

Bloomsbury Publishing, Qatar Foundation and Qatar National
Research Fund (QNRF) today announced the launch of an ambitious
new scientific publishing house to be based in Doha, Qatar.

This initiative will extend the unique relationship between Qatar
Foundation and Bloomsbury. The new publishing house, Bloomsbury
Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ), will publish scientific
research developed to the highest international peer review
standards in order to connect the international research
community to one of the fastest growing research and development
centres in the world.

The development follows the creation of a unique scientific and
research environment in Qatar. Together, the six existing
universities in Education City alongside other scientific and
technical centres are a catalyst for intellectual growth and
technological advance. Through BQFJ, state-of-the-art research
facilities will be complemented by state-of-the-art publishing,
using the best technical, communications and editorial systems to
provide the basis for a world-leading research publishing
programme for the global scientific research community. The
venture will largely adopt the Open Access Publishing model and
will cover all research subjects, including medical, physical,
engineering, Islamic and social sciences and the arts, supported
by a highly sophisticated technical infrastructure. Articles and
journals will be made available on the same platform as the
institutional repository, currently under development in Qatar.

Bloomsbury has already established a book publishing operation in
partnership with Qatar Foundation that is set to become a major
regional and international publishing centre.  Through the
creation of a scientific publishing centre, this will provide the
seeds for a leading publishing house based in the Middle East.

Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury, will be
Chairman of the Management Committee of Bloomsbury Qatar
Foundation Journals, which will include Richard Charkin,
Executive Director at Bloomsbury, Non Executive Director at the
Institute of Physics Publishing and formerly Chief Executive of
Macmillan/Nature Publishing Group and Kathy Rooney, Managing
Director of Bloomsbury Information and responsible for Bloomsbury
Qatar Foundation Publishing. Arend Koester, currently Business
Development Director at Bloomsbury, will be Managing Director of
the Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals.

Bloomsbury is also committed to establish knowledge-transfer of
publishing skills to Qatar, including a mentoring programme and
the training of Qatari interns each year in London and Doha.

Dr. Amer Al Saadi Research Advisor at Qatar Foundation/ and
Project Manager of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) said
that "We are pleased that over six months of intensive joint work
on the project feasibility have resulted in a mutually beneficial
agreement to launch scientific journals publishing.  Everyone
concerned in the project is ready to go and both sides agreed to
start work early in January 2010."

"It is in the nature of scientific publishing to react to the
communication needs of the scientific community worldwide. The
rapid expansion of high quality research in the region
necessitates the dissemination of scientific knowledge through
twenty-first century digital and print channels.  We are proud to
be associated with the venture", commented Richard Charkin.

Nigel Newton said: "We are delighted to announce this partnership
with Qatar Foundation and the Qatar National Research Fund.
Publishing research articles in English and Arabic together with
the most advanced technical infrastructure will further Qatar's
leadership in science and research beyond the region. This is an
exciting project for all parties."

For further Information please contact Arend Koester, Business
Development Director, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 36 Soho Square,
London W1D 3QY, T: +44 75907 13212, E: [log in to unmask]