13.707m pages transferred to researchers
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—A committee endeavouring to promote science and technology in the OIC region, COMSTECH has transferred 13.707 million pages to 13,556 researchers and scientists under its Literature Search Service (LSS) during this year. This Service has been designed for active researchers of the OIC region, who frequently require abstracts of current research in fields similar to their own research work, said a senior official of OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH).
“The major challenge before COMSTECH today is to promote scientific research so that it takes roots in the OIC region,” he told here Wednesday.
The official said information is the key to the growth of knowledge and dissemination of information is crucial for the scientific enterprise and added in today’s world there is a tremendous proliferation of journals and many of them, especially those published by commercial firms, are expensive and out of reach for the most of OIC universities and research institutes. “The increase in subscription prices of journals and databases have further jeopardized the ability of OIC Libraries to procure journals for their scientific community,” he said. Keeping in view the problems of the OIC researchers, the official said COMSTECH decided to address the problem by initiating a free scientific Literature Search Service with an electronic database, covering a large number of journals.
“Now it covers Agricultural Sciences, Biology, Environmental Sciences, and Life Sciences, Physical, Chemical, Earth Sciences, Engineering and Computing Technology,” he maintained.
The official said COMSTECH Literature Search Service is the most popular service in OIC member states including Pakistan and since its start, the Service has continued to improve, both in its quality and content while procedure has also been constantly refined.
Talking about COMSTECH’s Travel Grants Programme, the official said financial assistance was provided to scientists who have been invited to present papers at international conferences/seminars in 2007.
Special consideration is given to those who have been invited as keynote speakers and have an offer of partial support by the host institute. COMSTECH awarded three travel grants to scientists of three OIC member states including Iran, Turkey and Pakistan.