Identity at Elsevier
Elsevier’s products used to be presented to users independently of each other.
For example, ScienceDirect and Mendeley looked outwardly as if they were completely separate products. This is because they were.
When users signed in, proved which institution they are part of, or both, it seemed like these processes were part of the individual products, and did not obviously interoperate.
They used the same identity system underneath, but it didn’t seem to work that way for users.
Access problems everywhere
Meanwhile, people who want access to scientific literature and research tools have to go through complex, inconsistent and repetitive user journeys as they move from journal to journal, product to product, and publisher to publisher.
This is for the simple reason that the mechanisms to prove that you’re from a given institution are completely independent from one publisher to another.
Elsevier has been working with others across the industry to try to make access easier.
To do this, we first have to solve our own problems…
Our strategy
We are in the process of unifying our identity system so that there’s one point of contact for our users, customer institutions, and the products and services we provide.
We are radically improving the “remote access” experience, as more people than ever use laptops and mobile devices that are outside their institutional network.
Not only are we developing ways to make it easier for users to access and move between Elsevier products, we are also working to make it easier for them to get to content and services from other publishers.
By making our identity systems securely interoperable, we can provide ways for users to more quickly prove their institutional associations as they move around the web. Users will remain in control of their privacy, but will be able to get access without having to jump through hoops.
What does this mean for users?
When a user chooses to register, they create an Elsevier Account, via a central Elsevier identity journey.
When a user signs in, they sign in to all of Elsevier.
When a user proves that they’re from a given institution, this information is held centrally, so that it’s available as needed for all Elsevier products.
This means that Elsevier products can work more like one large product, and less like several isolated ones.
Users are still able to access content anonymously where that was possible before, and can still only access things that their institution has subscribed to.
What does this mean for institutions?
Your users are more likely to be able to get access to the things they’re entitled to - which should mean fewer support requests and admin issues.
If you have already set up remote access mechanisms for your users - for example, the ability to use Shibboleth/SAML or to receive an email confirmation to their institutional email inbox - then this continues as normal.
If you haven’t set this up, then you are encouraged to do so, because it will make life easier for your users.