A key challenge faced by institutions in Colombia, and Latin America in general, is how to increase the number of articles their researchers publish in international, indexed, peer-review journals. In this case study we look at how the Universidad del Norte, also known as Uninorte, took on this challenge in collaboration with Peerwith.
The Universidad del Norte, in Barranquilla, is a private university ranked one of the top 5 universities in Colombia. Marcela, Head of Publications, is responsible for helping researchers at the university submit articles which will be accepted for publication in international, high-quality journals. To increase their chances of success Marcela turned to Peerwith.
A collaborative and transparent peer-to-peer marketplace
Marcela requires services such as Spanish>English translation service, as well as English language editing. She connects with international, academic experts, aiding collaboration, improving the quality of academic work and increasing the scientific output of Uninorte.
Marcela has now connected many of her institutions researcher with an expert on Peerwith’s collaborative and transparent peer-to-peer marketplace. The general comment on individual jobs done:
“Excellent experience, very speedy and great quality work.“
Individual jobs result in individual researchers at the university getting published, increase their reputation and ultimately also that of Universidad del Norte.
Institutional Solutions
At Peerwith, we offer a range of solutions for our customers and our aim is to offer them three key benefits: hire freelancers with a better price / quality ratio per project; lower the administrative burden by achieving this on our platform; and increased transparency (along with the ability to select from a vast network of high-level experts).
With a solid relationship in place and the number of requests increasing our next step was to set up a special, Institutional Landing page for the Universidad del Norte. We also agreed a pre-payment plan with Marcela, allowing the university to manage their budget (part of the Institutional Solutions package). Researchers at the Universidad del Norte could now sign up for Peerwith through their special landing page. They could then negotiate and select their preferred expert and the cost would be taken off the university’s pre-paid budget.
Marcela comments:
“Peerwith lets our researchers engage with academic experts from all scientific disciplines in a collaborative environment. The peer-to-peer contact is an excellent experience.“
Conclusion
Over the years, the success of a single translation request has grown into a strong and mutually-beneficial partnership with the adoption of an Institutional Solutions package. As well as helping the Universidad del Norte reach their goal of increasing the number of articles their researchers publish in international, indexed, peer-review journals, Peerwith has provided the university with a transparent, efficient and cost-effective pre-publication workflow.
