Education Ministry reacts to the problem with scientific databases

Since the beginning of this year, Slovak scientists have been shut out of scientific databases such as Science Direct, Scopus or Reaxys, because the state has not yet concluded a new contract. Education Minister Peter Plavčan (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) stated on Wednesday that the ministry is already addressing the problem. "The problem will be resolved in the next few days, we'll pay for it out of the Education Ministry's budget," said Plavčan, adding that the ministry didn't underestimate the situation and had already been working on the problem since the second half of 2016. Access to scientific databases in Slovakia has for a long time been paid for out of EU structural funds. According to Plavčan, around 50 percent of access to these databases comes from the Bratislava region, which has more limited access to European funds because it is relatively wealthy.