About the Document Library

Service Description

The Document Library on CORDIS is a database of documents related to EU RTD activities which can be directly downloaded by the user. It contains selected documents from 1994 to date. The electronic documents are supplied by the RTD programmes of the EU, in particular the programmes of the current Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Many of the documents which formed the discussion for the preparation of the Fifth Framework Programme are also available, including opinions from the Member States and the Commission's final proposal. Similar documents relating to the Sixth Framework Programme are being added as they become available.

The most common documents found in the Document Library are those which are important for submitting project proposals, i.e. the text of calls for proposals from the different RTD programmes, Information Packages, Work Programmes and supplementary documents. Other available documents include project reports and papers relating to policy in various fields of interest.

For each document, a record is created to show basic information about the document, such as its title, date of publication, type of document, language versions available and a brief abstract. It is important to be aware of the distinction between the downloadable document itself and the record that represents it in the database. A search in the database looks only at the document records, and not at the text of the documents themselves.

Some documents are available in all the official languages of the European Union, while others may be available in fewer languages or only a single language. Almost all documents are available in English, and other documents in French and German are more common than those in other languages. A separate record is created for each language version of a document, but the records for language versions other than English do not include an abstract, because abstracts are available only in English. So non-English words can be searched for only in the title fields.

The documents are provided in various electronic formats. Portable Document Format (PDF) is the most widely used, but there are also documents in other formats such as Microsoft Word, Word Perfect and Microsoft Excel, among others.

Summary of Fields

Note: Every record includes the fields marked with a red asterisk "*"; other fields are also included if relevant information is available.

Abstract

The abstract field contains a short description of the document in fewer than 200 words. It is one of the fields included in the free text search. In the abstract of a call for proposals, many objectives of the call are included. However this is only intended as a guide for the user and does not substitute the original text in any way.
 Example entry:The report presents the results of a survey among researchers, patent agents and institutions in industry and public research to investigate the issue of publication delay, which could slow down scientific progress. Conflicting views on the possible introduction of a "grace period", and the difficulty of producing an acceptable definition of this concept are considered. The report concludes that Framework conditions should be further optimised to ease the use of the patent system by academics and small and medium sized enterprises.

Document date

This field gives the date that the document was published. When only the year or month of publication is known, the day and/or month are given as 01. When a document such as a project final report is undated, the closing date of the project may be given as the document date.
 Example entries: 2002-02-18, 1995-01-01

Document type

Each document is categorised according to the nature of the document and the information it contains. The following table shows the document types in use:

 Example entries: CALL, FORM

Other parts of document

Some documents are divided into several electronic files; either because they would otherwise form very large files or for the convenience of the user. When this is the case the records for the different files which constitute the whole document are indicated in this field. The user is therefore able to see the number of files which must be downloaded in order to obtain the whole document. Clicking on each hyperlink will take the user to the record for each file.
 Example entry: 4ACD940076; 4ACD940077

Document title

As far as possible the title shown is that given on the document itself. For reasons of clarity it may be shortened or it may be slightly altered to maintain a certain level of consistency throughout the database. Where necessary, the acronym of the RTD programme, from which the document originates, is added. Key references, such as the COM document number, may also be added.

In Simple Search and Advanced Search, titles in all language versions are included in a title search. But in Professional Search, it is normally necessary to search in the 'Original Title' field to find titles in languages other than English.
 Example entry: Amended proposals for Council Decisions concerning the specific programmes implementing the Sixth Framework Programme of the EC for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2002-2006) [...] - COM(2002) 43

Expiry date

Documents may expire for different reasons.

Any documents related to answering a specific call for proposals expire on the closing date for submission of the proposal.

Programmes valid for the duration of an RTD programme expire when the programme comes to an end.

Some documents have no expiry date because they are considered to have a long-term value. This is the case for documents related to EU policy.

Documents are not deleted from the database when they expire, and are automatically covered by all searches in Simple Search and Professional Search. In Advanced Search, however, there is a tick box 'Search expired documents', which can be used to include or exclude expired documents in the search. By default they are excluded.
 Example entry: 2002-09-30

Original title

This field contains the name of the document in all its different language versions. At the moment English is by far the most common language used and any document can be expected to be found in English. Following English, French and German are the next most commonly used languages, followed by Spanish and Italian. Some documents are available in all the official languages of the European Union.
In Professional Search, you must search in this field to find document titles in languages other than English.

Programme

The acronym or abbreviation in this field identifies the programme to which the record is linked. Some Commission programmes do not have an official acronym suitable for use as a database reference. In such an instance CORDIS will generate its own acronym. Acronyms generated by CORDIS are indicated by the suffix C. For example ENV 2C, the second Environment and Climate programme. Clicking on the hypertext programme acronym takes the user to the record for the respective programme in the Programmes database.

Some document records for the JOULE/THERMIE and INCO are linked only to programme sub-areas. A search on these programme acronyms will only show the documents generic to the whole programme as well as all calls for tender and Work Programmes, but not all documents related to the programmes. For all the documents available for the programme sub-areas use the sub area acronyms as follows:

 JOULE/THERMIE
sub-areas - NNE-JOULE C and NNE THERMIE C

 INCO
sub-areas - INCO-COPERNICUS and INCO-DC

Publication number

This field indicates that the document also has a record in the RTD-Publications database. The number shown is the 'Record Control Number' of the record in the RTD-Publications database. Clicking on the hyper linked Record Control Number takes the user to the RTD-Publications record showing publication details of the document. This number may also be used to search for the entry in the RTD-Publications database.
 Example entry: 199530095

Quality validation date

The date that the information was checked prior to loading it on to the host.
 Example entry: 2002-02-21

Record control number

This field contains a number which provides a unique reference for each record in this database. When noted, it is a useful way of quickly retrieving the same record subsequently. It should be noted in the event of queries to the CORDIS Help Desk when these relate to a specific record.
Record control numbers currently consist of a unique 4-digit number, followed by a 3-digt code for the document language (e.g. …005 = English, …018 = Swedish).
 Example entry: 1792004

Update date

This field shows the date that the record was created or last updated. It is not necessarily the date on which the information was current.
 Example entry: 2002-01-27

Search Tips

The Boolean operators "AND", "OR" and "NOT" may be combined with search terms in the text boxes. If two or more terms are entered with either a comma or a space separating them, the default operator will be "AND".

Phrase searches should be put in double quotes (e.g. "License Agreement").

Wildcards ('?' for 1 character, or '*' for multiple characters) may be used within terms or to truncate word endings (e.g. 'parasit*'; 'analy?e').

Multiple terms may be selected in any of the list boxes in the Advanced Search or Professional Search interfaces. To select multiple terms using Windows, hold down the control key while clicking on your terms.

Additional information about searching the CORDIS Database services.