CASE STUDY

CABI and GetFTR: Enhancing Access and Impact Across the Global Research Community

Overview

CABI, a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to improve lives through science-based solutions in agriculture and the environment, has partnered with Get Full Text Research (GetFTR) utilizing both of GetFTR’s service offerings:

  • As a publisher: CABI provides real-time DOI-level entitlement checks and smart links to all tools that integrate with GetFTR, ensuring the researcher benefits from streamlined access to their full text on their platform, no matter where they discover it*

  • As an Integrator: CABI’s Digital Library signals to the user where full text is available and provides streamlined access to other publishers’ full text on their platforms from databases such as CAB Abstracts and Global Health**

Maximising the Value: Publisher + Discovery Integration

CABI’s publishing programme plays a key role in supporting its global development goals, especially in helping researchers, practitioners, and policymakers access critical, peer-reviewed content on agriculture, health, food security, and environmental science.

By partnering with GetFTR as a publisher, CABI ensures that its full-text content is more easily discoverable and accessible from discovery resources that have integrated with GetFTR, and from any website using DOIs to reference academic content if the researcher has downloaded the GetFTR Browser Extension.

At the same time, CAB Abstracts and Global Health incorporate GetFTR indicators directly into the user experience, allowing researchers to quickly identify and access full-text articles when available through their institutional subscriptions or open access.

“Integrating the CABI Digital Library further with GetFTR is a valuable step forward for our users. Researchers can now instantly see if they have full-text access through their institution and follow smart links to get to the content quickly. This streamlines the discovery process, saves valuable time, and helps ensure that users are working with the most up-to-date and trusted sources” said Lieke Boerefijn-van Schaaijk, Platform Manager, CABI

This dual integration enables CABI to not only improve discoverability and access to its own content across third-party research tools, but also improve the discovery and access experience for users navigating all research represented on CABI Digital Library.

GetFTR button on CABI abstract on CABI digital library

Example of the GetFTR button on the search results page on CABI Digital Library

Working with Atypon

The importance of working with a technology partner who understands GetFTR cannot be underestimated.

Atypon has been extremely supportive during the implementation and we are keen to explore additional GetFTR services such as enabling GetFTR links in references in our primary content, and including Retraction and Errata updates” noted Lieke Boerefijn-van Schaaijk,CABI Platform Manager

Oliver Rickard, Atypon, comments: “I’m delighted to see GetFTR technology used so creatively by CABI. Typically, GetFTR indicators are displayed alongside article references, but CABI has applied them to a different stage of the researcher’s discovery journey. Since CABI hosts a large database of abstracts, they’ve integrated the indicators into abstract search results, allowing researchers to see immediately which full-text articles of those abstracts they can access – making the process faster and more efficient.”

Improving Access for a Diverse, Global User Base

The CABI Digital Library of knowledge resources serves a wide variety of users from students and researchers in academic institutions, to policy makers, professionals and practitioners in the field, many of whom are in low and middle-income countries. For many of these users, streamlined access to research is essential but often hindered by authentication challenges or limited infrastructure.

The GetFTR integration helps overcome these barriers by:

  • Simplifying full-text access and discovery with clear, real-time indicators of availability
  • Removing dead ends in the access process
  • Minimising clicks to access trusted content, saving time and reducing frustration
  • Improving visibility of CABI-published content across research workflows

It’s early days but the stats look promising

GetFTR data shows that clicks to CABI content from GetFTR-enabled discovery services and reference lists have increased by 40% in the first half of this year 

CABI has reported that clicks on GetFTR links from references in the CABI Digital Library are in their 1000s

Together, CABI and GetFTR are making it faster and easier for researchers to access the content they’re entitled to, strengthening the value of CABI databases and driving greater usage for institutions

Dianne Benham, Product Director, GetFTR said “CABI’s integration of GetFTR is a great example of our mission in action – working with publishers to connect researchers to the content they need, remove access barriers, and make it easier for users worldwide to engage with trusted research.“

Integrating GetFTR into the CABI Digital Library has made a real difference to researchers.  Elrita Venter, Post-Harvest Plant Pathology researcher, Stellenbosch University, South Africa said:

“It has significantly reduced the time I spend trying to access full-text articles. I can now immediately see what’s available through my institutional subscriptions, which means fewer interruptions and more time focused on my research projects. It’s a seamless experience that really supports my daily work.”

Conclusion

CABI’s dual role with GetFTR, both as a publisher and a discovery resource illustrates how mission-driven publishers can leverage technology partnerships to broaden their impact. This collaboration not only boosts the reach of CABI’s own publications but also ensures that researchers globally, particularly those in underserved regions, can access the information they need to solve the world’s most pressing agricultural and health challenges. 

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch with our our team.

*Publishers pay an annual fee for this service, based on the number of article DOIs they have registered

**It is free of charge for discovery tools and platforms to integrate with GetFTR