Emerald measures 3.5% increase in usage with GetFTR

As publishers consider what changing discovery behaviours and the growth of zero-click search could mean for usage, new evidence from Emerald provides some good news: making it easier for researchers to discover and reach trusted full-text content can make a measurable difference.

Usage has always mattered to both academic publishers and librarians. Publishers need to know that their content is being found and read, while libraries want to know that the content they invest in is being used by their researchers. Usage data helps demonstrate that value and plays an important role in subscription and renewal decisions.

But the way researchers find and interact with content is changing.

Researchers don’t usually start their search on a publisher platform or even a traditional library discovery service. They may discover an article through Google, an academic search engine, social media, a research tool or, increasingly, an AI-powered resource.

And often, these tools are giving researchers a lot of information before they ever reach the full text. An abstract, snippet, summary or AI-generated answer may provide enough information for some searches without the researcher clicking through to the article at all. This is often referred to as “zero-click” search. Recent research led by Kudos found that a third of researchers now begin their information seeking either with AI tools or with general search engines where AI-generated answers are embedded. Librarians are also reporting declines in usage of primary publisher content.

If researchers are increasingly encountering answers before they reach publisher platforms, making the route from those answers to trusted, entitled full text as frictionless as possible becomes more important, not less.

For publishers, this raises an understandable concern about usage. And for libraries, there is a related question: if researchers aren’t reaching the content their institution subscribes to, are they getting the full value from those subscriptions?

When we meet with publishers, the question of usage always comes up. So we have been working on answering a simple question: does providing a streamlined route from discovery to trusted full text actually increase usage?

We are pleased to report that the evidence suggests it does.

How Emerald measured uplift in usage

Emerald was able to measure the impact on usage and reported that, when GetFTR was enabled, it measured a 3.5% increase in total usage versus forecast.

For GetFTR and, more importantly, our publishing partners, this is a particularly valuable result given some publishers are experiencing a decline in usage.

GetFTR can measure usage generated through GetFTR links, but we do not have access to publishers’ analytics to identify overall uplift in usage when GetFTR is enabled. Emerald’s analytics data gives us an opportunity to see the impact.

What makes Emerald’s result particularly interesting is that it didn’t just measure usage coming through GetFTR links, it measured an increase in total usage when GetFTR was enabled, versus forecast. That distinction is important, and Emerald’s analysis found the increase to be statistically significant.”

GetFTR is designed to remove some of the friction between discovering research and accessing trusted full text. It helps researchers see which content is available to them and provides a direct route to the trusted version of record, through institutional subscriptions or Open Access.

Nemone Jacques, Product Manager for journals said:

With AI summaries and zero-click searches expanding, we knew we couldn’t just wait for researchers to land on the published full text, we have to meet them where they are. Our library partners invest heavily in our content, and we want to ensure our research communities get the full value from it. Partnering with GetFTR gave us a clear way to bridge the gap. Seeing total usage push 3.5% above our forecasts proves that removing simple access barriers pays off for everyone.

Connecting discovery with usage

Researchers are not going to stop using AI tools, search engines or the growing number of services that help them discover and understand research. Nor should they.

The challenge is making sure that wherever discovery happens, researchers can still find their way to the trusted full text when they need it.

That matters even more as discovery tools become better at answering questions themselves. Researchers may be able to learn a lot about an article without ever leaving the environment where they started their search.

But when researchers need to read, assess or cite the research, they need an easy route to the trusted full text. That access matters not only for publishers and libraries, but it is critical to be able to verify claims and statements at the source, an important element of the research process. Researchers need to be able to check the evidence, understand the context and methodology, and work from the version of record if they are going to build on previous research with confidence.

Making that connection as simple as possible helps researchers reach the content available to them, helps libraries get more value from their subscriptions, and helps publishers turn discovery into usage.

Hylke Koers, Programme Manager said:

Discovery is changing rapidly, but the need to connect researchers with trusted full text hasn’t changed. GetFTR is designed to make that connection work wherever discovery happens. The Emerald analysis is encouraging because it shows that making access simpler doesn’t just improve the researcher experience; it can translate into measurable additional usage of publisher content.”

Emerald’s results give us another useful piece of evidence that removing friction from that journey can make a measurable difference.

About the analysis

Emerald compared actual usage with forecast usage before and after GetFTR was enabled. The forecast model was tested against historical data to make sure it was reliable and accounted for expected variations in usage over time.

Before GetFTR was enabled, usage was broadly in line with forecast (+0.2%). After GetFTR was enabled, usage was 3.5% above forecast.