Why Publishers Should Join GetFTR

The way researchers discover content is changing. Discovery generally happens away from publisher websites, through discovery services, search engines, AI tools, social media, reference lists and news sites. GetFTR helps ensure that, wherever researchers begin their journey, they can quickly reach the trusted Version of Record.

A few publishers have recently asked why they should partner with GetFTR. It felt like a good moment to lay out the case.

GetFTR improves discovery and access to full text

At launch, GetFTR had a single objective: to signal full text availability and provide streamlined access from discovery tools to the trusted, publisher-provided content – whether on the publisher’s platform, aggregator service or other authorised sources – including open, free and subscribed content.

GetFTR’s smart links indicate to researchers that full text is available and provide one-click access, cutting out extra clicks, dead ends, and context switching. This also ensures researchers land on the authoritative, up-to-date version of an article rather than an earlier draft or a non-copyright compliant copy.

For publishers, that means reducing friction, improving the user journey and helping ensure researchers arrive at the Version of Record. With GetFTR having expanded across publisher platforms and aggregators, participating publishers support a consistent, trusted access experience wherever researchers discover content.

Meeting researchers where discovery happens

Researchers asked why tools like Google Scholar and PubMed weren’t integrated so in response, we launched a browser extension that adds GetFTR full-text smart links and integrity information to any website – with no direct integration required.

With the extension, GetFTR links appear on newsites, social media and search results too, helping publishers connect with researchers wherever discovery takes place!

GetFTR supports research integrity

As concerns about paper mills, fraudulent publications and high-profile retractions have grown, helping researchers identify trustworthy, up-to-date versions of research has become increasingly important. Discovery tools tell us they prioritise GetFTR links because they lead users to the authoritative version of record.

Publishers recognised that research is increasingly discovered off-platform, often without researchers realising when the published version has been corrected, updated or retracted. As research becomes available through more discovery routes and freely accessible copies across the web, these important integrity notices are not always visible at the point of discovery. GetFTR provides a trusted channel for publishers to share retraction and update notices directly with the discovery tools researchers already use, helping surface integrity issues when and where they matter most.

AI and beyond

AI-generated responses, including hallucinations, can affect the quality and reliability of how research is communicated.

Several AI tools already use GetFTR to check publisher entitlements and surface smart links for easy access to the full-text sources, and for provenance. As the use of AI for research discovery grows, we expect the role of GetFTR in these workflows to grow too, and we encourage AI providers to consider integrating with GetFTR.

In the meantime, researchers can install the GetFTR browser extension and ask for DOIs in the response, so that GetFTR has everything it needs to check whether they’re entitled to the sources. GetFTR makes it easy to identify where they have access and whether articles have been updated or retracted, providing the user with powerful verification pathways. The extension also displays license information and enables saving to popular reference managers.

We are also exploring how to extend this support further into AI workflows – more on this soon.

The bottom line

Joining GetFTR means giving researchers faster, more reliable access to your trusted content – wherever they discover it.

As discovery continues to evolve across search, AI and the wider web, GetFTR helps publishers increase the visibility of the Version of Record, reduce friction in the researcher journey and ensure integrity information is available where it matters most.

If you’d like to discuss partnering with GetFTR or what integration looks like, get in touch with dianne@getfulltextresearch.com.

Do read our latest case studies to read more about how our community benefits from GetFTR.