Interview with Olly Rickard, Atypon

Why did Atypon decide to partner with GetFTR?

We are dedicated to supporting our clients in their mission to aid researchers throughout their research journeys. Our focus is on making researchers’ lives easier in a world where information is fragmented across many sites. This commitment is the core reason we chose to partner with GetFTR.

GetFTR is an innovative solution designed to streamline the research process by simplifying how researchers discover and access content. This service integrates with publishers and platforms to provide direct, reliable access to the full-text versions of research articles. By doing so, GetFTR eliminates barriers that often hinder researchers, allowing them to focus on their core research activities without unnecessary interruptions.

In essence, Atypon’s collaboration with GetFTR makes perfect sense. By leveraging GetFTR’s capabilities, we can offer a more efficient, accessible, and user-friendly experience, ultimately supporting researchers in their quest for knowledge and innovation.

How does Atypon support clients who wish to sign up with GetFTR?

We support the two services that GetFTR offers publishers and encourage our clients to implement both services simultaneously. We facilitate entitlement checks, ensuring researchers are directed to eligible content when they discover it in one of GetFTR’s integrated resources or while using the GetFTR Browser Extension. Additionally, we support the integration of GetFTR links into publisher references to aid researchers in the next step of their journey when reviewing citations. Our streamlined process allows us to set up clients with GetFTR quickly and efficiently. GetFTR’s free tier service for small publishers also removes financial barriers, making it accessible to all our clients.

Turning on the entitlement API is straightforward, and we now have an efficient process for integrating with references.

What has the uptake been like?

The uptake has been positive, but we aim to encourage all our clients to take advantage of GetFTR. GetFTR offers a way for researchers to be directed to eligible, up-to-date and trusted content on publishers’ sites, which should be of interest to all our publishers. There has been a perception perhaps that it is just a service for the big publishers but we strongly encourage all of our clients to consider implementing it as it has benefits for all. We envisage the GetFTR indicator to be something that researchers learn to rely on – the more publishers that join the mission of responding to entitlement checks, the more valuable the GetFTR indicators are for everyone. That is why we are so keen to support our publisher in joining GetFTR. 

You must see a lot of RFPs – are publishers adding GetFTR as part of their selection criteria when moving to a new platform?

Yes, we are beginning to see this trend. Publishers are committed to making life easier for researchers and want to ensure their platform provider supports that mission. GetFTR is designed with the researcher in mind, so we are pleased to demonstrate to publishers that we can support them by offering both GetFTR services.

What are your thoughts about the GetFTR Browser Extension?

We think it is a great idea. Discovery happens beyond publisher sites, so anything that drives traffic to the most reliable and up-to-date research is beneficial. While usage is important, the GetFTR indicator on discovery sites also serves as a marker of trust and reliability, which is crucial given the proliferation of article repositories. Additionally, the retraction and errata information signposted via the extension further supports our mission to uphold research integrity and make life easier for researchers. We encourage all of our publisher clients to share information about the browser extension with their researchers. 

Have you got plans to implement the Retraction and Errata feature?

Yes, we plan to add that feature. We want researchers to engage with the most up-to-date and authoritative versions of articles, and this feature will give them confidence by clearly showing any changes, including retractions and the reasons behind them. Openness builds trust, so we fully support this feature.This feature also supports our mission of going beyond simply downloading a PDF – we want to deliver value to researchers during their entire online experience and want them to be able to interact with scholarly content. 

How would your clients get started with GetFTR? 

It’s very simple—clients should contact Dianne Benham, GetFTR Product Director, and their Atypon account manager, and we will handle the rest.