R Discovery is the best literature search and research reading app in the world today, and it earned the top spot because it continually finds new and innovative ways to improve user experience. One such innovation is setting up dedicated publisher channels featuring peer-reviewed research from reputed houses like Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, IOP Publishing, NEJM, JAMA, Emerald, and Karger in one place. Here, we delve into this success story where over 25% of R Discovery users who browsed publisher channels ended up following one or more of them, this in turn increased readership and resulted in an overall referral rate of 28% to publisher journal pages.
R Discovery’s publisher channels have the approval of researchers for how easy it makes it for them to access high-impact research; it also allows publishers to gain followers and engage users via the R Discovery platform. Taylor & Francis, Karger, and Springer Nature were the most followed publishers on the platform, with readers coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India.
The Challenge: Enabling users to discover articles from trusted journals and publishers on R Discovery
We quickly understood that researchers need to keep up with the best authors, top journals, and high-impact scholarly content in a fiercely competitive academic landscape. But in the absence of a single credible source for high-quality research, scholars relied on online searches, bookmarked journal pages, recommendations and alerts from journal/publisher websites, RSS feeds and updates on peer profiles. This was confirmed by a 2021 report, which showed that people actively searched for journal articles about 45% of the time, up from 30% of the time nine years ago. Following the top journals and publishers was not just about trusting the research these well-known titles published, it also stemmed from an aspiration to publish their scholarly work in these peer-reviewed journals.
For journals and publishers on the other hand, attracting and retaining readers’ undivided attention was becoming a challenge in an increasingly digital world. Wading through the sea of information to find relevant journal articles on busy search engine environments was an effort- and time-intensive process requiring expertise with conducting online searches. This meant publishers now needed a new, better alternative that allowed them to access, engage, and retain users with their research.
With its focus on innovation and strong ties in the academic community, R Discovery came up with a simple, yet effective way to fulfil these user needs while also helping publishers with their goals.
The Solution: Introducing dedicated publisher channels that unify peer-reviewed research
While the fear of missing out on important information is a driving force for many, following the top journals and publishers has become a habit for many researchers, including for over 30% of those who use R Discovery. Learning from this reading pattern, R Discovery introduced specially curated publisher channels in early 2023, which bring all peer-reviewed journal articles from trusted publishing houses to your fingertips.
It went one step ahead and ensured all recommended research from top publishers is personalized to suit user preferences. For example, if you are a researcher in genetics and exploring Springer Nature’s publisher channel on R Discovery, you would be able to see relevant content from journals like Nature Genetics, Genetics in Medicine, Genes & Immunity, among others – and all in one place!
R Discovery now provides users with a unique and seamless experience, which combines content from their trusted publishers and its AI-powered recommendations engine. Users can explore the publisher channels on the R Discovery app home page, and see recommendations tailored to their interests. They can explore publisher articles and follow the channel to create an easily accessible publisher feed with notifications and recommendations on the latest, relevant papers published in any journal by the publisher. This feature is so loved that more than a quarter of our users who visit these publisher channels end up following one or more of them on R Discovery.
The Impact: Creating immutable value for researchers and publishers worldwide
There was an almost immediate improvement in user satisfaction on R Discovery, with publisher channels seeing the highest interest from researchers in the United States, United Kingdom, and India. And notably, over 25% of these users ended up following one or more publisher channels.
This in turn improved the overall publisher referral rate to 28%, helping achieve the dual publisher goals of reach and readership. Referral rate is based on the number of R Discovery users on the platform who visit journal/publisher websites to access full-text articles. These users are genuinely interested in and follow the publisher’s work, making it easier for publishers to retain and grow this community.
The publisher channels that earned the most followers on R Discovery are Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, IOP Publishing, Emerald, JAMA, and Karger.
We also noted the top three concepts academics around the world read about in these publisher journals via R Discovery:
- Taylor & Francis – Water Resource Management, Corporate Entrepreneurship, and the Study of Gender
- Springer Nature – 3D Models, Plant Single-Cell, and Sediment Environment
- IOP Publishing – Double Random Phase Encoding, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Argyres-Douglas Points
- Karger – Types of Lesions, Cognitive Empathy, and Speech language Pathology
- JAMA – Tracheostomy, Multicentre Dataset, and Medical Care
The publisher channels on R Discovery have opened up a major opportunity for publishers who are looking to make their research more accessible to academics. Publishers get instant visibility among R Discovery’s over 3 million users across 190 countries around the world and enjoy the experience of having their own mobile app, without having to build or maintain one. Add to this the range of highly intuitive and innovative features like personalized recommendation alerts, listening to research on the go, and reading in your own language, publishers can be assured of an engaged global audience. What’s more, depending on their priorities, publishers can also choose to target specific subject areas or geographies to increase their reach, readership, and overall impact through R Discovery.
If you are interested in owning a publisher channel on R Discovery or want to know more, please write to us at discovery@researcher.life and we will be happy to make this happen.
R Discovery is a literature search and research reading app that uses your interests to instantly create personalized reading feeds. Researchers can stay updated on the latest, most relevant content from its continually expanding library of 120M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex as well as prestigious publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more. The top-rated app in its space, R Discovery’s carefully curated features give you the power to choose what, where, and how you read research.
Try the app for free or upgrade to R Discovery Prime, which unlocks unlimited access to advanced features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, invite collaborators, auto sync with reference managers and more. It’s like having the world of research at your fingertips! Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Get R Discovery Prime now at just US$72 a year!
