Maximise your value: key benefits for our database customers

We are a not-for-profit educational charity established in 1968. By subscribing to an IFIS database, you’re helping us continue the important work we do to provide support for people working, studying and researching food science, health and nutrition. We are a small group of dedicated people with a passion for food and a will to ensure that trusted, high-quality content in this field is easily discoverable – so your support means an awful lot!

We thought you would like to know that as an IFIS customer, you have access to a range of complimentary services as part of your subscription. We want to ensure that you get the very best experience throughout your customer journey and as such we have developed lots of extra tools and resources for you that go above and beyond typical product training. 

Here is a list of what we offer, all free of charge to our subscribers:

 

1. Bespoke reports on topics, trends, etc.

Executive Summary on Oats and Gut Health - title pageShare with us your specific areas of interest and we can create a bespoke report for you highlighting trends in this area over recent years.

For example, has there been an increase or decrease in research over recent years? What innovation trends does the published research show us? Which companies are registering patents in these areas?

Read this example report Oats: Unlocking Gut Health and Holistic Wellness.

 

2. Bespoke search string alerts

Take advantage of our decades of expertise in food information searching and taxonomies - send us your question and we can create a detailed search string to meet your research needs by capturing all relevant areas, saving you time and helping you to ensure accuracy. 

This search string can then be saved by you and each time new content is added to FSTA that fits within the search criteria, you will receive an email alert.

 

3. Recorded training video snippets to share

We can create short videos aligned with your course modules to show your students how to search the FSTA database and find the most relevant results. 

These videos can be uploaded to your module pages in your LMS to provide a just-in-time resource for your students.

We aim to help them develop their search skills and become confident in using the database and in particular the FSTA Thesaurus which will in turn, help them to ensure their literature searches are comprehensive.

 

4. Customised subscription-based training

Customised subscription-based training with tailored demonstrations designed to enhance your research or coursework, helping you maximise the value of your IFIS database.

This dedicated webinar includes a live searching demonstration tailored to your organisation and time to ask us questions. You will receive the recording afterwards, so you can continue to use it for training.

Learn about the content available within your chosen database and how to run searches leveraging the power of the FSTA Thesaurus which underpins the database and search functionalities.

 

5. Tailored webinar on how to do competitive mapping using patents

For those in the food industry we can create a tailored webinar on how to do competitive mapping using patents.

If you’re in academia and want to help your students understand patents, we can record a video for you too!

For an example of patent analysis conducted using FSTA, read this patent analysis summary on oats.

 

6. Educational webinar on predatory publishing

We provide our customers with educational webinars on predatory publishing - gain a clear understanding of predatory publishing and take away useful practical tips.

The session provides an overview of the issue, guidance on how to spot a predatory journal, and explains how IFIS exclude predatory content so users can be confident when searching our databases.

 

7. Best Practice Training

Explore the challenges to searching for scientific information in the sciences of food and health.  We outline the best practices on how to understand and undertake effective searching for literature reviews.

 

8. Online interactive training modules with self-certification (FSTA customers only)

These platform-specific tutorials for FSTA  give an overview of FSTA content and the essential skills to search the FSTA database and find quality literature successfully. Upon completion of the modules, researchers and students can download a certificate to provide evidence of their search skills and experience using FSTA to their lecturers, librarian and future employers.

Benefits of the modules include:

  • students trained with little input required by library or faculty, saving you time
  • the modules can be incorporated as a course requirement or a flipped course exercise
  • guidance on search terms and more precise results using the FSTA Thesaurus
  • specialist database and platform training, which are invaluable transferable skills
  • better student bibliographies
  • better literature reviews
  • students gain understanding of predatory publishing. 


 

If there is anything you feel you need that we don’t offer in the list above, please get in touch by emailing Angela Ball, our Customer Relations Manager, and make a suggestion – we are here to help and would love to understand even more about your needs, challenges, and how we can support you even further!

Discover the latest trends

FSTA Annual Report 2024: The Research Trends Shaping the Future of Food

This provides a comprehensive global picture of the latest developments in food science, drawing on FSTA’s extensive reach to identify the top 20 research themes shaping the field.

Download the report