From Phil White in the US BMJ office.
A policy was implemented incorrectly which caused registered users to be prompted for registration each time they tried to access an archival issue. The problem has now been corrected and you should be able to access without registration now.
JOURNAL ARCHIVE ACCESS CHANGES
ALL BMJ Publishing Group Institutional Subscribers:
RE: Response to questions posted on the listserv.
With the recent effort to release what BMJPG refers to as the first installment of the "Journals Archival Legacy" project, (meaning that BMJPG is now digitizing and loading all archival content for the "specialty journals" from Volume 1 Issue 1) we have found that some communication/technical errors have occurred, and unintended policies were implemented for Institutional subscribers and staff.
Quite simply, as BMJPG implement the full loading of the archival information, there may be a mechanism in place for NON INSTITUTIONAL. NON-SUBSCRIBING users of the information to register in order to gain access to all archival information. BMJPG have not released the time frame of this new policy, but may request that user information be given in order to obtain access. Again, this is for persons without a subscription, or unaffiliated with a subscribing institution.
Please read below for BMJPG's correction. I'll will also quickly "bullet"
some points that will hopefully address some questions that I have seen and received.
ALL BMJ Archival Information older than 12 months is still free. As more
archival information is loaded over the course of the year per the
"legacy project", the free archival information will increase
exponentially!
Current subscribers are licensed to, and pay only for the last 12 months
of information, "Ahead of Print" information, and supplements. Archival
access is currently free for all!
BMJPG are happy to extend free archival access, and understand it's
value in giving you complete information.
BMJPG are aware of the complexity in accessing electronic information in
today's library, so Institutional and IP authenticated customers will
not be (and should not at this point) required to register at the time
of accessing archives/backfiles.
BMJPG's official time frame to have the technical aspect of the
registration completely taken down is Monday, April 9th. This may
happen sooner, but I will refrain from deviating from the date promised
by BMJ Publishing Group.
This is an exciting time for BMJ Publishing Group, licensed customers, and anyone needing premier content. The addition of more free information is a continuation of BMJPGs commitment to excellence. It is unfortunate that the "message" was delivered in a manner that missed the intended value, and apparently caused confusion and the perception of unwanted change and restriction.
Statement below.
Kind Regards,
Phil White
Amy Claussen