Sorting Out the New England Journal of Medicine Full-Text

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has made significant changes to a user's ability to access the full text of their journal. The access options now available are outlined below.

According to the New England Journal's web site, "registration for the e-mailed table of contents and back issue full text is always free." ( http://secure.mms.org/custserv_signin.asp?productcode=toc ) What this actually means is that the everyone has free access to original and special articles beginning six months after publication. Table of Contents by e-mail is offered as each current issue is published. For non-subscribers, a brief, one-time registration is required before accessing the 6 month old articles and to receive the e-mailed tables of content.

Non-subscribers to the print journal will no longer have free access to editorials, Sounding Board articles, and letters to the editor. These articles will be available for a fee. Non-subscribers do have the option to purchase access to the site for 24 hours. See the above URL for more information.

Subscribers to the print journal are entitled to the complete journal online. A separate registration method is used. Subscribers first enter their subscription number and last name. This information is printed on the address label. If your subscriber number is seven or nine digits in length, enter zeroes at the beginning to make your subscriber number twelve digits in length. Choose a user name and password to complete your registration.

The Himmelfarb Library (http://www.gwumc.edu/library) offers full-text access to the complete New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) through our subscription to OVID. Access is obtained either through our E-Journals page or through an OVID MEDLINE search. The E-Journals page is the easiest way to obtain full-text of an article for which you have complete information. A MEDLINE searcher finds a link to full-text articles directly from the citation list retrieved by the search. These links include letters, comments and editorials. While there is some delay (usually 7-10 days) in OVID'S posting of NEJM, it is less than the six months delay on the journal's web site and OVID is not limited to original and special articles. The current week's issue may not be available until the following week. The advantage to both NEJM subscribers and non-subscribers is the link from your OVID MEDLINE search directly to the NEJM's full-text.