BMJ  2005;330:904 (16 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7496.904-a

Letter

Access controls on bmj.com

Enable accessibility and avoid formation of two tier journal

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—It is a great shame that a charge is now levied for access to bmj.com,¹ and I am particularly conscious that this will restrict access by those such as students and doctors in training, not to mention the public and colleagues outside the United Kingdom. Only last month at a hospice conference I suggested that delegates referred online to an editorial by Richard Smith in 2000.

For me as a clinician and academic, the greatest success and advance of the BMJ in the past few years has been its website and easy access to its archives. In addition is the opportunity to debate in an electronic forum such as bmj.com.

Although I also subscribe to the Lancet, I realise that for many, electronic access to this journal (unlike the BMJ) is not possible or affordable and so will reduce the size of the readership and circulation.

. . . [Full text of this article]

The Surgery, Marsh Lane, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, West Midlands B92 0AH rcharlton@doctors.org.uk

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