Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Institutional site licenses provide full access to all users within your institution. For a quote or to enquire about an institutional free trial please contact our sales team:
E: sales@bmj.com
T: +44 (0) 207 1111 226

Do you offer free trials?

Yes. Individuals can sign up for 7 days' free access here. Institutions can arrange free trials via our sales team:
E: sales@bmj.com
T: +44 (0)207 1111 226

Can I subscribe through a subscription agent?

Yes. Please contact your subscription agent.

Can I purchase access to just one article?

Currently BMJ Best Practice is only sold via subscription to the full content.

Can I purchase a standalone subscription to the BMJ Best Practice app?

No, currently the app is included with a subscription and it is not available on its own.

Accessing BMJ Best Practice

What is a ‘personal account'?

Registering for a free ‘personal account’ enables you to track your CME/CPD activity. Your personal account details are also needed to sign in to the BMJ Best Practice app.

How much of BMJ Best Practice is freely available?

Anyone can browse, search and access some high-level content. A subscription is required to access the full-text of topics. All Overview pages are freely accessible and we also offer 1-click free access from search engines, Facebook and Twitter.

Can I access BMJ Best Practice via Athens/Shibboleth?

Yes. Institutional subscribers are able to access Best Practice via OpenAthens authentication.

What browser should I use to access BMJ Best Practice?

BMJ Best Practice is suitable on all main web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE. If you are using IE, we recommend using IE10 for best experience.

How can I access BMJ Best Practice App?

You must be registered with a free ‘personal account’ to download the BMJ Best Practice app from iTunes or Google Play stores. Click here for more information.

About BMJ Best Practice

Who writes and edits BMJ Best Practice?

Our in-house evidence team continues to collaborate with over 1,600 international expert authors and over 2,500 peer reviewers, to ensure that BMJ Best Practice provides access to the best available information possible, in line with our robust evidence processes that include:

Systematic searches for high quality new and updated international guidelines
Continuous in-house scanning and triaging of drug alerts
Daily monitoring and triaging of user/customer feedback by our Senior Clinical Editor
External peer review of all new topics by at least 2 leading international experts and practising clinicians
Internal peer review and sign-off for all content by in-house pharmacist and clinical editors
Updated daily, together with information about the changes made.

Is there a print version of BMJ Best Practice?

No, Best Practice is an online-only resource, however we do have PDFs of the topics available for download.

Is there a mobile version of BMJ Best Practice?

Yes, Best Practice website is fully responsive, and has been specially optimised for access on internet enabled mobile phones, tablets or other handheld devices.

Is there an app version of BMJ Best Practice?

Yes, the Best Practice app is included in personal and institutional subscriptions. Please visit the Best Practice app information page for details.

What is the difference between BMJ Clinical Evidence and BMJ Best Practice?

BMJ Best Practice incorporates much of the research evidence from Clinical Evidence and adds expert opinion and guidelines to cover diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention. As such it is specifically designed as a practical tool to support decision making at the point of care.

How do I become a peer reviewer or contributor?

Although Best Practice content is usually commissioned, we would like to hear from people who are interested in becoming an expert contributor or peer reviewer. Contact us for more information.

Features of BMJ Best Practice

Why has BMJ Best Practice changed?

This year we have continued an ambitious programme of development to BMJ Best Practice in collaboration with customers, doctors and medical students around the world. Every part of the new BMJ Best Practice website has been designed and tested with users to ensure you can get the answers you need fast. You can read more about this here. If you would like to give your feedback, please contact us.

What are Cochrane Clinical Answers, where can I see them?

BMJ Best Practice already has a strong evidence base and the new addition of Cochrane Clinical Answers, gives health professionals the confidence to make the best decisions in partnership with patients, even in areas of clinical uncertainty.

Evidence is displayed in a user friendly question and answer format, mixing narrative, numbers and graphics along with key data including Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome and GRADE summaries.

Cochrane Clinical Answers is now available in over 70% of our most popular BMJ Best Practice topics.

How can I bookmark pages, add notes and save searches?

We have decided to temporarily remove these features while we conduct further research to improve user experience. All notes will be stored until 31st October 2018. If you have previously added notes and would like to retrieve them, please contact support@bmj.com.

Where can I access medical calculators?

To enable decisions to be made on the best available evidence in a timely way, we have partnered with a leading supplier of medical calculators, EBMcalc. These easy to use, interactive calculators cover medical formulas, clinical criteria sets, decision tree analysis, dose/unit converters and more. Over 250 of these interactive calculators are now available within BMJ Best Practice and the app. To access you can browse calculators from the BMJ Best Practice home page or search for a specific calculator in the search bar.

Where are the procedural videos?

Introduced in 2017, BMJ Best Practice now has procedural videos which cover essential clinical techniques such as bag-valve-mask ventilation, lumbar puncture and performing an ECG. A list of equipment, contraindications, indications, complications and aftercare is included.

How do I access my drug formulary?

Personal subscribers – A drug formulary is automatically included in your subscription depending on your country.

Institutional subscribers - A drug formulary will be selected by the institution at the point of purchase. You can choose from the BNF, Martindale or AHFS. Micromedex integration is also available for customers who already subscribe to the database.

To see what you have access to, visit the ‘Drugs’ page in the navigation menu on the homepage. You can search the database directly from this page or by selecting a drug when viewing a condition or symptom.

What is the EBM Toolkit?

The EBM Toolkit enables users to learn how to evaluate how much weight can be put on study results and how far results from trials can be generalised into routine clinical practice. It includes contributions from some of the leading thinkers in EBM and introduces key methods such as clarifying a clinical question, designing a search, appraising/synthesising research and assessing quality of evidence. It also promotes shared decision making between clinicians and patients. Click here to visit.

What is an Important Update?

BMJ Best Practice has always incorporated practice changing evidence into its topics but we understand that it is important that these changes can be easily identified.

Where there is new practice-changing evidence an 'Important Update' button will appear on a topic summary page. You can expand this button to view a summary of the change and link to the full guideline/article. This rapidly delivers and surfaces practice-changing evidence to the point of care.

Click here to view a full list of the latest Important Updates.

As an institutional admin, can I upload local guidelines and patient leaflets?

This year we conducted research with institutions around local guidelines and patient leaflet customisation. We have decided to temporarily remove this feature while we conduct further research and work with our customers to better support customisation and improved user experience. If you are interested in taking part in research, please contact us.

How do I download a PDF?

To download a topic PDF, click on the button ‘View PDF’ on the top right hand corner of the navigation menu.

Searching in BMJ Best Practice

Can I use boolean operators to search BMJ Best Practice?
This functionality is not available at present, but will be introduced soon.

Does BMJ Best Practice support symptom search?

Yes, if you want to search for a specific phrase or a group of words in a specific order, include double quote marks (“”) around your phrase e.g. “shortness of breath”. If you are searching for more than one term, symptom or sign, you can refine your search results by using the AND/OR/NOT function in your search.

Does BMJ Best Practice support MeSH synonyms?

The BMJ Best Practice search engine uses MeSH synonyms to further enhance the search results. The search engine will also search for synonyms of the term entered. So, for example, if you search for ‘acetaminophen’ you will also see results for ‘paracetamol’ and vice versa. The synonym lists for each topic have been extended and enhanced based on user activity and are updated regularly.

Can I search Best Practice in a foreign language?

BMJ Best Practice can be searched in over 100 foreign languages. This functionality is based on a two-step process: language detection and search term translation into English. Google Translate API will detect the most probable language for any given search string. In a second step, Google Translate API sends English translations of search terms directly to the BMJ Best Practice search engine for processing.

What is language switching?

BMJ Best Practice has content translated into 10 languages. Depending on your region, you may be able to switch content into your local language in addition to English.

CME/CPD activity tracking

Why do I need to track my CME/CPD?

CME-CPD (Continuing Medical Education, Continuing Professional Development) is one of the most important parts of quality assurance in healthcare. All healthcare professionals have a responsibility to continuously update and enhance their knowledge, skills and behaviour/attitude towards their patients, their peers and their staff.

How do I start tracking CME/ CPD in BMJ Best Practice?

To find out how to start earning CME/ CPD credits while you learn please visit our CME/CPD help page.

I have accidently deleted/ lost my CME/ CPD certificate - what can I do?

To access previously generated certificates click on the ‘My certificates’ page. Here you can remove unwanted certificates by clicking on the remove option, and download already generated certificates again by clicking on the certificate link.

If you have deleted a certificate by accident, you can generate it again by following the normal steps outlined on the help page.

How do I view how many CME/ CPD activities I have?

To view your CME/CPD activities you just need to click the CME/CPD button on the top right hand corner of your screen. This will take you to the ‘My activities’ page where you’ll be able to see an overview of your activities on a per month basis.

To see a more detailed list, click on a month. A pop-up will open where you can see the content viewed, timestamp, language and for how many hours.

For my certificate, how are the number of hours spent on BMJ Best Practice calculated?

As soon as you log in, BMJ Best Practice capture the searches you perform, as well as the time spent on our topic pages. The number of hours spent per session is then added up and transformed into a decimal format. All sessions for each month are compiled into one total number of hours. The minimum time rewarded for each session is 15 mins (0.25 hours). A session lasts as long as you stay active on the site. After 30 mins of inactivity, you are automatically logged out, and the session is ended.

Is there a fee for generating my CME/ CPD certificate?

No. Generating CME/ CPD certificates with BMJ Best Practice is free and can be done as many times as you wish.

Can I earn CME/ CPD credits whilst on a mobile device?

Yes, if you are using the BMJ Best Practice app or website on a mobile device and you are logged in, your activity will be tracked as normal.

What date will be on my certificate?

The certificate will show the month or months of CME/CPD activities you have ticked when generating your certificate. The back of the certificate will also have a breakdown of these activities along with the time and date of the activities in chronological order.

When does my CME/ CPD credit expire?

As long as your subscription remains active, credits or contact hours may be redeemed from the time they were accrued for up to 12 months.

Can I still be able to download a certificate even though my subscription has expired?

As long as the activity took place at a time when the subscription was active and within the last 12 months, you should still be able to generate a certificate from this. Please contact support@bmj.com and we will be able to assist you.

What happens to credit that I haven't redeemed?

Hours gained through CPD/ CME activity for the last 12 months are not lost and will be saved on the system for you to generate a certificate from.

Are the BMJ Best Practice certificates accredited?

The activity certificates are not accredited at the moment, but you can use the certificates as proof of time-based learning to organisations who offer accreditation. We have accreditation partners in over 60 countries who you can contact. Find out more here.

How do I view my institution's CME/ CPD usage?

You can view your institution’s CME/CPD usage by logging in with your institutional admin account and going to the My institution CME/CPD dashboard section. This will show you a simple overview of your registered user’s total number of searches performed and the total hours of time spent on BMJ Best Practice so far. Please remember that this dashboard only includes your registered users, not all users. To receive your full institutional usage report please contact support@bmj.com.

Referencing and Permissions

How do I reference BMJ Best Practice?

If referencing the BMJ Best Practice website, the most recent version of each topic should be cited e.g. 'Daniels R, Nutbeam T, Berry E. Sepsis in Adults. BMJ Best Practice. Jan 2018. https://stg-bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/monograph/1179.html. Last accessed 01 March 2018.'

How do I get permission to reuse BMJ Best Practice content or images?

If you wish to reuse or reproduce BMJ Best Practice content, please contact bmj.permissions@bmj.com. In some cases, a fee may apply.

Support

How do I give feedback or contact customer services?

Rest of World

T: + 44 (0) 207 111 1105
E: support@bmj.com
General enquiry form

North America
T: +1 855-458-0579 (toll free from USA)
E: ussupport@bmj.com

How do I request training/promotional support?
If your institution subscribes to BMJ Best Practice and you would like to organise training, webinars, or download user guides for your colleagues, please visit our BMJ resource centre or contact us:
Marketing support: marketingsupport@bmj.com
Training: training@bmj.com