A quick guide to the BioMed Central site

Here is a quick guide to some of the key features of our site. Some of them are available only to registered users, but remember that registration is free (register here).

Menu bar
We have introduced a menu bar on all our pages to help you navigate to key parts of the site:

home takes you to the BioMed Central home page
journals A-Z and journals by subject allow you to navigate to BioMed Central journals (see below)
advanced search - a powerful search facility for articles on BioMed Central and on Pub Med. (see below)
authors - information pages for authors, including how to submit an article, can be found in this section
reviewers - information about peer review on our journals
libraries - information for librarians about our products
jobs takes you to BioMed Scientist - BioMed Central and The Scientist's international recruitment website for life science and medical professionals
about - general information about BioMed Central and what we do
my BioMed Central - personalized information for registered users (see below)

Journal listings
All the journals that BioMed Central publish are listed alphabetically on the journals A-Z page and by subject on the journals by subject page. Journals may appear more than once on the journals by subject listing. Use these pages to find and navigate to the journals that are of interest to you.

Advanced search
Advanced search is a powerful and flexible tool for searching all the articles in BioMed Central journals or Pub Med. You can specify and refine a search using dropdown menus or as a Boolean expression. For more detailed help on using the features of the search, click the 'Search tips' link near the search button. Advanced search is only available to registered users.

On this page you can also see your search history for the current session. You can refine and combine these searches and then store them for easy re-running in future sessions. You can also have the results of stored searches e-mailed to you on a regular basis or whenever new articles matching your search are published.

Comments
You can now comment on all articles published in our journals. To make use of this feature, follow the 'Post a comment' link in the top left box of any article abstract or full text. If comments have already been posted on an article there will be a link to them here too.

To post a comment you need to be a registered user and to verify your e-mail address. Verification is a one-time only process - when you first try to post a comment you will be sent a verification e-mail to your registered e-mail address. Click the link in the e-mail and your address will automatically be verified and you can continue with your posting. Our comment system is moderated to prevent abuse, but you will receive a prompt decision on your comment and it will appear on the site immediately on acceptance.

Email to a friend
Want to tell a colleague about an article in one of our journals? Use the 'Email to a friend' link in the top left box of any article abstract or full text to send them the details.

My BioMed Central
My BioMed Central is a personalized section of the site for registered users. Here you will find recent and highlighted articles from BioMed Central journals in the subjects that interest you. It also gives you a summary of details of manuscripts that you have submitted or are in the process of submitting, and articles that you may be reviewing for us. In My manuscripts you can see full details and can progress submissions and reports. If you have published articles then you can see access statistics for them too.

You can also update any details of your registration from My BioMed Central and opt to receive e-mail alerts of the latest articles published in your subject areas [more information].

BMC journal pages
There are two new navigational features on the pages of individual BMC journal pages:

If you have the citation for an article in this journal the jump to box on the left-hand side will let you go straight to it by providing the volume and article number (you can also browse the journal through the Archive button).


Related journals on the right-hand side lets you see and go to all BioMed Central journals in the same subject area as this journal.