Read provides access to articles through a variety of ways that depend on what type of paper a user is trying to access and how their institution's library is setup. It's also possible the user is not familiar with how to use the app, or their institution just doesn't have a subscription to the paper they want to access. Due to this, there are many possibilities as to why a user may see that they are not able to gain access to an article. In this flowchart, we provide a step-by-step outline that librarians can use to identify the source of the issue, and for us to better assist the Read community. Here, we will provide a breakdown of the steps in the flowchart and explain them in more detail.
Is the paper paywalled?
The first step is to make sure if the paper is behind a paywall or is open-access. If the paper is open-access then all users should be able to access the paper without logging into their institution. If the paper is behind a paywall, the user will be required to login to their institution using the Institutional Access feature.
Does the institution have a subscription to the article?
The misconception for many users is that if a paper is paywalled, they should always be able to access the paper as long as they are connected to an institution. However, it is important to note that the journal they are trying to access must be a part of the institution's holdings. If the institution has an embargo in place or does not have an active subscription, they will not be able to gain access to the paper.
User on Institution's IP Range?
The institution must make sure they have their IP listed and approved by their journal vendor. Once this is done the user should always be able to access a paper, as long as their institution has access, if they are on-site or connected to their institution's wireless network. If this does not work, please contact us to let us know there is an issue or to help update your IP Range.
The Checklist (user must meet all requirements)
1. Are the user's credentials active?
2. Does the user have remote access privileges?
3. Do they have a 2/Multi-Factor Authentication setup?
Q3 only applies if your institution has 2FA/MFA setup.
Here, we have a checklist that librarians must go through with the user. In order for the Institutional Access to work, users will need active credentials and have remote access available to them. Also, if their institution has a 2-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication setup, they will have to go through this process in the app as well. If your institution has recently implemented 2FA/MFA please contact support.
VPN or Proxy
VPN and proxies are the most frequent methods of access used by institutions. If your institution uses a VPN, please make sure the user turns their VPN on when trying to access the full-text of an article.
Read Mobile or Read Web?
The web version of Read only provides a Manual Login option, which is essentially the same as the user logging logging into their institution's library through a browser. If this does not work, please contact us as there may be an issue within the proxy URL.
Automatic Proxy or Manual Login?
Again, the manual option should work in Read mobile because it is the same as the user logging into their institution's library via browser.
Does "Save and Log In" option work? Should lead to the "Successful Login!" message
Here, we want to make sure the user has correctly entered their credentials. Sometimes users mistype their credentials which will cause the message "Login Failed" to appear. If they were able to login successfully and have met the other criteria, but are still having issues, they would have to contact support.
Contact Support. Please provide the following information:
1. Full name of institution
2. PMIDs of the articles the user is having issues with
3. Which part of the flowchart you were running into issues with.
The above showcase the many areas where an issue could derive from, but these issues can be tackled with a better understanding of the way the Read app works and its processes. Sometimes the issues are a bit more technical, which is why the librarian or user should always feel free to contact our Support Team to look further into the issues. However, by going through this flowchart and indicating the three pieces of information above, we can gather the information we need from our users, and will be able to pinpoint the potential cause of the issue much better.
To contact support please send us a ticket through
ZenDesk Support or send us an email at support@qxmd.com.
Read strives to provide the best experience for clinicians in discovering and keeping up with the latest medical research. We welcome any institutions that want to work with us to improve their communities access to medical information. Read by QxMD’s free Basic tier of the Institutional Edition platform is available to any hospital or medical school in the world that has journal subscriptions. Institutions can also choose to upgrade at anytime for more features built around detailed journal/user insights and quality improvement. Sign up for free today at https://institutions.readbyqxmd.com/sign-up-for-free/.
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