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Web Medicine
For the British Medical Journal getting wired was a winning marketing move...

THE BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL is one of the most respected medical journals in the world. It is regularly quoted by all sections of the media and is cited in many scientific articles and books. But the BMJ didn't always have this level of global reach and visibility.

Before going online, the paper-based BMJ had a core readership of doctors and medical professionals in the United Kingdom. It only had a small readership in other parts of the world. The Journal tried various methods to market itself globally - press releases, advertising, and so on - none of which had any major impact.

But then in 1995 one of the editorial team, Tony Delamothe, suggested putting the Journal on the web as an experiment to try out what was then a new communications medium. The editorial team and the British Medical Association (owners of the BMJ) readily agreed.

The result surprised them all.

"Since going online exposure to the BMJ has doubled," says Delamothe. "And that's interesting because the paper BMJ goes out to 80 percent of doctors in the United Kingdom. So we're reaching people we never reached before - and in countries we previously struggled to get exposure in." Going online has also increased the prestige of the BMJ. "There are five major medical journals in the world - the Big Five," continues Delamothe. "We think we rank four or five in the paper world. But in the electronic realm we're probably number one."

Revenue model
Despite the success of the BMJ online, it is not profitable. The publication currently works to one revenue model - advertising, most of which comes from pharmaceutical companies. Revenues went up by 60 percent last year, but still need to increase.

But, as Delamothe points out, turning a profit is not necessarily the point.

"For one thing, the site isn't that expensive to run. And, certainly in the first phase, we viewed the whole exercise as marketing - and in that sense it's been a phenomenal success for the BMJ. We now get around 140,000 people visiting the website every week," he says.

Complementary Mediums
It would be very easy to see the success of the electronic BMJ as heralding the death of the print version, or even as a precursor to the demise of print in general. But Delamothe and his colleagues believe the two should go hand in hand, complementing each other, and are presently looking at how best to exploit the characteristics of the two different mediums.

"Paper is easy to read and portable, while the electronic medium offers infinite storage and allows you to conduct searches," explains Delamothe. "So what we've come up with is ELPS, which stands for Electronic Long Paper Short. We put full-length articles on the website and have succinct versions in the paper journal. Most of our readers are busy, jobbing doctors. So they can get a good overview of an article in the paper journal, or go to the web for the full version with extensive notes and references."

There is another way ELPS is being played out. Before going online the Journal was only publishing 30 percent of letters received from readers - and these were usually published six or seven months after the article to which they referred. Now the Journal is posting all responses within 24-hours.

Future
As for the future, the BMJ plan to keep their fingers on the pulse when it comes to new technology. They were early adopters of the web and are now looking at the possibilities of making the BMJ available on handheld devices.

"We see the web as part of the strategy," he says. "It's the platform of the moment. But in a few years mobile handheld devices may well be the norm. So we're looking at making the BMJ available in the new formats. One advantage of handheld devices is doctors could collect questions when they're on the hospital wards and hotlink to get the answers from the BMJ. But there are many possibilities and the BMJ will strive to stay at the forefront"

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