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Online Sales Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions set out the conditions relating to the sale of personal subscriptions, to the publication(s) you have indicated before coming to these terms and conditions. If you want to purchase a subscription for an organisation, such as for an institution, company or more than just one person, please contact consortiasales@bmjgroup.com. They will help you to set up access to the product to best suit your organisation’s needs.
You should download a copy of these terms and conditions for your records.
Any agreement to purchase a subscription or access to our publications is with the BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group"). The BMJ Group is a private limited company, incorporated in the United Kingdom under company registration number 3102371. The BMJ Group's registered office is situated at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR. VAT Number 674738491. To contact us please either phone us on +44 (0) 7383 6270, fax us on +44 (0) 7387 6400 or email via support@bmjgroup.com.
BMJ Publishing Group Limited, as a publisher, is governed by the self regulated Press Complaints Commission. Their Code of Practice can be viewed by accessing their website.
Each publication is designed for specific users but is provided on an “as is” basis and subject to the disclaimers set out below.
1. Types of subscriptions and what is included?
1.1 Each publication we offer has different subscription options and therefore you should check the type of access and period of subscription/access on the web page for that publication which sets out its price and period of access.
1.2 Each subscription/access right is a personal, non exclusive, non transferable right of access from the date of contract, fully in accordance with our licence (see below). Online access delivery should occur in accordance with Clause 2.3.
1.3 For paper subscriptions (where offered) these will be delivered to your nominated address, based on the number of issues stated on the subscription page, for 1 year starting with the current issue at the point of contract. We will make every effort to deliver print goods within 30 days of publication, but cannot be held responsible for postal delays.
1.4 Any individual subscription/access request is subject to our licence terms below.
1.5 For certain features of online subscriptions, subscribers may need to agree to certain terms of use to access such features, including, without limitation the BMJ Learning Fora and Clinical Evidence Rapid Responses.
1.6 We reserve the full editorial control over our publications and reserve the right to make changes to our publications, including but not limited to, our editorial approach, the right to remove certain content which may be or become contentious, complained about or unlawful, the look feel and functionality of our publications.
2. Placing an order and our acceptance
2.1 When making an online payment, the process will only be available in English.
2.2 When submitting to your request to subscribe to/access our publications, you will be required to register first, if you have not previously done so. Your order basket will confirm which type of subscription/access rights you have indicated you require. For any print, online or print and online subscriptions, this will be for a period of 12 months, unless Clause 2.5 below applies. The 12 months will start in accordance with Clause 2.4 below. Where a shorter site licence or pay per view option is being ordered, this will be for the period stated on the subscription page. If you wish to cancel any subscription, you will have no contractual right to do so and as you are requesting access to a periodical there is not statutory right of cancellation. Acceptance of any cancellation request shall be at our absolute discretion and if accepted, may be subject to a cancellation charge.
2.3 After indicating what kind of subscription/access you require, you will then proceed to a checkout screen detailing the price excluding and including any taxes (if applicable), and any applicable UK/International delivery charges. You will be asked to confirm that you have read these terms and conditions. When you do submit your request for payment to be authorised by whatever means, you are making an offer to purchase a subscription/access, which we may accept or decline. After you submit your offer, our online payment provider will send you an email confirming that your payment has been processed. We will also send you an email confirming your order. We may at that time allow you to have temporary online access to the publication you have asked to subscribe to pending the processing of your order, but this is a gesture of goodwill, and does not represent acceptance of your offer. Ongoing delivery will occur if your order is accepted.
2.4 Your online payment will then be processed by us and we will confirm if your payment is not validated. A binding contract comes into effect between us once payment has been received and if we have not contacted you within 5 working days of you submitting your order (whichever is earliest) other than for a pay per view request or 30 day or less access right request, which will be when your payment is received by us. We have included this term to protect us in the case that a mistake has been made in pricing on the website, if we have inadvertently under-priced goods, or we are no longer able to supply a particular publication for some reason. In the case of a change of price, we will always contact you first to ensure that the price is acceptable - see Clause 4 below. If accepted, delivery will be made to you as specified above.
2.5 Subscriptions/access rights are supplied subject to availability, remaining in current circulation and continuing to be owned by us or licensed to us. In the event that we are unable to supply any subscriptions/access rights for the agreed term, we will inform you as soon as possible and provide you with a pro rata refund in the event that you have paid for a period for which we cannot comply. We will not however be liable for any other direct or indirect losses, nor any losses (as set out in Clause 6), caused as a result of not being able to supply you with the subscriptions for all or any of the periods subscribed to. This does not affect your statutory rights.
3. Your Account Details
If your request for a subscription/access rights is accepted, you will be responsible for maintaining confidentiality of your online account and password, restricting access to your computer and/or preventing unauthorised access to your account. You agree to take responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. If you believe that your account or password is being or is about to be used by anyone else you should inform us immediately via support@bmjgroup.com.
4. Prices and Payments
4.1 The price that you pay for your subscription/access rights should be the standard pricing as indicated on the website, which will depend on your billing/invoice address. These prices are valid for purchases made during the calendar year which the purchase relates to. You will be charged in the currency as indicated in the Checkout phase which, if not the country of your bank account, will be converted by your bank into the currency of your bank account, when processed. We are not responsible for any additional charges your bank may apply.
4.2 Whilst we try to ensure that all prices on our website are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover any error in the prices of the subscriptions you have ordered and this is greater than what you have paid, we will inform you as soon as possible and give you the option of recommencing your order at the correct price or cancelling it. If we are unable to contact you, we will treat the order as cancelled. If you cancel for this reason and we have already processed your payment, you will receive a full refund.
4.3 Online Payments may be made via credit or debit cards or as otherwise specified on our payment options section of the website. We take all reasonable precautions to keep the details of your order and payments secure, however unless we are negligent, we cannot be held liable for losses caused as a result of unauthorised access to the information provided by you.
4.4 We only accept payment via credit/debit card details and once submitted these are processed by our contractors. If however you wish to fax your payment details to us, or discuss other methods of payment, please contact support@bmjgroup.com.
5. Customs
When you are ordering a paper publication for delivery overseas, you may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once the package reaches the specified destination. Any additional charges for custom clearance must be borne by you. We have no control over these charges and cannot predict what they may be.
6. Disclaimers and limitations of liability
6.1 Disclaimers
a) General disclaimers
We try and ensure our websites are available for use 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, other than for a small period for scheduled downtime. However we do not warrant that at other time our websites will be available. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will be not be liable to you for damages or refunds should our sites become unavailable or access to a site becomes slow or incomplete due to system back-up procedures, internet traffic volume, upgrades, overload of requests to the servers, general network failures or delays, or any other cause which may from time to time make the any of our websites inaccessible to you. Should there be persistent and prolonged periods of inaccessibility caused by us or our contractors (and excluding by reasons of Force Majeure events) the maximum amount we will be liable to you for us a pro rata amount of the subscription/access fees you have paid to us proportionate to the period you were not able to access the relevant website.
Description or reference to a product or publication does not imply endorsement of that product or publication, unless it is owned by the BMJ Group and in which case it is subject to the disclaimers limitations of liability herein and within any licence or other agreement with you, the latter of which shall prevail in the event of a conflict. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the material and information displayed on our websites is provided “as is”, without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to accuracy.
b) Additional product specific disclaimers
Best Health
Best Health is designed for non-medically trained individuals. It does not offer medical advice and should not be seen as a replacement for consultation with a doctor or other health professional. The articles and information on the Best Health website are designed for you to help you talk to your doctor, not to be used instead of seeing your doctor.
Categories presented in Best Health indicate a judgement about the strength of evidence and the relevant importance of benefits and risks. We rely on our authors to confirm accuracy. Readers should be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. Also there are regular advances in medical research. Our categories do not indicate whether a particular treatment is generally appropriate or whether it is suitable for an individual.
Best Practice & Evidence Summary Pages
Best Practice and the Evidence Summary Pages are intended for use by licensed medical health professionals outside of the United States and Canada. You are responsible for your decisions on diagnosis, treatment and follow up for a patient, or from choosing or not choosing specific treatments based on this. The content does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients, or recommend therapy. Users should use their professional judgment in using the BMJ content, which is done at their own risk. They should always check and ensure that in each situation at the point of care they are qualified to consult and/or treat and/or prescribe at the point of care of a patient. Categories presented indicate a judgment about the evidence and strength of evidence available to our authors prior to publication and the relevant importance of benefit and harms. BMJ Group relies on its authors to confirm the accuracy of the information presented to prescribe generally accepted practices. Users should be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. Because of this fact and because of regular advances in medical research and the possibility of human error, users should independently verify specified diagnosis methods, evidence, treatments, follow up, drugs and any contraindications or side effects including via manufacturers guidance. Also, the categories and information do not indicate whether a particular diagnosis, evidence, treatment and/or follow up is generally appropriate or whether it is up to date and suitable for a particular individual. Please also note that information whilst not warranted to be accurate, is generally updated annually so may be out of date. Ultimately it is the User’s responsibility to make your own professional judgments, so to appropriately advise and treat yourself or your patients.
Clinical Evidence
The information contained in this publication is intended for medical professionals. Categories presented in Clinical Evidence indicate a judgement about the strength of the evidence available to our authors prior to publication and the relevant importance of benefit and harms. We rely on our authors to confirm the accuracy of the information presented to describe generally accepted practices. Readers should be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. Because of this fact and because of regular advances in medical research we strongly recommend that readers independently verify specified treatments and drugs including manufacturers’ guidance. Also, the categories do not indicate whether a particular treatment is generally appropriate or whether it is suitable for a particular individual. Ultimately it is the reader’s responsibility to make their own professional judgements, so to appropriately advise and treat their patients. Opinions posted on Clinical Evidence are those of the individuals and not the views of the BMJ Group.
BMJ Updates
The information contained in BMJ Updates is intended for medical professionals. BMJ Updates provides an educational service for practising clinicians, designed to alert clinicians to important new research; however we cannot warrant its accuracy. It is intended to support evidence based decision making, by providing links to published research reports about the diagnosis, treatment, preduction and prognosis, etiology and economics of medical conditions. However, “evidence does not make decisions”. Clinicians making decisions about the care of their patients must take into account the limitations of evidence from research as well as the unique nature of their patients’ circumstances and wishes. Readers should also be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. Because of this fact and also because of regular advances in medical research, we strongly recommend that readers independently verify any information they chose to rely on. Ultimately it is the reader’s responsibility to make their own professional judgements.
BMJ Updates attempts to provide access to the best new research of relevance for clinical practice in the fields of primary medical care and sub specialties of internal medicine. It does not report all research but uses explicit criteria (http://www.acpjc.org/shared/purpose_and_procedure.htm) to define a subset of published research that is likely to be valid and ready for clinical attention. Practising physicians then provide their assessments of the relevance and newsworthiness of the reports through an online review process, the McMaster Online Rating of Evidence (MORE, http://hiru.mcmaster.ca/MORE). Individual clinicians who then receive these reviews must then apply their own judgement concerning the strength and applicability of this evidence to their own patients.
BMJ Learning
We do not warrant that the completion of any Modules or use of other material on the BMJ Learning website will be all the necessary continuing professional development you need nor that it is accurate. We rely on our authors of articles, contractors and third party data providers to confirm the accuracy of information presented and to describe generally accepted practices and therefore we as the publisher and editors cannot warrant its accuracy or that this meets all or any requirements for professional development. Readers should be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. Because of this fact and also because of regular advances in medical research we strongly recommend that readers independently verify any information that they chose to rely upon. Ultimately it is the reader’s responsibility to make their own professional judgements. Opinions posted by users via the Fora and other parts of the sites are those of the individuals posting them and not the views of the BMJ Group.
6.2 Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE BMJ GROUP EXPRESSLY EXCLUDES:
i. ALL CONDITIONS, WARRANTIES AND OTHER TERMS WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE BE IMPLED BY STATUTE, COMMON LAW OR THE LAW OF EQUITY;
ii. ANY LIABILITY CAUSED BY A FORCE MAJEURE EVENT;
iii. ANY OBLIGATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OR ACCURACY; AND
iv. OTHER THAN AS SET OUT BELOW, ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS OR DAMAGE
INCURRED BY YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING BY YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE ANY INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE OR WITHIN ANY PUBLICATION SUBSCRIBED TO, VIA ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO OUR WEBSITE(S) AND ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY LIABILITY FOR LOSS OF INCOME OR REVENUE, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF PROFITS OR CONTRACTS ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WASTED TIME AND FOR ANY OTHER LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND, HOWSEOEVER AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, BY BREACH OF CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORSEEABLE.
NOTHING IN THIS PROVISION AFFECTS OUR LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY ARISING FROM OUR NEGLIGENCE NOR FOR LIABILITY FOR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION OR MISREPRESENTATION AS TO A FUNDAMENTAL MATTER NOR ANY OTHER LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER THE APPLIACABLE LAW. THESE PROVISIONS DO NOT AFFECT ANY APPLICABLE STATUTORY RIGHTS.
IF, NOTWITHSTANDING THE OTHER TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT (OR ANY OTHER AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND US), WE SHOULD HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS, HARM OR DAMAGE, YOU AND WE AGREE THAT SUCH LIABILITY SHALL UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES EXCEED THREE TIMES THE FEES YOU HAVE PAID TO US. YOU AND THE BMJ GROUP AGREE THAT THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS AN AGREED ALLOCATION OF RISK BETWEEN YOU AND US AND REFLECTS THE FEES, IF ANY, WE CHARGE YOU TO USE OUR PUBLICATIONS.
7. Alteration of Service or Amendments to the Conditions
We reserve the right to make changes to our website, policies, and these terms and conditions at any time. You will be subject to the general policies and conditions in force at the time that you use the website or that you order goods from us, unless any change to those policies or these conditions is required to be made by law or government authority (in which case it will apply to orders previously placed by you). If any of these conditions are deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that condition will be deemed severable and the closest enforceable substitute (if possible) will be included and the excluded clause will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining conditions.
8. Events beyond our reasonable control
We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause which is beyond our reasonable control including reasons of Force Majeure which shall include any default due to an act of God, war, or threatened war, act of terrorism or threatened act of terrorism, strike, lockout, individual action, fire, flood, drought, tempest or other event beyond the control of either party. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.
9. Waiver
If you breach these conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these conditions.
10. Licence and acceptable and prohibited use of our content and website(s)
10.1 The content, layout, design, data, databases and graphics on our websites and within our print publications are protected by UK and other international intellectual property laws and are owned by the BMJ Group and/or its licensors. Unless expressly permitted in writing, or as otherwise permitted by virtue of the Website Terms and Conditions http://group.bmj.com/group/about/legal/terms and other than printing a small proportion of content or displaying this on your screen (strictly for your personal non-commercial use), no part of the website may be reproduced, stored in any medium, including but not limited to a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, broadcasting) nor shown in public other than a Personal Development Plan, which you may download and store for your personal, non-commercial use. For the avoidance of doubt, all template documents and software you use to create any Personal Development Plan on the BMJ Learning is website are BMJ Group’s property, and you are granted a revocable, non-transferable licence for personal, non-commercial use.
10.2 You may not create any derivative work or make any other adaptation, without our prior written consent. For the avoidance of doubt, framing of our websites or any part of them is not permitted, without our express written permission.
10.3 You must not modify the copies you have displayed or printed in any way and you may not use any illustrations, photographs, videos or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. Any permitted use of our material is subject to ensuring that our copyright notices and trade marks appear as they do on all copies online and customary bibliographical citations including author attribution, date, article title (where applicable) and the URL to the relevant BMJ Group website are included. If you print off or download any material from our website(s) in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our site(s) will cease immediately and you must at our option return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. All rights not expressly granted in these terms or any express written licence, are reserved.
10.4 The BMJ Group’s trademarks and logos which are displayed on any relevant website are the trademarks of the BMJ Group and its Licensors. Any use including framing, metatags or other text utilising the BMJ Group’s trademarks or other trademarks displayed, is strictly prohibited without our (or our Licensor's) express written consent.
10.5 Any material you upload to our sites will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary (unless otherwise stated on the site) and you grant us a transferrable, royalty free, worldwide, irrevocable licence to use, copy, distribute, edit, amend, disclose and sublicence to third parties any such material for any purpose, in any media. We may remove, edit or amend any such material at any time without notice to you. To the extent moral rights attach to any material to the fullest extent permitted by law these are waived in our favour. All material must adhere to the requirements of Clause 10.7. We will also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to our site constitutes a violation of their rights including without limitation their intellectual property rights, reputational rights or of their right to privacy.
10.6 Any request for permission to use our content or images, or other use of our intellectual property not authorised under a subscription, should be made using the contact us details or permission request pages on the relevant website(s).
10.7 You must not use the website in any way that causes or is likely to cause the website or access to it to be interrupted, damaged or impaired in any way. You understand that you are solely responsible for all electronic communications and contents sent from your computer to us. You must use the website for lawful purposes only. You must not use the website for any of the following:
- Fraudulent purposes in connection with a criminal offence or otherwise unlawful activity
- To send, use or re-use any material that is illegal, offensive, abusive, indecent, harmful, defamatory, obscene or menacing; or in breach of copyright, trademark, confidence, privacy or any other right; or is otherwise injurious to third parties; or objectionable; or which consists of or contains software viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any spam
- To cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety
- To reproduce, duplicate, copy or resell any part of our site in contravention with these terms of use
10.8 Our websites contain links including hyperlinks which may take you outside BMJ Group websites. Links are provided for your convenience, and an inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement or approval by us of the linked website, its operator or content. We have no control over the contents or functionality of those sites and accept no responsibility for any loss or damages that may arise from your use of them. We are not responsible for any website outside the BMJ Group websites, and such websites use will be subject to relevant terms and conditions and privacy policies.
10.9 You may link to articles or the home page of the BMJ or BMJ Journals websites otherwise you must not deep link to any of our websites or link to our home pages without our agreement in writing. You may not provide a link which suggests a form of association, approval or endorsement on our part, unless we have expressly agreed to this in writing. We reserve the right to withdraw any linking permission upon notice to you or by amending these terms and conditions.
11. Privacy
Our full privacy policy is set out on our corporate website at http://group.bmj.com/group/about/legal/privacy/. Please note that a session-based Cookie is used on this shopping site to link to data that we store about you on our servers. This data includes the contents of your shopping basket, demographic data (including address data), subscription information and content entitlements. This Cookie is used to point to this data, whenever you are logged on to this shopping site, or when using any of our websites. You can turn off cookies within your browser by going to 'Tools | Internet Options | Privacy' and selecting to block cookies. If you turn off cookies, you will be unable to place orders or benefit from the other features that use cookies.
12. Third Party Rights Exclusion
No party, who is not party to any contract which may be entered into by us, may enforce the terms of that contract and therefore we hereby exclude the operation of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
13. Governing law and jurisdiction
To the fullest extent permitted by law, these terms and conditions and any issues arising, shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, whose courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to our right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these conditions in your country of residence or other relevant country, where necessary or advisable for enforcement purposes.
Date of last update of document: May 2009
