One of the biggest challenges to writing about medical research is actually getting your hands on the study.
Many of the larger or better-known journals, such as the JAMA group, NEJM, Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology, offer dedicated press access and helpful, well-staffed, responsive press offices who can send you a study quickly. Wiley and Elsevier both offer limited access to certain journals at certain times, though the process can be more complex and finicky depending on what you are covering.
I recently learned that Taylor & Francis Group, another large publisher of medical journals, has a program aptly called Press Pass that gives credentialed journalists access to their studies as well. As with EurekAlert and most other journalist access programs, “credentialed” does not mean you have to be employed full-time by a specific publication. Freelancers are eligible as long as they provide clips demonstrating that they do write about medical research in the media.
Taylor and Francis says they have more than 3.5 million articles available. It’s nice to have access to everything as you need it rather than by piecemeal or relying on an intermediary as often is the case with other publishers. (Note: They do limit your total access to a set number of articles, so it’s not something you can use to go crazy downloading hundreds of articles.)
Journals most relevant to health journalists would fall under the categories Health and Social Care, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health, Behavioral Sciences and Bioscience. (See a complete list of journals at 2018 price list, a PDF that is keyword searchable.)
Journalists interested in getting access to Press Pass can email the media team at newsroom@taylorandfrancis.com. Include your job role, what publication(s) you write for, and links (or PDFs) to articles you have written. At the same time, you can sign up for their embargoed news releases.
On a side note, they ask journalists to share any articles they have written using Taylor and Francis content so they can tweet it @tandfnewsroom. If you are trying to build up a social media following, every extra tweet of your work with a mention of your name is helpful!
