Ryan Rodriguez
Senior Customer Success Manager, BMJ Group
“This update helps us keep up.”
Accurate and consistent usage data is vital to a library’s decision-making. As your partner, BMJ Group has updated our reporting systems to be fully compliant with the new COUNTER Release 5.1 standard, which became effective in February 2025.
During the past year, Ryan Rodriguez, our Senior Customer Success Manager (and COUNTER enthusiast!), who has extensive knowledge of usage statistics, has helped many librarians navigate these new standards. In this special interview, we asked Ryan to gather and address the questions and concerns he hears most frequently.
What is COUNTER Release 5.1, and why the update?
COUNTER Release 5.1 is the latest version of the Code of Practice, which helps us standardize how we measure the use of electronic resources. Think of it as a new and improved way of counting how many times our online journals, books, and databases are accessed. The digital world is always changing, so this update helps us keep up. It has a special focus on better tracking open access content and making the rules simpler and more transparent for everyone.
Release 5.1 became the official standard for usage reporting in January 2025.
What are the most significant changes we’ve seen?
Overall, industry colleagues are noticing a few key differences:
- Better open access tracking: We now have three “Access_Types”: Controlled (subscription-based), Open (what used to be called OA_Gold), and a new one called Free_To_Read for content that’s temporarily or permanently free.
- More detailed content types: The old “Multimedia” category has been broken down into more specific types, including Audiovisual, Image, Sound, and Interactive_Resource. We also have new types for print content, such as Conference and Reference_Work.
- Changes in book reporting: Although this doesn’t affect BMJ Group product stats, it’s important to know that how you count book usage has been updated. So, instead of just counting the whole book, librarians are focusing more on how individual chapters or sections are used. This gives a much clearer picture of which parts of a book are most popular.
How will this affect year-over-year comparisons?
That’s a great question! Because of the changes, especially in how we count book usage, you’ll need to be careful when comparing 2025 data with previous years. For the most accurate comparisons for books, it’s best to look at the “Unique_Title_Investigations” and “Unique_Title_Requests” metrics, as these are more consistent between Release 5 and Release 5.1.
What happened to SUSHI?
It’s still here, just with a new name! SUSHI (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative) has been renamed to COUNTER API. It works the same way, allowing us to automatically collect usage data, but the new name better reflects its purpose.
Do I need to do anything differently to get my reports?
For the most part, no. The names of the reports, such as Title, Database, Platform, and Item Reports, are staying the same. If you’re using a vendor’s platform to get your reports, they will handle the transition to Release 5.1. You may notice some changes in the numbers you see, especially for books, but the process for obtaining the reports should be familiar.
Any tips on BMJ Group reporting? Have report names changed, or is there a different process to request or access this data?
Great question! Beginning with the January 2025 usage period, our COUNTER reporting has moved to a new Scholarly iQ (SiQ) platform built for Release 5.1. You’ll still find the familiar TR/PR reports—just in a cleaner, faster interface. If you need historical usage prior to 2025, visit the legacy SiQ portal; our Customer Services team can also send you COUNTER 5 exports on request at US Support.
You’ll also notice a BMJ-specific “Combined Usage” view alongside the standard COUNTER reports. This optional view simply rolls up Controlled and Free_to_Read requests for a single “total engagement” number, while the standard COUNTER reports continue to show each Access_Type separately for those who prefer the granular breakdown. One quick heads-up: Free_to_Read items (e.g., limited-time promotions) often return behind the paywall after a set window, so the mix between Controlled and Free_to_Read can shift month to month—a normal pattern you might see in your trends.
If you’re unsure which report best fits your workflow—granular for audits vs. combined for quick benchmarking—just let us know and we’ll point you to the right download (or pull it for you).
7. Where can I find more information?
The official COUNTER website is the best place to go! They have a “Friendly Guide to Changes in Release 5.1” that breaks everything down in an easy-to-understand way. You can find it at countermetrics.org.
