FAQs

Below are answers to our most frequently asked questions. If you cannot find the answer you are looking for, you can get in touch with us via our customer support form.

Click the different tabs to direct your search:


How do I read articles/chapters/books?

There are several options for accessing and reading your content through manchesterhive. First, you must make sure that you have access rights to the content you would like to view. For more information on this, please see the next question.

When on a chapter or book page, you will see tabs on the article header, the first of which reads ‘Abstract’. This is where you will find a short description of the content you would like to access. Depending on the type of content, there could then be either one or two more tabs, one entitled ‘Full Text’ and the other ‘PDF’. Both of these tabs will bring up a content viewer on screen.

Alternatively, there is a ‘Download PDF’ button, which will allow you to create a copy of the content for use offline.

(Click here for Terms & Conditions)


How do I know if my institution has access to a book/article?

manchesterhive uses a colour-coded padlock system to denote what access you have:

  • Blue – user-accessible content: content that you/your institution has access to. This could include content which has been made available temporarily for promotional purposes

  • Yellow – open-access content: this content is free for everyone to view. Our open-access content is fully searchable through manchesterhive but is hosted on our open-access site, manchesteropenhive

  • Grey – you do not have access to this content. You can recommend content to your librarian – for instructions on how to do this, see the next question.


Does manchesterhive support single sign on?

manchesterhive is configured for single sign on through Open Athens and Shibboleth. Click here to sign in via institution, or choose the link in the top navigation bar.


How can I recommend content to my librarian?

Recommending content to your librarian is easy. When viewing the content you wish to recommend, simply choose the 'email' icon in the content tool bar. Fill in all the required details, including your librarian's email address and whether you are an undergraduate, postgraduate - taught course, postgraduate - researcher, or an academic, and click 'Send'. An email will be sent to your librarian including a link to the content you are recommending. 


How do I log in to my account?

There are several ways that you can log into your individual account: manchesterhive supports IP recognition access, and access via single sign on, such as Athens and Shibboleth, in addition to username and password.

If you access our content through your institution’s library catalogue, you may be automatically logged in. If this is not the case, there is a login form on both the homepage and the top navigation bar.


I am getting an error message when trying to access content, what can I do?

If you are having trouble accessing content which you previously had access to, click here to refresh the website cache. This will navigate you away from the current screen, simply choose the back button on your browser to return. You can then try accessing the content again. 

Alternatively, you can try refreshing your browser or opening the content in a different browser: we recommend Chrome. 

Following on from this, if you are still having difficulties, please get in touch with us using our customer support form, and we will be able to look into this for you.


What browsers are recommended?

Browsers: manchesterhive is configured for use with the current iterations of Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. If you are having any issues viewing aspects of the site, please ensure that you are using one of these and that the browser is fully updated.


I have an access token, how do I use it?

If you have an access token, this can be used by navigating to the content that the token applies to, and choosing the ‘Get access’ button on the content page: click the link titled ‘Have an access token?’ – You will then be able to enter your token, and access to the specific content will be granted.


What accessibility standard do manchesterhive and manchesteropenhive conform to?

manchesterhive and manchesteropenhive are powered by PubFactory, who conform to a minimum standard of WCAG 2.0.

Back to categories


How do I set up an alert?

manchesterhive enables you to set up custom alerts so that you can be informed of any new content as it becomes available.

For example, if you would like to be informed of any new books that fit a certain category, you can set up a search alert by creating a list of search results and clicking the bookmark tool. You can then choose to be notified when any new content which matches your search criteria becomes available on the platform.

You can also set the following alerts for new journal content, by visiting the specific journal page:

  • eTOC: get alerted when the eTOC for a journal is updated

  • Ahead of Print: be notified when the Ahead of Print is updated for a journal

  • Citation alerts: find out when another publication cites this journal


Can I save my annotations?

Your annotations are automatically saved to your account. You can view them by choosing 'My Stuff' in the top navigation bar, and then choosing 'My Annotations'. Here you can view, edit and create citations for your annotations.


How can I sign up for a newsletter?

If you are interested in getting regular updates about Manchester University Press and manchesterhive, you can sign up to our newsletter, at the bottom of the Manchester University Press homepage.


How do I access manchesterhive content?

If you are a member of an institution or library, your access is granted by the licenses held by your organisation. You are then able to create an individual account in order to take advantage of our personal tools, such as alerts, citations and annotations. If your organisation does not have access to specific content that you would like, you can recommend content to your librarian. (see How can I recommend content to my librarian? in the previous questions of this section)

Back to categories