Launched 2nd September 2021.
Supporting federated access through Shibboleth/OpenAthens, SeamlessAccess provides a quick and secure single sign on, so that users can access emerald.com/insight (and other enabled platforms) anywhere using their institution credentials. With many courses taught online to an international student population, SeamlessAccess will improve off-campus access to your Emerald subscriptions. 

What does this mean for users? 
SeamlessAccess will recognise if the user has previously logged into emerald.com/insight using their Shibboleth or OpenAthens detail and will display their previously used institution as the first option. This means that the user no longer has to search for their institution every time in order to gain access – reducing the steps and simplifying the experience.

Please note, as with all federated access provision, Emerald do not store the end users password information on our systems - only the preferred institution's details are retained.


What does this look like on Emerald Insight?


The first difference that users will notice is the new SeamlessAccess button which will appear on the login page and on the article turn-away page - the page that the user will see when they have clicked on a piece of content (html or pdf) and they are not authenticated for access. Of course, if they are already authenticated by IP then this indicates that their institution does not have a subscription to this content.

If your selected institution has enabled federated access to emerald.com/insight, you will be permitted login via the institution’s federated authentication service (i.e. Shibboleth / OpenAthens). You will then be returned to Emerald Insight as an authorised user and be able to view all content included in the institution’s holdings.


What if my institution isn't listed?
If your institution isn't listed then you will need to use your usual methods of access to our content (via your library portal) as Emerald have not been instructed to enable federated access for your institutions account.


The list of federations with which Emerald are partnered can be viewed here: 
Federated access to Emerald Insight (Shibboleth)


Please see our guides for further information:

User Guide

SeamlessAccess FAQs