Do you get credit for a link in a forum which is only accessible to "registered" users? I've noticed a great number of forums pick up our articles, and a small majority have access limitations... thanks
No. Guests can't get in to a "registered" area. SE spiders are guests so they can't get in either. If the spiders can't find your article, the SEs can't index it. Putting something in a "registered only" or "members only" section (like The Underground here at DP) means it won't be indexed. You may get traffic from those forums but they won't enhance your SE ranking or PR.