Innovative program that gives incarcerated students access to scholarly research recognized for its transformative impact

The JSTOR Access in Prison Initiative, which enables students inside jails and prisons to access the scholarly journals, books, and primary sources hosted on JSTOR, was honored this week with the 2024 ALPSP Impact Award. The prestigious award is reserved for initiatives that demonstrate substantial “beneficial impact within scholarly publishing and communications.”

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers announced the award Thursday, September 12, at the society’s annual conference in Manchester, UK. The JSTOR Access in Prison Initiative was recognized for its transformative work to improve access to educational material for incarcerated students.

JSTOR Access in Prison senior manager Stacy Burnett accepted the award on behalf of ITHAKA. “Half a million people leave prison every year, and they need a path to a better life after incarceration,” she said. “Education is part of that path. We’re so grateful for the support this program has received from our foundation supporters, departments of corrections, and of course the many scholarly publishers who have worked with us to make this possible.”

JSTOR Access in Prison began as a single installation at the Bard Prison Initiative in 2007. Students in that early pilot used an index of the most cited articles on JSTOR and a moderated request system to access articles relevant to their work. Since 2019, supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ascendium Education Group, JSTOR has improved the offline index and developed an online version that meets strict prison security requirements. Today, more than a million students have access to JSTOR in almost 1,400 prisons and jails around the world.

“JSTOR’s mission is to help more people access higher education, and JSTOR Access in Prison is a true embodiment of that mission,” said ITHAKA president Kevin Guthrie. “In the past, students who are incarcerated have faced significant hurdles to learning and to conducting research. We’re incredibly proud of the work this initiative has done to help lower or remove those hurdles, and we’re deeply honored by ALPSP’s recognition of those efforts.”

About JSTOR

JSTOR is a part of ITHAKA, a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve access to knowledge and education for people around the world. As a nonprofit that believes in the power of knowledge to change the world for the better, JSTOR partners with libraries, museums, and publishers to reduce costs, extend access, and preserve scholarship for the future as affordably and sustainably as possible. At JSTOR, we strengthen the depth and quality of research by bringing together journals, books, images, and primary sources on a platform with unique tools for teaching and exploration.