Our history
In 1994, the Internet was in its early days, and William G. Bowen—then president of the Mellon Foundation—conceived of JSTOR to solve a growing problem: university and college libraries were running out of space for expanding scholarly collections.
His idea was transformative: convert printed journals into digital form and store them in a shared online archive. This innovation helped reduce storage costs, free up physical space, and vastly improve access to research.
Decades later, JSTOR is a thriving nonprofit working with more than 14,000 libraries, museums, and publishers worldwide. Through our products and services, JSTOR has transformed access to scholarly materials—including journals, books, images and other primary sources—to reach more than 100 million users each year.
Sign up for updates
Never miss a thing. Get updates from JSTOR delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up you agree to our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the provided link on any marketing message.
"*" indicates required fields
What will the next 30 years bring?
Explore more about JSTOR’s evolution and impact.
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services training: Project administration
Training for Stewardship participants (Tiers 2-3): create/edit projects, map publishing targets, manage users, access preservation, and create new projects from existing content. One of three sessions in a monthly Stewardship training series.
“Go read the article, then we’ll talk”
From a Colorado prison, Janos Toevs used JSTOR to connect with scholar Shawn Bushway, turning years of independent research into an ongoing collaboration.
SUNY Morrisville joins JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services charter program
SUNY Morrisville joins the JSTOR Stewardship charter program to expand access to distinctive collections, advance digitization, and explore AI-assisted collections processing with JSTOR Seeklight.
Publisher Collections on JSTOR expands significantly for 2027, growing from 22 to 36 participating publishers
Publisher Collections on JSTOR will expand to 36 participating publishers in 2027, building on growing library participation and increased use of scholarly ebooks.
Expanding scholarly conversations: Introducing citations to JSTOR Access in Prison
A new citation tool helps learners using JSTOR Access in Prison format sources and retrieve articles more easily.
What’s new in JSTOR Stewardship: August 2026
See what’s new across the JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services community, including new participants, distinctive collections, AI-assisted description, accessibility work, and lessons from institutions expanding access to their digital materials.
Now available on Artstor on JSTOR: Chinese and Japanese Ceramics from the Gardiner Museum
Explore highlights from the Gardiner Museum’s Chinese and Japanese ceramics collections, now available through Artstor on JSTOR, and discover how porcelain reflects centuries of artistic exchange, trade, and cultural influence.
An update to JSTOR’s free reading program
JSTOR is updating its free reading program to provide registered readers with access to 10 articles every 30 days, while open and free content remains available without affecting the reading allowance.
Making images more accessible: Introducing alt text in JSTOR Stewardship
New alt text tools in JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services help institutions make image collections more accessible while keeping expert review and judgment at the center.