Our commitment as a nonprofit

As a trusted, nonprofit organization, JSTOR has made a commitment across our products and services to provide equitable, sustainable models to maximize access to knowledge. 

Being an independent nonprofit uniquely allows us to operate between libraries and publishers and users, balancing their needs and interests—with the ultimate goal of providing equitable access to knowledge today and in the future. 

Our priorities and approach

Provide affordable access for everyone


Support sustainable open access content

Our partnerships with libraries and publishers help us grow open access through content and community initiatives that make more content discoverable and freely accessible worldwide, including:

  • Reveal Digital, a collaboration with libraries to fund, source, digitize, and publish open access primary source collections from under-represented voices
  • Path to Open, which offers a sustainable open access solution for libraries, supports the nonprofit university press community, and invests in authors, by making books in the program open access three years after publication
  • JSTOR Daily, which makes scholarship more accessible through engaging articles and free teaching resources that enrich learning in the humanities, arts, and social sciences—each linking to open and freely available content on JSTOR

Lead the preservation of scholarship

  • We have secured the needed rights to ensure content on JSTOR is accessible to libraries for the long-term, providing a trusted alternative to hard copies on shelves
  • Our digital content can be readily converted to newer formats as they are developed in the future
  • Digital files for the entire archive are preserved using the approach and infrastructure developed by Portico
  • Our archives can be transferred to a third-party steward in the extremely unlikely event that JSTOR should ever cease operations

Advance scholarship and teaching practices

The latest from JSTOR

A garden gnome with a red hat and blue coat sits among piles of old photographic slides, waving with one hand.
Case study

Charting the course of digital art history: University of California San Diego Library from Artstor to JSTOR

Explore how UC San Diego Library built a transformative 200,000-image digital collection for Artstor, its impact over two decades, and how the Visual Arts Legacy Collection enters a new chapter on JSTOR.

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JSTOR Daily Resource

Teaching with the American Prison Newspapers collection

Curricular materials, guides, and readings designed to help educators and students teach with the American Prison Newspapers collection, centering incarcerated voices and critical inquiry.

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News

North Carolina State University becomes part of JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services charter program

North Carolina State University has joined JSTOR’s Digital Stewardship Services charter program, partnering to advance AI-assisted tools like JSTOR Seeklight and accelerate the processing and discovery of unique digital archival collections.

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Blog

Pressing play with THEI: Excellence, agency, and the architecture of opportunity

The Tennessee Higher Education Initiative (THEI) rejects the idea that incarcerated students should accept “whatever is available.” Instead, their Navigating Forward project is built on the belief that learners inside deserve excellence—resources that are not only functional but dignifying.

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Resource

AI research tool promotional toolkit

Access ready-made outreach materials, training guides, FAQs, and social media content to help your community understand and effectively use JSTOR’s AI research tool for discovery and research.

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Resource

Artstor promotional toolkit

Let’s get off on the right foot! Boost awareness of Artstor on JSTOR’s rich content and powerful tools with these ready-to-use resources. From eye-catching social […]

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Resource

Path to Open: Communications toolkit for publishers

Access ready-to-use messaging, social media assets, and outreach guidance to help university presses and scholarly publishers promote their participation in Path to Open and highlight their open access impact.

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Resource

Path to Open: Communications toolkit for libraries

Access ready-to-use messaging, social media assets, and outreach resources to help your library promote its participation in Path to Open and highlight the impact of supporting sustainable open access models.

A 17th-century magnetic compass housed in a wooden case with brass hinges. The compass features a detailed wind rose with cardinal directions and degree markings engraved on a circular plate. The needle points north, and the ornate design includes concentric rings of numbers and letters used for navigation.
Resource

JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services promotional toolkit

Access ready-to-use messaging, social media assets, and training resources to help your institution promote its participation in JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services and engage your campus community.