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
01
Provide affordable access for everyone
- We actively choose to keep fees low to reach more people, whether it’s our comprehensive model for journals and primary sources, or our diverse ebook models. We lead with our mission, one decision at a time
- Through the JSTOR Access Initiative, we provide free or very low-cost access to more than 1,500 institutions around the world
- With the JSTOR Access in Prison initiative, we provide JSTOR access to learners in jails and prisons
- Our free reading program makes scholarly journals accessible to everyone anywhere in the world, regardless of their ability to pay
02
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
03
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
- Our faculty resource library provides comprehensive support for teaching and learning
- JSTOR Workspace simplifies research organization and citation
- JSTOR’s AI-enabled features empower students to do their work more efficiently and effectively
The latest from JSTOR
Trinity College expands partnership with JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services through charter program
Trinity College is deepening its work with JSTOR Stewardship by joining the charter program, gaining access to JSTOR Seeklight and scaling collections processing with expert oversight.
Philosophy and JSTOR inside an Ohio prison
A visit to Southeastern Correctional Institution gives the JSTOR Access in Prison team a closer look at how learners use JSTOR and how community shapes education inside.
What’s new in JSTOR Stewardship: July 2026
This month’s JSTOR Stewardship update welcomes new participating institutions, highlights newly available collections on JSTOR, and shares recent work from the digital stewardship community. Featured stories include AI-assisted collections processing, expanded access to distinctive materials, and community-led efforts to make digital collections more discoverable.
AI is changing research behaviors: How JSTOR preserves thinking and learning
As AI becomes part of the research process, JSTOR is exploring how to design tools that strengthen critical thinking, support research skills, and keep human judgment at the center of learning.
Making JSTOR more accessible worldwide
Learn how JSTOR’s country-based savings and JSTOR Access Initiative help expand access to scholarly resources worldwide, and why the Human Development Index will guide eligibility and pricing beginning in 2027.
Catalyzing a more public future for distinctive collections: A new initiative within JSTOR Stewardship
New support from the Mellon Foundation will help expand JSTOR Stewardship, giving more libraries and archives the tools to digitize, process, preserve, and share distinctive collections through JSTOR so original sources can reach broader audiences.
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services secures funding to help institutions expand public access to distinctive collections
With support from the Mellon Foundation, JSTOR Stewardship is launching a new initiative to help participants digitize collections and expand public access.
The University of North Dakota joins JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services to advance access to collections
The University of North Dakota joins JSTOR Stewardship, expanding discovery and access to its distinctive digital collections through JSTOR.
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services training: Project cataloging
Training for Stewardship participants (Tiers 2-3): catalog records, manage media, use linked fields, and organize work. One of three sessions in a monthly Stewardship training series.
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