JSTOR was founded to be a shared digital archive serving the scholarly community. We understand the value of the scholarship and other material in the archives and that the future accessibility of this content is essential. Libraries around the world rely on us and contribute Archive Capital Fees to JSTOR for preservation activities.

We actively pursue long-term preservation in several ways:

Preserving the original print materials

We work with institutions knowledgeable in the preservation of paper to store copies of the original print publications underlying the archives so that they are available for re-digitization as well as other unanticipated needs. The California Digital Library and Harvard Depository act as paper repositories for JSTOR.

For print and other materials included in JSTOR from rare and special or private collections, originals are preserved by the owning libraries, societies, museums, or other organizations and individuals. This includes content in our Additional Collections.

Creating the digital content

JSTOR creates digital content such that it can be readily converted to newer formats as they are developed in the future.  Print pages are scanned as 1-bit., 600 dpi bitonal TIFFs using the CCITGroup 4 compression scheme.  Color and gray scale images are scanned as uncompressed 24-bit and 8-bit TIFFs, respectively, at 300 dpi.

JSTOR has developed a sophisticated content model and XML metadata scheme into which the structure of the content and its bibliographic metadata are encoded.   Again, this allows for future flexibility and migration.

Maintaining the digital content

To protect against loss, we have established redundant data centers each housing a complete copy of the JSTOR Digital Library. Digital files for the entire archive are also preserved using the approach and infrastructure developed by Portico.

Third-party stewardship planning

The archives must continue to be preserved in the extremely unlikely event that JSTOR should cease operations. In this case, funds may be transferred to a third-party steward. Third-party digital repositories would be selected for their high technical standards, the ability to foster cooperation among stakeholders while maintaining knowledge of the legal environment, and scrupulous digital rights management. Finally, selected repositories would have to demonstrate a strong commitment to preservation, as well as financial stability.