JSTOR

JSTOR
HELP & SUPPORT

Phone:
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(734) 887-7001 local and international

FAQs

We offer a range of access options depending on your research needs. If you don’t have access to JSTOR through a school or public library, here are more options:

Borrow - Create a free account and read up to 3 articles every 2 weeks with Register & Read. Look for the “Read Online Free” button above the article.

Free - The free Early Journal Content is available for use by anyone, without registration and regardless of institutional affiliation. Users may choose to browse the free Early Journal Content (journal content published in the U.S. before 1923 and before 1870 elsewhere) or use the Advanced Search to search across all content and limit results to “Only content I can access.”

Download - JSTOR’s partner publishers have PDF versions of some articles available for purchase and download. Click on the purchase price if shown above the article.

Join - Want to read and download more? JPASS is a monthly or annual individual access plan that includes access to more than 1,700 archival journals.

Society membership – JSTOR works with publishers and scholarly societies to offer individual access to specific journals; online access may be a benefit of your membership.

Read for Free

Purchases & Subscriptions

Shopping Cart & Checkout

Renewals, Upgrades & Refunds

Known Issues

I want to purchase an article. Do you have step-by-step instructions?

If an article is available for purchase, a blue "Download" button with the price of the article will appear at the top of the article.

1. Click the "Download" button and then click either the "Purchase this article" or "Purchase this issue" link to add it to your shopping cart.

Note: If the banner reads "Preview or purchase options not available", check with a librarian for other options.

2. Either Register for a new MyJSTOR account or login to an existing MyJSTOR account to proceed to your shopping cart.

3. Choose either "Cancel and return to previous page" to continue searching on JSTOR or indicate that you accept JSTOR's Terms and Conditions and click "Checkout" to purchase the selected article via PayPal.

4. Log in to your PayPal account or click "Pay with debit or credit card" to complete your purchase.

You will receive an email from PayPal confirming your purchase and providing a receipt. You will receive an email from JSTOR confirming your purchase and providing a receipt. To download your purchased article, log back into your MyJSTOR account and go to the "Purchase History" tab.
Do I have to use PayPal?

We use PayPal to process payments for all article and issue purchases made through our webshop. Unfortunately, we cannot accept payments for single article or JPASS plan purchases outside of PayPal.

Please note that you do not need a PayPal account in order to submit payment. There is an option on the PayPal site to pay as a guest with a debit or credit card.
How do I add an article to my shelf?

When you find an article that’s part of Register & Read, click on the “Read Online Free” button in the Preview banner. Register for a free MyJSTOR account, or log into your account if you already have one.

Add the content to your shelf to read the full-text online. After 14 days, you may remove it and add new items to your shelf.

PDF versions of some articles are also available for purchase and download. If you purchase articles from your shelf, the PDF versions may be stored and accessed in your MyJSTOR account under “Purchase History.”
What is your refund policy?

Single article or issue purchases:

We do not offer exchanges or refunds for single articles or issues purchased through this service. All purchases are considered final.

Note: JSTOR contains reviews as well as full-length articles. Reviews do not contain the original content of the works they review.

JPASS access plan purchases:

The 1-year JPASS plan is refundable within two weeks of purchase if no more than 10 downloads are used during that time. Simply contact JSTOR Support to let us know you'd like a refund.
Please include the following information when you contact us:

1. Your name and preferred contact information

2. The PayPal Transaction ID for your JPASS purchase

3. The reason for your refund request

Upon receipt, we'll review your request to verify that the terms of the policy are met and issue a full refund in the original form of payment. Refund requests received more than 14 days following purchase will not be eligible.

Please note the 1-month JPASS plan is not eligible for a refund.
I am logged out of my account while reading online.

We are aware that some users are logged out of their MyJSTOR accounts while using the “shelf” feature to read online. Our technical team is currently investigating this issue and working on a long-term fix. In the meantime, we recommend clearing your browser cookies/ cache and restarting your browser as an interim solution. If you're not sure how to do this, or simply would like a refresher, instructions are available here.
Can I buy this?

If an article is available for purchase, a "Download" button with the price of the article will appear in the Preview banner at the top of the article.

In some cases, the publisher has chosen not to make the article available for individual purchase. However, the article may be part of JPASS. We recommend checking the JPASS Collection page to see if the journal is available that way.
My country is not listed on the billing address form. How do I purchase?

The PayPal service is not available in some countries, which is why the country does not appear as an option on our Billing Address form.

Another option is Register & Read, which provides free, read-online access to a subset of archival journals. When you encounter an item that is part of Register & Read, you may sign-up for a free MyJSTOR account to read the item online.
I do not see a “Read Online” button for an article I would like to read. Can I add it to my shelf?

About 75 percent of the archival journals on JSTOR are available for free read-online access. You can browse a list of journal titles that are part of Register & Read here. Current journals are not available for read-online access, with some exceptions.
How do I renew my subscription?

To renew a JPASS:

Your 1-month or 1-year plan is eligible for renewal one week prior to its expiration date. Click the "Renew" button in the JPASS Downloads section of your MyJSTOR account to renew your access to JSTOR with JPASS.

Renew a single title subscription or society membership:

In most cases, society memberships and single title subscriptions must be renewed through the publisher or society directly.

Individual subscriptions to titles published by Indiana University Press can be renewed through JSTOR’s webshop.
I cannot proceed to the next page when reading online.

This issue is caused when reading certain articles (usually in Internet Explorer) using the “shelf” feature. We recommend trying the following workarounds: (1) if possible, try a different browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome, or (2) choose the "View Full Screen" option.
What content can I access with JPASS?

JPASS includes the archives of the more than 1,500 journals listed in the JPASS Collection and is continually expanding to include new journals. The JPASS Collection represents a large portion of what is in the JSTOR digital library (approximately 83%), but not all of it.

Content not in the JPASS Collection includes scholarly books, primary sources, current and more recent journal issues, and, in some cases, journal archives. If you come across this content in your use of JSTOR, please be aware that it may be available for limited, free reading, for purchase as an individual article, or available through an interlibrary loan from a JSTOR participating library.
How do I find content that can be added to my shelf?

To find out if the article is available for free reading, go to the article page and look for the “Read Online Free” button in the gold Preview banner at the top of the page. At this time, we do not have a way to mark this content in search results.

You can also view a list of publishers and journals that participate in our free online reading program.
I removed an item from my Shelf, but when I returned to JSTOR at a later time, the item reappeared on my shelf. What caused this?

Some users have reported that an item reappears on their shelf after they have removed it in a previous session. This can occur if a bookmark or link from your browser history is used to navigate to your Shelf. To avoid this issue, we recommend going directly to the JSTOR home page and navigating to your Shelf from the MyJSTOR drop-down menu at the top of the page.
I purchased a JPASS access plan. Why can’t I access a specific journal?

The JPASS Collection consists of more than 1,700 journal titles in the JSTOR digital library, but not all of them.

In some cases, the publisher of the journal has decided not to include their content in JPASS. To view a list of which journals are available to download with your JPASS plan, please visit the JPASS Collection page.
I received an error message during checkout. What do I do?

In most cases, errors can be easily resolved. If an error occurs during checkout, please contact JSTOR Support and provide the full text of the error with your message. This will assist us in identifying the cause of the error.
Can I download or print an item on my shelf?

Articles on your shelf are not eligible for download or printing.

If you need to print the article, PDFs of some articles are available for purchase and download. If you purchase articles from your shelf, the PDF versions are stored and can be accessed in the “Purchase History” section of your MyJSTOR account.

You may also wish to speak with your librarian to see if the article is one you can access through Interlibrary Loan.

The article may also be available with JPASS. We recommend checking the JPASS Collection list for the journal title.
How do I search for articles I can access with JPASS?

You can access the entire JPASS Collection with your MyJSTOR account. Log in to MyJSTOR to search for articles and browse journals on JSTOR.
How do I remove a shelved item?

Items may be removed from your shelf after 14 days. If an item is eligible for removal, a "Remove" button will appear next to the item on the shelf. Click the button to make a shelf slot available for another item.
I purchased an article. How do I access it?

You may access the article through the MyJSTOR account you were logged into at time of purchase. To access the article, log in to your account and choose "Purchase History" from the MyJSTOR drop-down menu at the top of the page. Click the title of the article and click the blue "Download" button to be given the option to save or print.
How can users access the Early Journal Content?

The free Early Journal Content is available for use by anyone, without registration and regardless of institutional affiliation. Users may chose to browse the free Early Journal Content (journal content published in the U.S. before 1923 and before 1870 elsewhere) or use the Advanced Search to search across all content and limit results to “Only content I can access.”
How do I find Early Journal Content on JSTOR?

Searches for “only content I can access” will search the Early Journal Content as well as other content that may be free for promotional or other reasons and any licensed content available to you. A “FREE” badge will show next to the Early Journal Content as well as other content that may be free for promotional or other reasons, in the list of search results and on Table of Contents pages, if the content is not otherwise available to you through a licensed collection.
Will a paper copy be shipped to me?

You will receive electronic access to the purchased article in the form of a PDF download. A print copy will not be mailed to your postal address.

Our webshop also processes orders for subscriptions to journals published by Indiana University Press, which may include print issues. For this reason, we need to request a mailing address.
Will I lose access to articles that I have purchased and downloaded?

No. You will have permanent access to downloaded PDFs through your MyJSTOR account. They can be downloaded to your mobile device or desktop at any time.

Single article purchases are listed in the “Purchase History” section.

Articles downloaded with a JPASS access plan are listed in the “JPASS Downloads” section of your MyJSTOR account. If your JPASS plan expires, you will have permanent access to the articles downloaded when your plan was active.
I am a member/subscriber with one of the societies or publishers that offer individual access on JSTOR. How do I access my individual subscription?

There are two access methods for individual subscribers.

Password access:

Individual subscribers authenticate using their MyJSTOR accounts on JSTOR. Publishers send membership/subscriber information to JSTOR, and then JSTOR creates an activation link and sends access instructions to each member/subscriber.

Scripted access:

Some publishers and societies create and maintain the individual accounts to JSTOR for their members. You may need to first login at the website of the society or publisher. The site will pass your authentication to JSTOR for access to their content.
I am a member of a society, and have access to a specific journal as a benefit of my membership. How do I search for articles in the journal on JSTOR?

Let’s consider Anthropology Now as an example. Here are some quick tips to find content in that journal using our browse and search functions.

Basic Search

To search for articles in Anthropology Now using Basic Search on the JSTOR home page, you’ll need to use the journal title field abbreviation "jo:" to restrict your search for content in that journal.

Consider the example below:

jo:"anthropology now" gender

This query will return results in Anthropology Now with a match on the keyword "gender."

Advanced Search

To restrict an Advanced Search, you’ll want to narrow by publication title. This can be done two ways.

1. Type the journal title in the Publication title field

2. Expand discipline and check "Anthropology Now" from journals listed

Browse by Title

Select “Anthropology Now” from the titles listed. You’ll be directed to the journal page on JSTOR where you can use the "Search In This Title" field to locate articles of interest.

We recommend bookmarking the journal link in your browser for ease of access later.