Before you set your computer on fire ask yourself this question: am I a member of an institution that participates in JSTOR?
How can I tell if I'm logged in?
On the right side of your screen you should see a designation statement that tells you if you are logged into JSTOR through an institution (it's in a box labelled 'Access'). You can learn all about this statement and how it works on our "How to see if you're really logged into JSTOR" page.
If you are, or think you might be, a student at a participating institution but you aren’t currently signed in, you likely need to sign in through your institution before downloading the article. You can learn about logging into your institution in our "Student and Affliated User" section.
Once you are logged in, you'll see the “Download PDF” button. Clicking it will immediately open our Terms and Conditions window. You will need to click on "I agree" to get your PDF.
I clicked the 'Download PDF' button but nothing's happening!
The PDF document should open in a new window automatically. Once it has opened, you should be able to select the print icon in the upper left hand side of the page. If your PDF doesn't open, try right clicking on the "Download PDF button" and either:
- saving it to your desktop by choosing "save target as"
- or opening it in a new window.
If your PDF persists in not opening, make sure your pop-up blocker isn’t blocking the new window from, well, popping up. Luckily we have a post on how to change your browser settings to allow pop-ups from the JSTOR website.
You may also need the most recent version of Adobe Reader to download documents. This software is available for free on Adobe's website.
But I logged In and the download button still doesn't work!
What happens if you're logged into your institution and the download button is still inactive? Don’t worry!
If you’ve logged in through your institution, but the download button is unavailable, this likely means that, while your institution does have access to JSTOR, it doesn't have access to the article you want. Different institutions subscribe to different parts of JSTOR and not every institution has access to everything.
So I've logged in, I can't download my PDF, but I still want knowledge!
If you are not a member of an institution or if your institution does not have access to the article you want, you have a few options. Look at the blue buttons to the right hand side of the article:
- If there's a that button says “Download” and lists a price in parentheis, you may download the article for the price listed.
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