Instead of JSTOR
JSTOR alternatives
JSTOR brings together scholarly journals, ebooks, primary sources, and Artstor images and multimedia across more than 70 disciplines. Advanced search helps locate material, and Workspace supports saving, annotating, organizing, uploading, and sharing research, with exports to PDF, PowerPoint, or ZIP. But free personal accounts can read only up to 10 eligible articles online every 30 days, and publisher policies exclude some articles. Unlimited reading through JPASS starts at $19.50 per month; JSTOR is available on Android, iOS, and the web.
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Academia.edu
Free plan AndroidiPhoneWebResearchers sharing papers and tracking readership — Academia.edu centers on sharing research and reader analytics, while JSTOR offers a broad scholarly collection and research workspace.
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MAXQDA
Free trial ExtensionMacWeb+1Qualitative and mixed methods research analysis — MAXQDA analyzes research data and transcripts, unlike JSTOR’s scholarly content collection and workspace.
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AGRICOLA
Free plan WebAgriculture and allied-discipline catalog searches — AGRICOLA is a free agricultural catalog with over 5 million records, narrower in scope than JSTOR’s multidisciplinary collection.
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arXiv
Free plan APIWebFree open-access articles in eight subject areas — arXiv is a free archive for scholarly articles in eight fields, while JSTOR spans more than 70 disciplines and includes varied source types.
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bioRxiv
Free plan APIWebSharing life sciences preprints before journal submission — bioRxiv distributes unpublished life sciences preprints, not JSTOR’s broad collection of scholarly and primary sources.
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CORE
Free plan APIExtensionSelf-hosted+1Open-access paper discovery, APIs, and bulk data — CORE focuses on open-access search, machine access, and bulk research data, rather than JSTOR’s collection and personal workspace.
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EconLit
Free plan WebEconomics literature searches and bibliographic records — EconLit specializes in economics records and provider-based access, while JSTOR covers more than 70 disciplines and offers a personal workspace.
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OpenAlex
Free plan Open source APIExtensionLinux+2 - 9
Directory of Open Access Journals
Free plan APIWeb - 10
HeinOnline
Free plan AndroidiPhoneWeb - 11
Europe PMC
Free plan APIWeb - 12
medRxiv
Free plan APIWeb - 13
Web of Science
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+1 - 14
ERIC
Free plan APIWeb - 15
MathSciNet
Free plan Web - 16
PubMed
Free plan APIWeb - 17
The Lens
Free plan APIWeb - 18
zbMATH Open
Free plan APIWeb - 19
SSRN
Free plan Web - 20
Academic Search Ultimate
Free trial AndroidiPhoneWeb - 21
Dimensions
Free plan Web - 22
APA PsycInfo
Free trial Web - 23
ATLA Religion Database
Free trial Web - 24
Project MUSE
Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+1
Alternatives may suit readers seeking open-paper discovery, a specialized subject catalog, or tools for analyzing research rather than JSTOR’s broad collection and workspace. Compare the type and scope of material each service covers, whether it provides full text or discovery, and whether it supports your research workflow. Costs and access terms matter too: some options are free, while others require a paid product or institutional provider. Also consider platform availability and whether you need collaboration, analytics, data access, or manuscript sharing.