Forum can help scholars find your collections
We’ve kept the required data to a minimum, but the more information you can share, the more likely it will be that the widest-possible audience can find objects from your collection.
Required fields
Resource Type
Each Resource Type maps to one of the broad Content Types on JSTOR: Audio, Books, Documents, Images, Panoramas, Serials, and Video. These Content Types control the content viewer and order of metadata fields on the item page, as well as the classification of the content for searching and filtering.
Choose either the Resource Type that reflects the content OR a Resource Type that matches the broad Content Type. See JSTOR Content and Resource Types for values.
Strongly-recommended fields
Field |
Description |
Identifier |
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context. Recommended best practice is to identify the resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system, such as ISSN, ISBN, DOI, OCLC number, a local identifier, etc. |
Title |
Title of the item being described. |
Contributor |
A named entity (person or corporate body) responsible for authoring, creating, or otherwise making contributions to the content of the resource, such as an author, editor, photographer, etc. |
Date(s) |
Including precise dates or date ranges for items ensures they are surfaced when sorting and filtering search results on JSTOR. See our Guide to JSTOR Search for Shared Collections Contributors for more information. |
Description |
An account of the content of the resource. |
Subject(s) |
Terms that identify, describe, and/or interpret what is depicted in and by the work or item. |
License/Rights |
Terms under which the digital object may be used by others and copyright status of the object respectively. Currently, only predefined values from the "License" controlled list for Creative Commons license statements and the "Rights" controlled list for RightsStatements.org rights statements will be displayed on JSTOR. Custom license and/or rights information can be applied at the item level in the Rights Notes field. See Shared Collections Rights and License Statements for more information. |
Holding Institution and/or Repository |
The institution that provided the content and/or the repository currently responsible for the item, respectively. See the JSTOR Target Field List for expanded definitions of these fields. |
Canonical URL |
An outbound link to the item within its source repository (if applicable). Including Canonical URLs for items in your collections on JSTOR boosts the search engine ranking and credibility of your canonical source. It also allows the visitor to view and/or cite the item in its home repository. See Publishing Metadata Hyperlinks on JSTOR for sample markup and a list of fields that support links. |
Recommended fields
Field |
Description |
Descriptive fields |
Used for discovery and search, e.g. Abstract, Locations, and Custom Fields. |
Structural Fields |
How your objects are organized, e.g. Volume, Issue, Text Directionality, Series, Container, Compilation. |
Why better data matters
The more detailed information you are able to provide, the easier it will be for users to search for and discover your content. Your data powers search, browse, and discovery on JSTOR. When calculating relevance and ranking results in response to user searches, we use selections of data coming directly from the information you provide. We also use structural data to organize users’ browse experience. And rights status is an increasingly important filter for users looking for content they can re-use.