Project MUSE

Full-text humanities and social-science journals and books — a nonprofit complement to JSTOR.

At a Glance

Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press
Coverage

700K+ articles and 100K+ books from university presses and scholarly societies in the humanities and social sciences, with current issues included (verify current counts).

Access

Institutional subscription and title purchase; some open-access content free.

Free alternative
JSTOR's free tier; DOAJ and OAPEN for open humanities content.
Regional

Strong Anglophone humanities and social-sciences coverage.

Our Take

Project MUSE is the natural companion to JSTOR in the humanities and social sciences — where JSTOR excels at deep back-runs, MUSE carries current issues from university presses and scholarly societies, so together they cover both the historical record and the latest work. Its book coverage from academic presses is a particular strength. The trade-offs are that it is subscription-based, curated to its participating publishers rather than comprehensive, and Anglophone-leaning. Use it for current humanities scholarship and university-press books; pair it with JSTOR for the archive and a citation index for reach.

Power Tips

  • Use MUSE for current issues, and JSTOR for the older back-run — they are designed to complement, not duplicate.
  • Do not overlook its university-press book coverage, stronger than most journal-only platforms.
  • Filter to open-access content for freely readable material.

Alternatives & Complements

JSTOR, Taylor & Francis Online, DOAJ, OAPEN

Figures last verified: June 15, 2026