What is a journal subscription?

A journal subscription is a business arrangement between a journal or magazine publisher and an individual who wants to read issues of the journal. The subscriber pays a fee that entitles that person to receive all issues of the journal published during the subscription period.

As of June 2015, many journals offer multiple methods for users to subscribe to their publications. For example, subscribers can choose to receive paper copies of the journal through the mail, digital copies that can be read on or downloaded from the Internet, or a combination of both. Customers may also be able to customize the length of their subscriptions.