Publication Guide
J-STAGE (Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic) is Japan's national platform for scholarly publishing. It is developed and managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), a government funding agency, and has operated since 1998. The key thing to understand is that J-STAGE is an aggregator, not a publisher: the journals on it are owned and edited by more than 2,400 Japanese academic societies, universities, and research organizations. J-STAGE gives those societies the hosting, DOI, and distribution infrastructure that a commercial publisher would otherwise provide.
As of 2026 the platform hosts over 4,400 journals, conference proceedings, and research reports, and more than 6 million articles - over 90% of which are free to read. That makes J-STAGE one of the most important open gateways to Japanese research in medicine, engineering, chemistry, agriculture, and the social sciences.
Is J-STAGE the right route for your paper?
Because every editorial decision sits with the individual society journal, choosing "J-STAGE" really means choosing a Japanese society journal that happens to be hosted there.
| You're most likely to... | What to do |
|---|---|
| Want to read Japanese research for free | Search J-STAGE directly - over 90% of articles are free to read, with English abstracts on most international titles. |
| Want to publish in an established Japanese society journal | Identify the society journal in your field (e.g., Journal of Epidemiology, Endocrine Journal, Internal Medicine) and submit through that journal's own system. |
| Need a low-cost or no-APC open access venue | Many society titles on J-STAGE charge no or nominal author fees - check each journal's instructions for authors. |
| Need an English-language international audience | Choose one of the English-language J-STAGE titles indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, or PubMed - indexing varies title by title. |
| Want to deposit data | J-STAGE Data (jstagedata.jst.go.jp) is the platform's companion data repository. |
What is actually on J-STAGE
- Journals - the core of the platform: 4,000+ titles from Japanese societies across 25 subject areas, spanning medicine, engineering, chemistry, biology, agriculture, and the humanities. Many flagship titles publish in English; others are Japanese-language with English abstracts.
- Conference proceedings and research reports - societies also host meeting proceedings and technical reports on the platform.
- Back-file archives - JST's Journal@rchive program digitized historical runs of Japanese journals, so many titles have complete archives back to their first issues.
- J-STAGE Data - a companion repository for datasets linked to hosted articles.
Open access and costs
J-STAGE itself charges readers nothing for the free-access majority of its content, and JST's stated goal is to advance open access from Japanese societies. Author-side costs are set entirely by each society.
| Cost question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Reading articles | Free for over 90% of the 6 million+ articles; some societies restrict recent issues to members or subscribers |
| Publishing (APC) | Set by each society journal - many charge no APC or a modest page charge; others charge conventional APCs. Check the journal's instructions for authors |
| Licenses | Open-access articles display a Creative Commons license chosen by the society; reuse terms vary by title |
| Platform funding | Government-funded through JST - societies use the infrastructure rather than paying a commercial publisher |
Peer review
J-STAGE does not run peer review. Each hosted journal is edited and refereed by its own society, so review model, rigor, and turnaround vary title by title. Established international titles such as the Journal of Epidemiology or Endocrine Journal run conventional external peer review and are indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed; smaller domestic bulletins may have lighter processes. Always assess the individual journal - its indexing, editorial board, and review policy - rather than the platform.
How to submit to a J-STAGE journal
- Find the right society journal. Browse J-STAGE by subject area, or search SciSpace for the journal's metrics and templates.
- Go to the journal's own pages. Each title on J-STAGE links to its society's instructions for authors - submission does not happen through J-STAGE itself.
- Prepare the manuscript. Formatting rules are society-specific; many Japanese medical and chemical titles use Vancouver or ACS-style referencing. SciSpace hosts templates for many J-STAGE titles.
- Submit via the society's system. Some societies use Editorial Manager or ScholarOne; others use their own portals or email submission.
- After acceptance, the society produces the article and publishes it on J-STAGE, where it receives a DOI and becomes searchable and citable.
Citing J-STAGE articles
Cite the article and its journal exactly as you would any journal article - J-STAGE is the host, not the source you cite. Articles carry standard DOIs, so citation managers and SciSpace pick up correct metadata automatically. Include the DOI; there is no need to mention J-STAGE in the reference itself unless your style requires a database name.
Quality and legitimacy
J-STAGE is a legitimate, government-run national infrastructure, comparable to SciELO in Latin America or KoreaMed/KAMJE platforms in Korea. Being hosted on J-STAGE is not by itself a quality signal, because the platform aggregates everything from top-indexed international journals to small domestic bulletins. Judge each journal on its own indexing, editorial board, and peer-review record. Societies remain responsible for ethics and retractions at the journal level; many follow COPE-aligned practices.
