The Royal Society Journals Archive

Launched in 2017, The Royal Society Journals Archive contains full colour images of original peer reviewed scientific articles, from 1665 to 1996. It provides a fascinating insight into the development of science, no other archive has material from a scientific journal published continuously for over 350 years. 

The archive is a major resource for History of Science courses and also covers major works in Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Maths and the broad interdisciplinary studies for which the Royal Society journals are so well known. 

With articles by scientists who were prominent in different areas of public life, the archive is a valuable resource for all History students and researchers working on the post-enlightenment period, whatever their area of interest. Authors include Sir Christopher Wren, Benjamin Franklin, James Clerk Maxwell, Alan Turing, Kathleen Lonsdale, Stephen Hawking and Dorothy Hodgkins. 

Available as a one-time purchase with no ongoing fees the full archive contains 1,278 volumes with 45,883 articles totaling over 740,000 pages. It offers librarians the chance save over 50 metres of shelf space while preserving instant access to the content. 

Careful, curated digitisation led by our library team has resulted in a high-quality resource with added features including:

• comprehensive metadata for indexing and discoverability
• annotations, illustrations and additional material captured from our original collections
• image plates, maps, and end matter material
• additional content not previously available
• MathML

Find out more about the Journals Archive by downloading our digital brochure.

Highlights from the archive

"If all the books in the world, except the Philosophical Transactions, were to be destroyed, it is safe to say that the foundations of physical science would remain unshaken, and that the vast intellectual progress of the last two centuries would be largely, though incompletely, recorded."

Thomas Henry Huxley FRS, 1870 

Take a look at our Journals Archive highlights collection that covers some of the key moments in scientific history including:

• Isaac Newton’s invention of the reflecting telescope
• Edward Stone's breakthrough in 1763 that willow bark cured fevers, leading to the later the development of aspirin
• Halley's description of 'his comet' in 1705
• Benjamin Franklin's celebrated account of his electrical kite experiment
• Fascinating descriptions of how Captain James Cook preserved the health of his crew aboard the HMS Endeavour
• The astonishment of 18th century Royal Society at the performance of an 8 year-old Mozart
• Geological work by a young Charles Darwin
• Details of the double Helix of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1954
• The first research paper published by Stephen Hawking

Download a sample of the archive data

The chemical basis of morphogenesis (ZIP) provides a sample of the data for librarians to explore the structure of the file and how it will integrate with existing systems.  As it is a large file, it is best downloaded to a desktop rather than mobile and may take two to three minutes. If you have any questions after reviewing the sample, please email access@royalsociety.org. 

Purchase

The Journals Archive is available as a one time, perpetual access purchase, we do not charge a year-on-year maintenance or administration fee. Contact your local sales rep to discuss prices. 

Gap years (1997 onwards)

We have been publishing online since 1997, so original content from these years is good quality and fully searchable. Please contact us if you are interested in purchasing perpetual access to content from 1997 onwards.

* Interface launched in November 2004, so not available as a full year gap until 2005.