Frequently Asked Questions about Institutional Subscriptions



  1. Can my institution subscribe only to the electronic edition?

    Yes. Beginning in 2004, Institutional Subscriptions may be purchased as either the Print edition, the Online-only edition, or both Print and Online editions.


  2. My institution has a paid subscription to PNAS Online, but I'm not able to see the full text of articles. I'm prompted for a username and password. Why?

    When this happens, the IP address for your machine is not being recognized by our computer. This failure is caused by one of three things:


    • Your institutional online subscription has not yet been activated.
    • The person who "activated" the online subscription did not enter all needed IP addresses for your institution.
    • The person who "activated" the online subscription did not realize that some subnets of your institution are routed through a proxy server.

    What should I do?
    1. Send us Feedback so we can diagnose the problem.
    2. Let your librarian know you are having trouble with access.

  3. My library subscribes to PNAS Online, but I can't get CiteTrack research alerting and the "alert me when new articles cite this article" feature to work. Why?

    Sorry, this feature is only offered to NAS Members and individual subscribers and cannot be administered through an institution's IP address.


  4. Who from my institution can access PNAS Online?

    An online subscription permits unlimited simultaneous Internet access to PNAS Online by authorized users generally at one location (the employees, faculty, staff, and students officially associated with the subscriber, and authorized patrons of the subscriber's library facilities that are administered from the subscriber's site or campus) through the use of the institution's IP address. Authenticated and authorized users may access PNAS Online from other locations (e.g., through dial-in, telnet, etc.).


  5. What is an "institution"?

    Institutional Online Subscriptions generally provide access to PNAS Online from an institution in one geographic location and do not permit remote campuses, remote sites, consortia, or other forms of subscription sharing. For the most part, an Institutional Online Subscription authorizes use at a localized site. A "site" is an organizational unit, and may be academic or nonacademic. For organizations located in more than one city, each city office is considered a different site. For organizations within the same city that are administered independently, each office is considered a different site.

    For example, each campus in the State University of New York system is considered a different site, and each branch or office of Upjohn Laboratories is considered a different site.


  6. How does this work?

    When someone tries to access PNAS Online, our server checks to see if the requesting computer is within the list of Internet IP addresses provided by a subscribing institution. If it is, the user will be able to use all those services enabled for Institutional Online Subscribers. For Institutional Online Subscribers, there are no user names or passwords to remember, and there is no limit on the number of users from your institution who may access PNAS Online simultaneously.


  7. How can I tell if my institution has subscribed to PNAS Online?

    If your institution has purchased and activated a subscription to PNAS Online, you will automatically have access to the entire site without having to sign in. You will see a button at the top of each page confirming that you are accessing PNAS Online through an Institutional Subscription. If you are not sure if you have an Institutional Subscription to PNAS Online or would like your institution to subscribe, contact your local librarian.


  8. If our PNAS Online subscription expires and at some later date we reinstate our subscription, will we then have access to all available years of the electronic edition?

    Yes, while you have a paid and activated subscription to PNAS Online, you will have access to all of the content in the electronic database. When your subscription expires, you will still have access to free back issues (PNAS content is free after six months).


  9. Will I still be able to get the print edition? And for how long?

    Yes, you will be able to purchase the print edition for the foreseeable future.






Still have questions?

For further information, please contact the PNAS Circulation Office:
PNAS Circulation Office
500 Fifth St NW
NAS 340
Washington, DC 20001 USA

Phone: 202-334-1333
Fax: 202-334-2738
E-mail: pnassubsdept{at}nas.edu


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