Project MUSE and ONOS

A university library having thousands of books is no longer enough for meaningful research. In an increasingly digital academic environment, students and researchers need access to the latest scholarly journals, research papers, reviews, theories and interdisciplinary studies from across the world. The webinar organised by the Department of Library and Information Science of Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana on September 16, 2026, on “Maximizing Project MUSE under One Nation One Subscription: Discover, Access and Share Knowledge” highlighted this changing role of academic libraries.

The One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) is a national initiative of the Government of India aimed at providing access to international scholarly resources to higher education and research institutions. It came into effect on January 1, 2025, with its first phase approved for 2025–2027. The Information and Library Network Centre (INFLIBNET) is coordinating the national subscriptions.

Project MUSE is among the important resources available under ONOS. According to the official ONOS list, 751 journals are currently included under the Project MUSE Premium Collection. Project MUSE itself says that its wider platform hosts more than 800 peer-reviewed journals, over one lakh books, and content from more than 400 university presses, scholarly societies and other publishing organisations.

Project MUSE, launched in 1995 through a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, has become an important digital platform, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. It brings journals and books together on a single platform and provides facilities for full-text access, downloading and printing.

The importance of such a platform lies not merely in the number of journals available. Good research requires a systematic understanding of earlier studies, recent theories, international debates and evidence supporting or challenging different arguments. Peer-reviewed literature available through Project MUSE can therefore strengthen literature reviews, research proposals, PhD theses, dissertations, research papers and teaching materials.

Its wider value can also be seen in interdisciplinary research. Contemporary challenges rarely remain within the boundaries of a single discipline. Climate change, for instance, involves economics, political science, sociology and environmental studies. Artificial intelligence raises questions not only in computer science but also in law, ethics, education, employment, philosophy and sociology. Access to a broad range of humanities and social science literature can help researchers examine such issues from multiple perspectives.

This also places greater responsibility on library professionals. Providing users with database access credentials is only the beginning. Researchers need guidance on advanced searching, keywords, filters, identifying peer-reviewed literature, proper citation practices, copyright and fair use. Webinars such as the one organised by Kakatiya University can therefore serve not only as awareness programmes but also as initiatives to develop information and research literacy.

Access mechanisms are equally important. Institutions with static Internet Protocol (IP) addresses can generally access ONOS resources through their campus networks. Off-campus access can be provided through the INFLIBNET Access Management Federation (INFED) authentication system. Institutions without static IP addresses can use the authentication facilities provided by INFLIBNET for their authorised users.

Yet digital access alone cannot guarantee better research. Researchers must critically evaluate sources, examine research methods, verify evidence, cite accurately and avoid plagiarism. Greater access to information must be accompanied by greater capacity to assess information critically.

The participation of INFLIBNET, Project MUSE and iGroup India in the Kakatiya University Library programme underlines the importance of cooperation between libraries, academic institutions and scholarly platforms. ONOS seeks to reduce the unequal access to expensive international research resources and extend them to a wider academic community.

Project MUSE under ONOS should therefore be viewed as more than a subscription. It represents a bridge between Indian academic institutions and the global knowledge community. The real success of such initiatives will depend not only on how much information becomes accessible, but on how effectively students, teachers, researchers and librarians transform that information into critical inquiry, original research and new knowledge.