Frequently Asked Questions

Scientific American’s “Special Collector’s Edition” series are published two to four times per year and are sold at newsstands, bookstores, airport and transportation shops, as well as leading supermarkets and pharmacies. Each Special Collector's Edition contains articles previously published in Scientific American and/or Scientific American Mind subscription issues, as well as online and supplementary articles.

Special Collector’s Editions are available for purchase in digital format and in print, and are not included with a subscription.

If you're interested in purchasing a print copy of our Special Collector's Edition, please call 800-925-0788 (or 001-515-248-7684 international).  Print edition inventory of Special Collector's Editions is very limited.

Scientific American magazines are sold at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Hudson News, Books A Million, and other leading magazine retailers in the United States and Canada.

The English language version of Scientific American is available at news agents around the world, particularly at news agents located at airports and other transportation terminals.

For a directory of stores and News Agents that sell Scientific American in the United Kingdom, click here.

All issues of Scientific American and Scientific American Mind are available in digital format for purchase. Search our Archive to view and purchase single issues, a subscription package, or to give a gift.

Alternatively, we maintain a limited inventory of back issues in print available for purchase. For availability and pricing information, please call 800-925-0788 in the United States/Canada and 001-515-248-7684 for international. Please have complete issue (Magazine/Month/Year) information when you call.  Print issues are not sold online at this time.  

Mind magazine is no longer offered in print, and back issues of Mind in print are extremely limited.  Please contact us at the numbers above to see if the issue you want is still available in print.  Mind magazine's last issue published in print was May/June of 2017.

While we cannot sell issues via email, you are welcome to email us before calling to see if the issue in question is still in inventory.

Scientific American Classics is an Anthology Series that draws on Scientific American’s archive. Each anthology includes 70+ pages that is published in PDF format.  To see the releases in this series, please visit the Classics page.

 

Visit the website of Scientific American’s Cruise and Travel partner, Insight Cruises for more information.