What is JSTOR’s interactive research tool?
American University is participating in JSTOR’s interactive research tool beta testing. The tool uses AI and other technologies to assist users in identifying and interpreting journal articles, book chapters, and research reports. The beta test runs through the end of Spring 2025.
Visit JSTOR’s FAQ to read more about the tool and legal notices. Key points include:
- Using the tool is optional;
- By using the tool, you consent to JSTOR collecting any data that you share with the tool and using your de-identified data to maintain and improve the tool;
- Any data sent to the technology providers is used only for generating the response and will be retained no longer than 30 days;
- JSTOR is not selling any content to large language model (LLM) providers;
You must have a personal JSTOR user account to access the tool. When you visit a link to JSTOR from the library website, if you do not already have a personal account linked to AU’s subscription, you will be presented with the option to sign up:
Log in with your personal account credentials:
The first time you log in with your personal account during the beta testing program, you will be alerted that AU is participating and you will have the option to use the interactive tool:
The interactive tool will be presented as the ‘Experimental BETA’ tab on the standard search results page:
Experimental Beta search results:
Once you click through to an article, book, or report, the interactive tool will display in a sidebar.
With the tool you can:
- Generate summaries highlighting key points and arguments from the text;
- Discover related topics and content within JSTOR; and
- Ask questions and get answers about the document you’re viewing.
You can toggle the tool off and on, and provide feedback on the performance of the tool via the thumbs up, thumbs down, and ‘Submit feedback’ buttons:
