JSTOR scales access to interactive research tool

JSTOR, a nonprofit service of ITHAKA, is expanding the beta program for its interactive research tool by offering 500 colleges and universities the opportunity to provide early access for their faculty and students.

Higher education institutions that sign up will give their communities a chance to experiment with an AI-powered tool that enhances research practices and skill development without compromising the critical thinking and information literacy skills needed for college-level work.

First released in August 2023, JSTOR’s interactive research tool is designed to support novice and advanced researchers as well as educators. Once users have selected a journal article, book chapter, or research report, they can use the tool to assess content relevance through summaries, ask questions about the item using conversational language, and readily find related or similar works. This is particularly valuable for students exploring densely written academic texts in the humanities, arts, and social sciences for the first time. 

Until now, the beta tool was available exclusively to individuals who signed up to test it. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with over 35,000 active users from more than 6,300 institutions across 158 countries. Both novice and experienced researchers report that the research tool deepens their understanding, saves time, and helps them explore new conceptual relationships across disciplines.

While initial feedback is encouraging, this new phase of the beta evaluation is critical. “Putting the tool in the hands of entire campus communities will offer insights about how usage might scale, how the tool meets teaching and research needs in diverse fields of study, and where further refinements are needed,” said Beth LaPensee, principal product manager at ITHAKA. “We’re eager to continue working closely with the academic community to ensure we put AI and other advanced technologies to work for them in ways that most effectively support desired research and learning outcomes.”

Beyond institutions and individual users, JSTOR is also focused on the publishers whose content is on the platform, working with them to ensure the tool and JSTOR’s limited use of large language models (LLMs) is well understood and furthers their goals. So far, publishers have voiced support for the interactive research tool and the promise it shows for supporting readers and increasing usage of and engagement with the scholarship they publish, while being attuned to critical issues of source and integrity. Rachel Scott, Editor of Library Resources & Technical Services, said: “The tool is focused in a way that will be helpful to researchers. I really like the footnotes and embedded links, which are a great way to reinforce proper and accurate attribution.” JSTOR publishers who would like to explore how the tool works in depth are invited to sign up for access.

Feedback from all constituents will continue to inform JSTOR’s approach, including making the interactive research tool more broadly available to all of JSTOR’s 14,000 participating institutions in 2025.

“The promise of our interactive research tool to make knowledge more readily accessible and useful to people is incredibly exciting and we are thrilled to be working with our colleagues across the academic community to build and refine it,” said Kevin Guthrie, president of ITHAKA. “With this tool, users can engage in conversation with the article, opening up entirely new pathways to understanding. This demonstrably lowers barriers for people and improves their learning and skills.” 

Higher education institutions are being invited by email to sign up for early access to the beta.  Publishers interested in access may email JSTOR.