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Generative AI Features in Major Databases & Platforms

Learn about Generative AI-powered features currently available to the Rutgers University Libraries community in major e-resources databases and platforms.

JSTOR AI Research Tool

JSTOR has introduced an AI Research Tool on its platform with two different aspects: 1) Searching for content and 2) Evaluating and exploring content. As of September 2025, the tool works with journal articles, book chapters, and research reports found on JSTOR. It does not interact with images, audio, video, or text-based primary sources.

To access the Research Tool, access JSTOR through Rutgers University Libraries (you can use our JSTOR database page link to make sure you are authenticated as a Rutgers user) and then create (or log into) a free JSTOR personal account.

Searching for Content

After you sign into your personal account, when you run a JSTOR search, you will see a toggle at the top of your results that will allow you to switch from "Keyword results" to "Semantic Results":

JSTOR Search results with Semantic Search toggle above the results circled in green

The Semantic Results are designed to be more relevant to natural language queries than the traditional keyword search results. Semantic Results returns the top 25 journal articles, book chapters, and/or research reports that Rutgers can access that match your search query. If the toggle gets "stuck" and won't let you switch from one to the other, we recommend refreshing the page.

Evaluating and Exploring Content

When you access a journal article, book chapter, or research report on JSTOR, you will see a toggle in the upper right corner showing the AI Research Tool is "On." You may choose to turn it "Off" if you like. When the Research Tool is "On," you will see the Research Tool as a sidebar. You can select from predetermined prompts (What is this about?, Show related content, or Recommended topics) or enter a free-text question. Answers are drawn from the full text of the document being viewed:
Viewing an article in JSTOR with the AI Research Tool set to On. The user has asked the question "What is this about?" and the tool has provided an answer with key points from the text.
If you select "Show Related Content," JSTOR will display links to other documents in JSTOR that it calculates are related to the current document.
 
Interactions with the tool are not used to train LLMs. JSTOR advises users not to enter personal information into the tool, as JSTOR will be reviewing de-identified conversation histories in order to improve the tool. Please see JSTOR's documentation for more information about the AI Research Tool.