JSTOR launched an AI-powered interactive research tool in limited beta in August 2023, and on 23 July 2025 said the tool, now called the AI research tool, had officially rolled out to all JSTOR-participating institutions. For a single document it offers custom summaries tied to the user’s query, recommended topics, related content, and a question-and-answer feature in which questions are answered from the document’s full text with links back to the passages used. It runs mainly on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, combined with smaller open-source models and vector-based semantic search. Kevin Guthrie, President of ITHAKA, and Beth LaPensee, Director of Product Management at JSTOR, described early usage in a post of June 2024 based on a CNI presentation of 26 March 2024.
Benefits & outcomes
- JSTOR reports that as of 18 June 2024 the tool had 22,234 active users at 5,437 institutions in 149 countries.
- JSTOR reports that session durations and page visits more than doubled for beta users compared with non-beta users.
- JSTOR reports that question-and-answer became the most used feature over time.
Notes & quotes
- “I can do in a day what it used to take me four or five days… AI isn’t doing any of the intellectual work for me… It’s not thinking things for me; it’s showing me where to look.” Faculty member.
- “Honestly, time is everything… Wasted time and difficulty levels will go down significantly because of this.” Student.
Publisher / company: ITHAKAJSTOROpenAI
Date of case study: 2023
Status: Live
Built by: Publisher or platform
Updated: July 2025
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