Help, Guides and Instructions: JSTOR

Why JSTOR?

JSTOR is an archive of scholarly journals that are accessible electronically.  JSTOR IS NOT A CURRENT ISSUES RESOURCE.  There is typically a lag time of 1 to 5 years before articles are released to JSTOR.  JSTOR can provide valuable access to journals not found in NWC Library’s print collection.

Accessing JSTOR

• From the NWC Learning Commons page:
  • Go to the NWC Library home page by clicking on the Learning Commons tab and following the link.
  • From there, click on the Electronic Resources A to Z link located underneath the main search box on the page
  • From the A to Z listing, click on “J” to access JSTOR

Basic Search

• Enter one or more search terms in the query box on the main page. Click the magnifying glass icon to start your search.

Advanced Search

• More specific searches can be done by using the Advanced Search options. Advanced searches can be further limited by type of material, dates, language, publication, and discipline.

Searching Tips (Search Term Operators)

• Use quotation marks ("") to search for a phrase
  • "Human rights" "National Security," "Women’s League of Burma," etc
• Use Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT to combine terms
  • Myanmar AND Rohingya, 
  • Myanmar OR Burma searches for either word
• One term followed by another assumes the AND operator
  • Myanmar military finds Myanmar AND Military
• Use a question mark (?) for one character or an asterisk (*) for variant endings
  • Defen?e = Defense, Defence
  • Nav* = Navy, Naval, Navigate
• Use the number sign (#) for stem searching
  • Goose# = Goose, Geese, and Goslin
• Use quotation marks ("") and the tilde (~) to search for words near one another
  • “Burma ecology”~10 searches for the word Burma within 10 words of the word ecology

Search Results

JSTOR automatically sorts the results by relevance. You can also sort by: 

• Newest
• Oldest

You can refine your results by:

• Journals
• Books/Book Chapters
• Research Reports
• Serials
• Documents
• Images

Save Your Results

• You can view, download, save, share (email or social media) or export citation your individual search results

Personal JSTOR accounts

• You can also save articles and searches in your personal JSTOR account for future use.

• • Login to Jstor using the link at the top right of the page if you already have established an account.
  • To creat an account:  the "Register" link next to the "Login" link allows you to create a personal account.

Saving to your personal JSTOR account

• When you are logged in you can save selected items into your personal Jstor account. You have the option of saving directly to Workspace, or creating various folders within Workspace to save items.

Accessing your saved citations in your personal JSTOR account

• To access saved items, after logging in, click on the "Workspace" link at the top of the page.