Citations are a crucial part of the research process, as citing a source is a way of giving credit to other ideas that you used to develop your research.
A citation is a short way to identify a published work and it includes the information that your reader would need to find the source. Typically that consists of the author’s name, title of the work, publication date, publishing company, among other format-specific information.
There are many citation styles, each has slightly different structures for how the source information is ordered and formatted. Citation style varies by academic discipline and within some disciplines, more than one style is common. However, make sure you are consistent with a single style through your research project.
JSTOR provides auto-generated pre-formatted citations for individual items in the following styles:
- MLA 9
- APA 7
- Chicago 17
In addition, you can export citations individually or in bulk from your search results to RefWorks, EasyBib, NoodleTools, RIS format, or a text file.
- Always review auto-generated citations and make any necessary corrections before using. Pay attention to names, capitalization, and dates.
- Choose the citation style expected by your faculty.
- Adopt footnote or endnote style/system that aligns with the appropriate citation style.
How to create citations
When viewing an item
When viewing a single item, you can create a citation from the item page by clicking the Cite button above the item viewer.
Then use the Copy button(s) to copy your desired citation format. Or use one of the export links to export your citation as a plain text (.txt) file, RIS file, or to your citation management service of choice.
From your search results
When searching on JSTOR, you can also create one or more citations directly from the search results page. To cite a single item, click the Cite button next to the item.
To export citations for multiple items in bulk:
- Select the check boxes next to the items you'd like to cite.
- You can select images, text items, or a combination of both.
- Your selections will be saved even if you go to the next page of results.
- The number of items you can export citations for at one time will depend on the export option you choose:
- NoodleTools: 200 items
- RefWorks: 400 items
- EasyBib: 100 items
- RIS file: 400 items
- Text file: 400 items
- Once you've finished selecting your items, click the Cite button at the top of the search results page to export your citation as a plain text (.txt) file, RIS file, or to your citation management service of choice.