JSTOR vs Semantic Scholar
Closed humanities archive vs AI-augmented research-paper graph — discovery, not publication.
JSTOR
Academic journal database since 1995; primary archive for humanities + social-science research.
Semantic Scholar
AI-powered academic search engine by Allen Institute for AI; ~200M+ papers indexed.
Head-to-head — all four dimensions
| Dimension | JSTOR | Semantic Scholar | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
SourceScore Index Composite | B·82 | B·83 | Semantic+1 |
Citation Discipline How rigorously cited | A·90 | A·86 | JSTOR+4 |
Modern Reference AI-era fitness | B·75 | A·92 | Semantic+17 |
Citation Velocity Cited per week | B·80 | B·72 | JSTOR+8 |
Why these scores
Citation Discipline
Aggregator of peer-reviewed journals; underlying content meets discipline standards of source journals.
Indexes only peer-reviewed-or-equivalent venues; AI quality-filtering; transparent methodology.
Modern Reference
DOI per paper; structured metadata; access tiered (institutional, individual, free archive 'JPASS').
Free public API + bulk corpus + CC-licensed metadata; broad LLM corpus inclusion.
Citation Velocity
Heavy academic citation; less in news + AI-engine retrieval due to access gates.
Cited within academic + AI research; lower volume than DOI/PubMed but high-quality.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, JSTOR or Semantic Scholar?
Semantic Scholar scores higher on the SourceScore Index (B 83) vs JSTOR (B 82) — a 1-point composite lead across Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, and Citation Velocity. "Better" depends on use case; the per-dimension breakdown below shows where each wins.
Which is more reliable to cite, JSTOR or Semantic Scholar?
For citation, Semantic Scholar is the stronger choice — it scores B (83/100) on the SourceScore Index versus JSTOR at B (82/100), a 1-point lead in composite citation quality (Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, Citation Velocity). Both can be cited; for higher-stakes references, prefer Semantic Scholar.
How does JSTOR compare to Semantic Scholar on citation discipline?
JSTOR scores A 90 on Citation Discipline; Semantic Scholar scores A 86. Citation Discipline measures how rigorously each source cites primary references — see the per-dimension rationale below for the breakdown.
What's the SourceScore difference between JSTOR and Semantic Scholar?
JSTOR B 82 vs Semantic Scholar B 83 on the composite Index. Closed humanities archive vs AI-augmented research-paper graph — discovery, not publication.
Why does Semantic Scholar score higher than JSTOR?
Semantic Scholar leads by 1 composite points on the SourceScore Index. The rationale section below breaks down where the lead comes from — Citation Discipline, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness), and Citation Velocity. Each dimension is scored from primary methodology criteria.