Using JSTOR Religion and Theology

The default search interface in JSTOR Religion and Theology Collection is a simple search with a single text box to enter search terms:

As you begin to type in search terms, the number of results for a basic keyword search (looking for search terms anywhere in an item record) are displayed in the search box. A drop-down also appears suggesting a search for the term in the author, title, or publication name fields as opposed to the default keyword search. Select from one of the suggested searches, or click the magnifying glass icon to run the search as is:

By default, results will be only those articles to which you have full-text access. In order to view articles not accessible to Meadville Lombard users, you must change that parameter when refining search results. See the Refine Search Options section of this guide for more details.

Beneath the primary search box is a link to open and begin an Advanced Search. Advanced searching provides additional options to refine your results before running a search. This means the search will return less results, but the results will be more accurate. These options can be adjusted after a search as well from a menu alongside the results list. If desired, start with a broader search and add these qualifiers after. 

1. Use one or more text boxes to enter search terms.

2. Select a specific metadata field to search for a term (Author, Item Title, Abstract, or Caption). By default all fields will be searched.

3. Use this drop-down to coordinate search terms using boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. These determine how the search terms in each text box relate to one another. For example, looking for articles about "liberation theology" AND "Latin America" would return articles that contain both terms in their detailed record. A search for "liberation theology" NOT "Latin America" would return articles that contain the term "liberation theology" in their detailed record without the term "Latin America."

4. Select "Add a search box" to add another text box to enter another set of search terms. Connect additional search boxes to previously selected terms using the boolean operators AND, OR, or NOT.

5. Select an Access Type for your search from the drop-down. Selecting "Content I can access" limits your results to just articles that are available in full-text for immediate use while signed in. Selecting "All content" will broaden your search results to include articles that only have the citation information available in JSTOR, and the full text will need to be requested via interlibrary loan.

For additional guidance on searching in JSTOR, visit the JSTOR Search Help page from JSTOR Support. Helpful articles include: 

• Using JSTOR to Start Your Research
• Finding Content You Have Access To
• Searching for and within Specific Journals or Books
• Are JSTOR articles peer-reviewed?
• Introduction to Basic Search on JSTOR
• Advanced Tools: Boolean Operators
• Advanced Tools: Truncation, Wildcards, and Proximity
• Advanced Tools: Finding a Specific Phrase, Title or Author
• Using Fielded Searching
• About Images in Search Results