JSTOR Sustainability

Subject Guide

Sustainability Resources at JSTOR

Sustainability, also commonly known as ‘resilience,’ is the ability to adapt to and overcome environmental, ecological, economic, developmental and other challenges to ensure long-term growth, and the literature available on JSTOR looks at this broad topic through a very interdisciplinary lens. Subtopics include sustainable business practices, urban planning and development, disaster readiness, conversation, climatology, resource management, energy policy, and more.

Sustainability resources on JSTOR include:

More than 100 journals from over 20 disciplines, including environmental studies, environmental science, business, economics, law, aquatic & atmospheric sciences, ecology, urban studies and the built environment.
Over 5,000 research reports from more than 30 leading think tanks around the world. These often hard-to-find research reports include policy briefs, technical papers, white papers, and discussion papers from government agencies, non-governmental organizations, corporations, policy institutions, and academic centers.

Open Access Journals for Climate Change Research

Here are five open access journals to help get you started on your research on climate change:

Conservation and Society
Published by: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment and Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd.

A peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practice of conservation. Draws on both the natural and social sciences, including political ecology, environmental history, conservation policy and governance, human-wildlife conflicts, and conservation biology.

Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development
Published by: Columbia University

An online journal that brings together students, researchers, professors, and practitioners from a variety of disciplines and geographical regions. Publishes scholarly articles, opinion pieces, field notes, editorial columns, and photo essays to foster a global community to think more broadly and analytically about sustainable development.

Ecology and Society
Published by: Resilience Alliance Inc.

An electronic, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal devoted to the rapid dissemination of current research in the following:

the management and sustainable use of ecological systems, resources and biological diversity
the impact of natural systems on social and political systems and conversely, the effect of social, economic, and political institutions on ecological systems
the means by which we can develop and sustain desired ecological, social, and political states

Ethnobiology Letters
Published by: Society of Ethnobiology

Features a variety of formats for ethnobiological research--the study of the relationships between humans and environments in diverse spatial and temporal contexts--including research articles, perspectives, mini-reviews on focused topics in ethnobiology, and book reviews

RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society
Published by: Rachel Carson Center

A forum for examining the interrelationship between environmental and social changes. Published by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society to bridge the gap between scholarly and non-scholarly audiences.

Open Access Books for Climate Change Research

Communicating Climate Change: A Guide for Educators

Anne K. Armstrong, Marianne E. Krasny, and Jonathon P. Schuldt | Published by: Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press

Provides environmental educators with an understanding of how their audiences engage with climate change information as well as with concrete, empirically tested communication tools they can use to enhance their climate change program.

Climate Change as a Threat to Peace: Impacts on Cultural Heritage and Cultural Diversity

Sabine von Schorlemer and Sylvia Maus | Published by: Peter Lang AG

A fresh look at how the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage and cultural diversity may challenge sustainable global peace.

Climate Change: International Law and Global Governance: Volume I: Legal Responses and Global Responsibility

Oliver C. Ruppel, Christian Roschmann, and Katharina Ruppel-Schlichting | Published by: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH

An assessment of the most pressing effects of climate change on various international law regimes; introduces international climate change law as a new discipline.

Green Carbon Part I: The role of natural forests in carbon storage

Brendan G. Mackey, Heather Keith, Sandra L. Berry, and David B. Lindenmayer | Published by: ANU Press

Examines the role of natural forests and woodlands in the storage of carbon, the impacts of human land use activities, and the implications for national and global climate change policy; Part II is also available on JSTOR.

Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology

Jago Cooper and Payson Sheets | Published by: University Press of Colorado

A set of case studies examining how eight diverse communities—ranging from Arctic to equatorial regions, from tropical rainforests to desert interiors, and from deep prehistory to living memory—faced and coped with both gradual and sudden threats to their human and environmental welfare.

JSTOR Daily: Sustainability and the Environment Feed

Read our online magazine that connects news and current affairs with related scholarship on JSTOR. It's a great source of ideas for paper topics and classroom discussions.