How to Use Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a great tool for students and professionals who want to do research at home or who aren't able to get to a library. It allows you to search through theses, articles, books and other academic literature to find relevant and credible research sources. Once you get the hang of how to interpret the search results, Google Scholar is incredibly easy to use.

Things You'll Need

• Google account

Instructions

Do a Simple Search

1. Sign in to your Google or Gmail account and navigate to the Google Scholar search page. Both Google's homepage (and your iGoogle page) and Gmail have a "More" link on the top. Click on the link and select "Scholar" from the drop-down menu.

2. Set your Scholar preferences by clicking on the "Preferences" link next to the search box. You can choose the languages in which you would like to see resource materials, change the number of results that show on the page and even add a specific library to be searched. Simply type the name of the library into the box and hit "Find Library."

3. Use Google Scholar to search for a specific author's scholarly works. You can either search by putting the name in quotations ("Amanda Morin") or, to narrow results or by adding the author operator (author:"Amanda Morin"). Note that you can broaden your search by omitting the first name or by using a first initial ("a morin" or author:"a morin").

4. Search by title. Enter in the title of a book, thesis, study or other publication to locate a specific work.

Use the Advanced Search Function

1. Click on the "Advanced Search" link next to the search box. You will be brought to a detailed webform that you can use to narrow your search parameters.

2. Look for articles about a specific subject by entering in keywords and phrases. You can be as detailed or broad as you would like. Simply choose whether you want to search for all of the words, some of the words, the exact phrase and whether you will accept results that have the words in the title or anywhere in the text of the document.

3. Narrow results even further by using the "Author," "Publication" and "Date" fields. Here you can search for subjects by author, in a specific journal or for research within a particular range of time. This can help you make sure you are working with current research.

4. Choose a subject area in which to search and click on "Search Scholar" to see a list of results.

Understanding Your Results

1. Find the names of the authors returned by your search in the "All Results" column on the side. You can then click on an author's name to find the articles s/he has written about your topic.

2. Interpret the returned results. Like any other Google search, Google Scholar will return a page of relevant links. However, they look a bit different. The top line is the title of the study and is linked to an abstract (if available). It may also have links next to it titled "Find @" and "Group of." The "Find @" link will tell you whether the work is available online or offline at your chosen library and the "Group of" link will tell you whether or not there are related academic works available, like conference notes or adaptations.

3. Discover where or how many times this work has been cited with the "Cited by" link. The number indicates how many other available works have used this article as a reference. You can click on the link to find the citing articles, which may also be relevant to your research.

4. Find related articles with the "Related Articles" link. Essentially, this is the same as "Related Links" in a Google search; it gives links to other articles that are categorized in your topic area.

5. Click "Web Search" to do a general Google search about the article. This is helpful if you would like to see what reviewers have said about the research or study results.

Tips & Warnings

• Some libraries, including many academic institutions, don't allow online searches by non-patrons. If you are a patron of the library, be sure to have your ID information available to enter in order to allow Google access to the library's archives.