Google scholar is a free digital tool that allows you to search for academic or scientific literature on the internet . Whether you are a student, teacher or researcher, Google scholar can help you find relevant and reliable information for your academic work . In this article, we will explain to you what Google Scholar is, how to use it, its advantages and disadvantages, and how to optimize it for your searches!
What is Google scholar?
Google scholar is a search engine that indexes documents from academic or scientific sources, such as theses, articles, books, patents, conferences and abstracts. It allows you to find the full text or metadata of scholarly literature in a wide range of publication formats and disciplines . It was launched in 2004 by Google to facilitate access to scientific knowledge.
To access Google scholar, simply go to the Google Scholar and type the keywords of your search in the search bar . You can also go to the search settings and create an alert based on your search. The interface is similar to that of Google , making it easy to use, especially for those who are already familiar with the search engine.
How to use Google scholar?
Google scholar allows you to search across many disciplines and sources , from articles to theses to abstracts to court opinions and more. You can refine your search using filters such as date , language, document type or source. You can also sort results by relevance or date.
When you click on a result, you can access the full text of the document if it is available online. Alternatively, you can view summaries, reviews, indexes, or excerpts on Google Books . You can also see the document's citation count, which indicates its impact in the scientific community. You can click on “ Cite ” to obtain the bibliographic reference of the document in the style of your choice.
Google scholar also allows you to create your personal library of articles. This allows you to save articles from the search page and organize them by theme. You can access your library by clicking on the “ My Library ” icon at the top right of the page. You can also import references from other sources or export your library to bibliographic management software.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Google scholar?
Google scholar has several advantages and disadvantages that you should be aware of before using it.
Among its advantages, we can cite:
- It is free and accessible to all
- It covers a wide range of disciplines and academic or scientific sources
- It allows you to find the full text or metadata of documents
- It indicates the number of citations to documents
- It provides the bibliographic references of the documents
- It allows you to create a personal library of articles
- It offers a simple and intuitive interface
Among its disadvantages, we can cite:
- It does not guarantee the quality or reliability of the information.
- It does not cover all existing academic or scientific sources
- It sometimes links to paid sites or inaccessible documents
- It does not allow advanced searches with Boolean operators
- It does not always respect bibliographic standards
How to optimize Google scholar for your academic research?
To get the most out of Google scholar , here are some tips to follow:
- Use precise and relevant keywords for your search
- Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase, for example “artificial intelligence”
- Use the minus sign (-) to exclude a word from your search, for example artificial intelligence -robotics
- Use the plus sign (+) to include a required word in your search, for example artificial intelligence +ethics
- Use the author: operator to search by author, for example author:Einstein
- Use the source: operator to search by source, for example source:Science
- Use advanced search to refine your search by date, language, document type or source
- Check document citations to find similar or more recent sources
- Check the quality and reliability of information by cross-referencing sources and assessing their relevance, timeliness, objectivity and credibility
- Cite sources correctly using the bibliographic style appropriate to your discipline
- Create and manage your personal library of articles using Google scholar features or bibliographic management software
Comparison table of the main academic search engines
| Search engine | Benefits | Disadvantages |
| Google scholar | Free, wide coverage, full text or metadata, citations, bibliographic references, personal library | Quality and reliability not guaranteed, incomplete sources, paid or inaccessible sites, limited advanced search, bibliographic standards not respected |
| Scopus | Paid bibliographic database, wide coverage, full text or metadata, citations, bibliographic references, personal library, bibliometric analysis | Paid, incomplete sources, paid or inaccessible sites |
| Web of Science | Paid bibliographic database, wide coverage, full text or metadata, citations, bibliographic references, personal library, bibliometric analysis | Paid, incomplete sources, paid or inaccessible sites |
| PubMed | Free bibliographic database, specialized in life and biomedical sciences, full text or metadata, citations, bibliographic references | Specialized, incomplete sources |
| ERIC | Free bibliographic database, specialized in education and social sciences, full text or metadata, citations, bibliographic references | Specialized, incomplete sources |
Google Scholar FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions on Google scholar and their answers:
What is the difference between Google and Google scholar?
Google is a general search engine that indexes all types of content on the internet. Google scholar is a specialized search engine that only indexes academic or scientific content .
How to access paid documents on Google scholar?
There are several ways to access paid documents on Google scholar:
- Check if your institution has a subscription to paid sources
- Use your institution's virtual private network (VPN) to access paid sources
- Search for the document on other free sources like ResearchGate or Academia.edu
- Contact the author of the document to request a copy
How to create an alert on Google scholar?
To create an alert on Google scholar , you must:
- Do a search with the keywords of your interest
- Click on the “ Create alert ” icon at the bottom left of the page
- Enter your email address and click “ Create Alert ”
- You will receive an email each time Google scholar finds a new document matching your search
How to create a profile on Google scholar?
To create a profile on Google scholar , you must:
- Log in to your Google account
- Go to the site https://scholar.google.com/
- Click on “My profile” at the top left of the page
- Fill in the requested information like name, affiliation, areas of interest and email address
- Click on “Next”
- Select the articles to add to your profile and click on “Next”
- Choose whether you want to make your profile public or private and click on “Finish”
How to cite a document found on Google scholar?
To cite a document found on Google scholar , you must:
- Click on the document in the list of results
- Click on the “Cite” icon below the document
- Choose the desired citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.)
- Copy the quote and paste it into your document
- Check that the citation conforms to the standards of the chosen style
How to delete an article from your Google scholar profile?
To delete an article from your Google scholar profile , you must:
- Log in to your Google account
- Go to the site https://scholar.google.com/
- Click on “My profile” at the top left of the page
- Check the box next to the item to delete
- Click on the “ Delete ” icon at the top of the page
- Confirm deletion
Conclusion
Google scholar is a free digital tool that allows you to search for academic or scientific literature on the internet. It has many advantages like its wide coverage, ease of use, citation and personal library features. It also has disadvantages such as its unguaranteed quality and reliability, its incomplete sources and its paid or inaccessible sites. To optimize Google scholar for your academic research, you must use precise and relevant keywords, use filters and operators, consult citations, check the quality and reliability of information, correctly cite sources and create and manage your personal library of articles.
