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Google Scholar: Home

A Tarleton Guide to using Google Scholar for research and coursework

Welcome

Google Scholar is a free online tool that helps you discover and access academic research. Instead of general websites, it searches through scholarly articles, theses, conference papers, and other academic resources. Try Google Scholar to help on your next research project. 

↓   Try it out!   ↓      SEARCH TIPS

Google Scholar Search

Boolan Operators To Know

AND Narrows a search, both keywords MUST be used in the article to appear in your results

i.e. Dogs AND Cats: Returns results with Cat and Dog interactions

OR   Broadens a search results, EITHER keyword is acceptable, helpful searching with synonyms.

i.e. Dogs OR Cats: Return results of articles about dogs, or cats, or both.

NOT Remove a particular result, excludes articles that has NOT keyword. Helpful when researching topics with common alternative topics

i.e. Dogs NOT "Golden Retriever": Return articles about dogs, does not display article if the term "Golden Retriever" is used.

"Quotations" Exact quote, term must match to appear in your results

How to use this LibGuide

Welcome to the Google Scholar LibGuide,

This LibGuide includes :

  1. Tips and tricks on the home tab.
  2. Video lessons
  3. Comparison between Database searching and Google Scholar

For more information or assistance, schedule an appointment or stop by the library. 

To set up Google Scholar:

  1. Visit Set up Google Scholar page
  2. Follow the step by step directions on this Setting Up Library Links in Google Scholar. 

How can Google Scholar help you?

Find Articles: Google Scholar allows you to search for journal articles, research papers, and other resources that may help you with your research. 

Track Citations: You can see how often a paper has been cited by other researchers, which can help you identify influential studies and authors

Create Alerts: You can set up alerts to notify you whenever new research is published on a specific topic, keeping you updated on the latest developments that are publicly accessible.

Access Full Texts: Configuring your Google Scholar preferences to include Tarleton's Full Text Finder, you can bypass certain paywalls and directly access more resources.

Tips

Why is Google Scholar Better than Google? While both are products of Google, Google Scholar is specifically for academic material While Free to search, most academic content is not freely available. Google Scholar will attempt to find free copies in public databases. If you are on a Tarleton WIFI or computer, then you can also set up a library connection that allows you to see Items that are available to you as students of Tarleton
Things Google Scholar does well. Help identify journal titles and authors connected to a subject Identify items such as white papers, online books, or obscure references that fall outside of a database Access books and articles in a single search Locate information based on partial citations
Google Scholar cannot…Sort by discipline/subject Browse by titles Limit search results via filters Search the Deep Web (Websites and documents outside of indexing search engines)
Keep in Mind. While you may find many items in the search results, you’ll only have access to articles or documents available through Tarleton Library databases, Open Access content, or publicly available resources outside of paywalls. Not everything in Google Scholar is scholarly; some results may include PowerPoint slides, public announcements, unpublished works, or non-peer-reviewed articles and books. Additionally, Google Scholar doesn't provide clear information about the topics covered, making it hard to judge the completeness of the research.
Peer-review Check Do you want to know if an article you found was peer-reviewed? Check out Ulrich’s Global Serials Directory in the A to Z Database List and look up the publisher!

Undergraduate Services Librarian

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Mohammed Kokan
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