18 Google Scholar tips all students should know

Dec 13, 2022

[[read-time]] min read

Think of this guide as your personal research assistant.

Molly McHugh-Johnson headshot

“It’s hard to pick your favorite kid,” Anurag Acharya says when I ask him to talk about a favorite Google Scholar feature he’s worked on. “I work on product, engineering, operations, partnerships,” he says. He’s been doing it for 18 years, which as of this month, happens to be how long Google Scholar has been around.

Google Scholar is also one of Google’s longest-running services. The comprehensive database of research papers, legal cases and other scholarly publications was the fourth Search service Google launched, Anurag says. In honor of this very important tool’s 18th anniversary, I asked Anurag to share 18 things you can do in Google Scholar that you might have missed.

1. Copy article citations in the style of your choice.

With a simple click of the cite button (which sits below an article entry), Google Scholar will give you a ready-to-use citation for the article in five styles, including APA, MLA and Chicago. You can select and copy the one you prefer.

2. Dig deeper with related searches.

Google Scholar’s related searches can help you pinpoint your research; you’ll see them show up on a page in between article results. Anurag describes it like this: You start with a big topic — like “cancer” — and follow up with a related search like “lung cancer” or “colon cancer” to explore specific kinds of cancer.

A Google Scholar search results page for “cancer.” After four search results, there is a section of Related searches, including breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, cancer chemotherapy and ovarian cancer.

Related searches can help you find what you’re looking for.

3. And don’t miss the related articles.

This is another great way to find more papers similar to one you found helpful — you can find this link right below an entry.

4. Read the papers you find.

Scholarly articles have long been available only by subscription. To keep you from having to log in every time you see a paper you’re interested in, Scholar works with libraries and publishers worldwide to integrate their subscriptions directly into its search results. Look for a link marked [PDF] or [HTML]. This also includes preprints and other free-to-read versions of papers.

5. Access Google Scholar tools from anywhere on the web with the Scholar Button browser extension.

The Scholar Button browser extension is sort of like a mini version of Scholar that can move around the web with you. If you’re searching for something, hitting the extension icon will show you studies about that topic, and if you’re reading a study, you can hit that same button to find a version you read, create a citation or to save it to your Scholar library.

A screenshot of a Google Search results landing page, with the Scholar Button extension clicked. The user has searched for “breast cancer” within Google Search; that term is also searched in the Google Scholar extension. The extension shows three relevant articles from Google Scholar.

Install the Scholar Button Chrome browser extension to access Google Scholar from anywhere on the web.

6. Learn more about authors through Scholar profiles.

There are many times when you’ll want to know more about the researchers behind the ideas you’re looking into. You can do this by clicking on an author’s name when it’s hyperlinked in a search result. You’ll find all of their work as well as co-authors, articles they’re cited in and so on. You can also follow authors from their Scholar profile to get email updates about their work, or about when and where their work is cited.

7. Easily find topic experts.

One last thing about author profiles: If there are topics listed below an author’s name on their profile, you can click on these areas of expertise and you’ll see a page of more authors who are researching and publishing on these topics, too.

8. Search for court opinions with the “Case law” button.

Scholar is the largest free database of U.S. court opinions. When you search for something using Google Scholar, you can select the “Case law” button below the search box to see legal cases your keywords are referenced in. You can read the opinions and a summary of what they established.

9. See how those court opinions have been cited.

If you want to better understand the impact of a particular piece of case law, you can select “How Cited,” which is below an entry, to see how and where the document has been cited. For example, here is the How Cited page for Marbury v. Madison , a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established that courts can strike down unconstitutional laws or statutes.

10. Understand how a legal opinion depends on another.

When you’re looking at how case laws are cited within Google Scholar, click on “Cited by” and check out the horizontal bars next to the different results. They indicate how relevant the cited opinion is in the court decision it’s cited within. You will see zero, one, two or three bars before each result. Those bars indicate the extent to which the new opinion depends on and refers to the cited case.

A screenshot of the “Cited by” page for U.S. Supreme Court case New York Times Company v. Sullivan. The Cited by page shows four different cases; two of them have three bars filled in, indicating they rely heavily on New York Times Company v. Sullivan; the other two cases only have one bar filled in, indicating less reliance on New York Times Company v. Sullivan.

In the Cited by page for New York Times Company v. Sullivan, court cases with three bars next to their name heavily reference the original case. One bar indicates less reliance.

11. Sign up for Google Scholar alerts.

Want to stay up to date on a specific topic? Create an alert for a Google Scholar search for your topics and you’ll get email updates similar to Google Search alerts. Another way to keep up with research in your area is to follow new articles by leading researchers. Go to their profiles and click “Follow.” If you’re a junior grad student, you may consider following articles related to your advisor’s research topics, for instance.

12. Save interesting articles to your library.

It’s easy to go down fascinating rabbit hole after rabbit hole in Google Scholar. Don’t lose track of your research and use the save option that pops up under search results so articles will be in your library for later reading.

13. Keep your library organized with labels.

Labels aren’t only for Gmail! You can create labels within your Google Scholar library so you can keep your research organized. Click on “My library,” and then the “Manage labels…” option to create a new label.

14. If you’re a researcher, share your research with all your colleagues.

Many research funding agencies around the world now mandate that funded articles should become publicly free to read within a year of publication — or sooner. Scholar profiles list such articles to help researchers keep track of them and open up access to ones that are still locked down. That means you can immediately see what is currently available from researchers you’re interested in and how many of their papers will soon be publicly free to read.

15. Look through Scholar’s annual top publications and papers.

Every year, Google Scholar releases the top publications based on the most-cited papers. That list (available in 11 languages) will also take you to each publication’s top papers — this takes into account the “h index,” which measures how much impact an article has had. It’s an excellent place to start a research journey as well as get an idea about the ideas and discoveries researchers are currently focused on.

16. Get even more specific with Advanced Search.

Click on the hamburger icon on the upper left-hand corner and select Advanced Search to fine-tune your queries. For example, articles with exact words or a particular phrase in the title or articles from a particular journal and so on.

17. Find extra help on Google Scholar’s help page.

It might sound obvious, but there’s a wealth of useful information to be found here — like how often the database is updated, tips on formatting searches and how you can use your library subscriptions when you’re off-campus (looking at you, college students!). Oh, and you’ll even learn the origin of that quote on Google Scholar’s home page.

The Google Scholar home page. The quote at the bottom reads: “Stand on the shoulders of giants.”

18. Keep up with Google Scholar news.

Don’t forget to check out the Google Scholar blog for updates on new features and tips for using this tool even better.

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How to Use Google Scholar for Academic Research

Last Updated: June 27, 2024 Fact Checked

  • Basic Search
  • Advanced Search

How to Cite an Article

  • Google Scholar Tips & Tricks

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 176,896 times.

Google Scholar is a Google product specifically designed for searching academic sources, including journal articles, books, dissertations, and abstracts from various fields. This wikiHow article teaches you how to use Google Scholar to research any topic and cite it in your own work.

Quick Steps

  • Go to https://scholar.google.com .
  • Link your institution's library in ☰ > Settings > Library Links
  • Use the search bar to search for your topic.
  • Use the side menu to the left to narrow your search.
  • Click Advanced Search in the menu ( ☰ ) to access advanced search options.
  • Click an article title to view the full text (or where you can find it).

How to Do a Basic Search

Step 1 Go to the Google Scholar webpage.

  • You can access Google Scholar via computer or mobile.
  • The Google Chrome browser also has a Google Scholar Button you can add to make searching easier. You can add the Google Scholar extension from the Chrome Web Store . [1] X Research source

Step 2 Sign in to your Google account.

  • Click the icon with three lines ( ☰ ) in the upper-right corner.
  • Click Settings .
  • Click Library Links .
  • Enter the name of your library or academic institution.
  • Click the Magnifying Glass icon.
  • Click the checkbox next to your library (you can select up to 5).
  • Click Save .

Step 4 Enter search terms.

  • For instance, if you are interested in Vietnamese culture, you could type in ‘the culture of the Vietnamese people.’
  • Using as few search terms as possible will return broader results. For instance, you could search for ‘Vietnamese people’ or ‘Vietnamese culture.’ Use keywords instead of full sentences.
  • If you have trouble finding relevant results, try an additional or different search term. For instance, if you are interested in the everyday life of Vietnamese people, and ‘Vietnamese people’ isn’t returning useful results, try searching for ‘Vietnamese people customs.’

Step 5 Get citation information.

  • For example, if you search for ‘Vietnamese Culture,’ you might see a result for the article “Culture Shock: A Review of Vietnamese Culture and its Concepts of Health and Disease,” and see that it is by M.D. Nguyen, and was published in the Western Journal of Medicine in 1985.
  • You might be interested in the specific topic (Vietnamese culture and health), the author, or the fact that it was published in 1985.
  • You might also see a brief abstract or snippet of text from the result, which can help you determine if it is relevant to your search.

Step 6 Go to the full text, if possible.

  • Clicking on a search result might take you to the full text, an abstract, a snippet, or a limited preview.
  • If you see "PDF" to the right of the article title, click this link to download the text as a PDF.
  • If you are logged into your institutional account, Google Scholar may provide links for full-text access. For instance, if you are logged into your Harvard account, look for “Availability at Harvard” and/or “FindIt@Harvard” for more information about whether or not you can access the full text of particular sources.
  • If you don’t have an institutional or library account, some restricted sources may have the option of paying a fee to view them.
  • If a source you want to view is restricted, click “All Versions” at the bottom of the citation information. If the source is accessible via other databases, you might be able to find one that is non-restricted.

How to Do an Advanced Search

Step 1 Use the sidebar options to narrow your search.

  • To search for case law, click the icon with three lines ( ☰ ) in the upper-right corner, then click Case Law .

Step 2 Use boolean search connectors.

  • By typing "OR" (must be capitalized) between search terms, Google Scholar will retrieve results containing either term. If you are interested in the culture of both Vietnam and Thailand, you can search for ‘Vietnam OR Thailand culture’.
  • Typing "AND" (capitalized) between search terms will search for articles containing both search terms.
  • Enter "NOT" (capitalized) before a search term will eliminate it from the results. For instance, if you are researching Vietnamese culture but do not want to find results related to the Vietnam War, searching for ‘Vietnamese culture NOT war’ will stop Google Scholar from giving results that use the key term “war.”

Step 3 Restrict your search using other commands.

  • Searching for an exact phrase by putting it in quotation marks. Putting the search terms 'Vietnamese culinary traditions' will return all sources containing the words traditions, culinary, and Vietnamese all individually, while searching for '“Vietnamese culinary traditions”' (in quotation marks) will only return results with that exact phrase
  • Requesting sources with a particular term in the title using the command “intitle:”. If you want to find works on Vietnamese food traditions with the word “culinary” in the title, search for ‘Vietnamese intitle:culinary’.
  • Restricting results to those by a particular author by entering “author:” before the name. For example, if you want to find works on Vietnamese culture by M. Thomas, enter ‘Vietnamese culture author:Thomas, M.’

Step 4 Access the Advanced Search feature.

  • Click Advanced Search

Step 5 Use the Advanced Search window:

  • with all of the words: This search bar will return sources that feature any of the words you enter into this bar in no particular order.
  • with the exact phrase: This search bar will return sources with the exact phrase you enter into this bar rather than searching for each word individually.
  • with at least one of the words: This search bar will return sources that feature at least one of the words you enter, but not necessarily all of them.
  • without the words: This search bar will exclude sources from your search that you enter into this bar.
  • where my words occur: This option allows you to select whether your search applies to the entire article or just the title.
  • Return article authored by: This search bar allows you to specify an author's name in your search.
  • Return articles published in: This search bar allows you to specify a publication or journal in which your article appeared.
  • Return articles dated between: This allows you to specify a date range for when your article was published.

Step 6 Check the Related articles to find similar results.

  • Keep in mind that Google Scholar only tracks citations in works that the service already indexes. This means, for instance, that it will not show if a source is cited in a journal that Google Scholar does not include in its searches.

Step 1 Click Cite below an article you want to site.

  • You may need to make minor adjustments to the formatting, such as adding a hanging indent for MLA.

Ways to Get the Most Out of Google Scholar

Step 1 Sign up for email alerts.

  • For instance, creating an alert for ‘Vietnamese cultural traditions’ will send you an email anytime Google Scholar finds new sources using those key terms.

Step 2 Save sources to your Google Scholar library.

  • To access your library, click the icon with three lines ( ☰ ) in the upper-left corner to open the menu, and then click My Library in the menu to the left.

Step 3 Be aware of Google Scholar’s strengths and weaknesses.

  • Many of its search results are restricted.
  • You cannot limit it to the type of source you want to find (e.g., books only or articles only).
  • You cannot know which databases Google Scholar uses to find its search results.
  • There are sometimes errors in the way Google Scholar records data (e.g., journal names may mistakenly be listed as authors)
  • Some results that Google Scholar retrieves (such as personal web pages, non-peer-reviewed articles, etc.) may not be traditionally-defined scholarship.
  • Some sources may not be included in a Google Scholar search that you may find at your local library. For example, Google Scholar does not return sources like podcasts, videos, statistics, or special collections.

Expert Q&A

  • If you use a citation manager, such as EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, or RefWorks, you may be able to configure it to sync with Google Scholar. Check the user guides for the manager you use to see if this option is available to you. [6] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • In addition to Google Scholar, librarian Kim Gillingham notes that “most public and university libraries have databases providing access to scholarly articles. Don’t hesitate to ask a librarian for guidance—they are there to help.” Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

how to search essay in google

You Might Also Like

Find Scholarly Articles Online

  • ↑ https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/google-scholar-button/ldipcbpaocekfooobnbcddclnhejkcpn?hl=en&pli=1
  • ↑ https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html
  • ↑ https://www.otago.ac.nz/library/pdf/Google_Scholar_Tips.pdf
  • ↑ https://scholar.google.com/schhp?hl=en
  • ↑ https://lib.utsa.edu/find-information/google-scholar/

About This Article

Gerald Posner

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Lydon and O'Leary libraries will be closing at 2:00pm on Wednesday, July 3rd , and will be closed on Thursday, July 4th . If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] .

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Google Scholar Search

Using Google Scholar for Research

Google Scholar is a powerful tool for researchers and students alike to access peer-reviewed papers. With Scholar, you are able to not only search for an article, author or journal of interest, you can also save and organize these articles, create email alerts, export citations and more. Below you will find some basic search tips that will prove useful.

This page also includes information on Google Scholar Library - a resource that allows you to save, organize and manage citations - as well as information on citing a paper on Google Scholar.

Search Tips

  • Locate Full Text
  • Sort by Date
  • Related Articles
  • Court Opinions
  • Email Alerts
  • Advanced Search

Abstracts are freely available for most of the articles and UMass Lowell holds many subscriptions to journals and online resources. The first step is make sure you are affiliated with the UML Library on and off campus by Managing your Settings, under Library Links. 

When searching in Google Scholar here are a few things to try to get full text:

  • click a library link, e.g., "Full-text @ UML Library", to the right of the search result;
  • click a link labeled [PDF] to the right of the search result;
  • click "All versions" under the search result and check out the alternative sources;
  • click "More" under the search result to see if there's an option for full-text;
  • click "Related articles" or "Cited by" under the search result to explore similar articles.

google scholar result page

Your search results are normally sorted by relevance, not by date. To find newer articles, try the following options in the left sidebar:

date range menu

  • click "Sort by date" to show just the new additions, sorted by date;  If you use this feature a lot, you may also find it useful to setup email alerts to have new results automatically sent to you.
  • click the envelope icon to have new results periodically delivered by email.

Note: On smaller screens that don't show the sidebar, these options are available in the dropdown menu labeled "Any time" right below the search button .

The Related Articles option under the search result can be a useful tool when performing research on a specific topic. 

google scholar results page

After clicking you will see articles from the same authors and with the same keywords.

court opinions dropdown

You can select the jurisdiction from either the search results page or the home page as well; simply click "select courts". You can also refine your search by state courts or federal courts. 

To quickly search a frequently used selection of courts, bookmark a search results page with the desired selection. 

 How do I sign up for email alerts?

Do a search for the topic of interest, e.g., "M Theory"; click the envelope icon in the sidebar of the search  results page; enter your email address, and click " Create alert ". Google will periodically email you newly published papers that match your search criteria. You can use any email address for this; it does not need to be a Google Account. 

If you want to get alerts from new articles published in a specific journal; type in the name of this journal in the search bar and create an alert like you would a keyword. 

How do I get notified of new papers published by my colleagues, advisors or professors?

alert settings

First, do a search for your their name, and see if they have a Citations profile. If they do, click on it, and click the "Follow new articles" link in the right sidebar under the search box.

If they don't have a profile, do a search by author, e.g., [author:s-hawking], and click on the mighty envelope in the left sidebar of the search results page. If you find that several different people share the same name, you may need to add co-author names or topical keywords to limit results to the author you wish to follow.

How do I change my alerts?

If you created alerts using a Google account, you can manage them all on the "Alerts" page . 

alert settings menu

From here you can create, edit or delete alerts. Select cancel under the actions column to unsubscribe from an alert. 

how to search essay in google

This will pop-open the advanced search menu

how to search essay in google

Here you can search specific words/phrases as well as for author, title and journal. You can also limit your search results by date.

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Writing a good college essay can be tough and time-consuming. It will cost you several trips to the library, hours of pouring over your notes, and sleepless nights scouring online databases. ⏳

And while the internet is a huge pool of information, it is crucial to identify and use credible sources . So, the big question is: How can you find the right academic references for your college essay? 

Here’s a guide to finding essay sources that will impress your professor and get you that well-deserved A! 🔍

Start With Wikipedia 

Yes, we all know academic researchers frown upon Wikipedia since it’s user-generated (so anyone can write anything). But it’s actually a great springboard to get an overview of your essay topic . 💻

At the bottom of each Wikipedia page, you’ll find a treasure trove of legitimate sources and citations that you can use in your essay. 

android phone screenshot of the Wikipedia homepage

Check Out Primary Sources

Primary sources are the building blocks of any research project. They must serve as the foundation of your research, whereas secondary sources should inform and supplement the primary sources.

Primary sources are first-hand accounts on a subject, often unedited, that offer a close, personal overview of a topic. They encourage students to read between the lines and approach them with a critical mindset. 🤔

how to search essay in google

When analyzing primary sources, ask yourself key questions like, “Who is the intended audience?” or “What does the source tell me about the period?”

By considering these questions, you can effectively understand the historical context and cultural perspectives and avoid potential bias or inaccuracy . This will also help you develop well-supported arguments and strengthen your essay. 💪

Get the Most Out of the Library

Students may gravitate toward online research but the good old library is still a trusted source of information . In fact, 58 percent of Americans aged 16 and older have a library card — and for good reason! 

Library databases allow you to efficiently search for published information, such as magazines, journals, and newspaper articles . 

These sources contain scholarly articles by notable authors, journalists, and researchers. If you hit a paywall for a journal or newspaper, verify if your library has a subscription — problem solved! ✅

male college student finding essay sources inside the library

But the most underutilized tool in libraries is the staff. Librarians know all about research methods, using information systems, statistics, and management. 

They’re experts when it comes to finding the information you need. All you have to do is ask your university librarian for help finding top-tier resources on your essay topic. 📚

Use Academic Search Engines 

Let’s get this straight: It’s hard to write a research paper without consulting the internet . 

Most of us start our search with Google, but unfortunately, search engines don’t always churn out credible results . That’s why it’s crucial to explore other portals with an academic focus when searching for essay sources . ⚠️

Check out these options:

  • BASE : The Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) contains 4,000 sources and provides search results from more than 100 million documents. They also offer an advanced search option that allows users to narrow down their research. The BASE advanced search lets users use filters such as author names, publication dates, and document types to find more relevant results, saving time and improving academic research efficiency.
  • Refseek : A web search tool for students and researchers. You can access over a billion documents, books, newspapers, and journals without getting distracted by ads or sponsored links. 
  • Google Scholar : This connects you with hundreds of relevant scholarly journals. What’s more, it provides formatted citations in MLA, AP, or APA that you can export to RefWorks or BibTex. 
  • JSTOR : The platform provides a large collection of academic journals, books, and original sources from a variety of subjects.
  • PubMed : This includes articles from scholarly journals and research institutes with a focus on biomedical and life sciences research.
  • LexisNexis Academic : It focuses on researching legal and news-related subjects, including reports, legal publications, and court cases.   

how to search essay in google

Opt for Digital Libraries and Databases 

Digital libraries have specialized collections in all fields of study. They are easy to access and contain millions of books, audiobooks, journals, and videos that can help you further your essay research. 

The best part? No more waiting for popular books to become available! Digital libraries let you read and download content instantly, anytime, anywhere, using your computer or phone . 📱 

Of course, there may be some occasions where you’ll find your university doesn’t have access to a particular online database.  

If you’ve found the perfect journal article but can’t get access, try emailing the professor who wrote it and ask for a PDF — most academics will be quite happy to provide you access to their work. 📧

a female college student at home wearing headphones finding essay sources on digital libraries and databases using her laptop

Don’t Forget the Bibliography of Your Sources

After you have a list of credible sources, take a closer look at their citations. Seek out the primary sources these citations used for research. This will open up a new set of materials to work with for your essay. 🗒️ 

Plus, they often contain references to publications that make alternate viewpoints or offer diverse interpretations of the topic at hand. 

TIP: Once you start your research, you may find the same sources pop up over and over again. Consult Google Scholar to see the articles in a publication that are cited the most (along with who cited them). Make a list of these and incorporate them in your essay. 

Look Beyond Journals and Books

The world of research is your oyster, and with a diverse array of sources, your academic essay can shine if you dare to explore the unconventional.

Peruse through thrilling audio and video recordings that transport you to historic moments or cultural events, or explore interviews with experts who can add personal insights and real-life perspectives to your essay . 🎧

a female college student finding essay sources beyond journal and books such as newspaper records

Incorporate variety in the resources you add to make your essay an interesting read. This will also show your professor that you’ve gone above and beyond to create a well-researched essay. 👌

Note: Critically assess the reliability and validity of sources outside of the conventional academic channels because their level of accuracy may vary. Always check the author’s qualifications, and the reputation of the source, and cross-reference information from various sources.

Learn to Quickly Evaluate a Source

Essays and research papers come with deadlines. In an ideal world, you would meticulously examine each potential essay source, but there’s a smarter way to do it to save time! 🗓️

Here’s a helpful approach to evaluating a source: First, read the abstract or introduction of the source to decide if it’s useful for your work . 

Then, take a look at the citations and references at the end of the source . You can also check the publication date to ensure the information is current.

If it’s an online source, check out the domain name. Sites with .edu domains are associated with educational facilities, while .gov domains belong to government agencies. These sources are generally reliable due to their affiliation with reputable institutions. 

Additionally, examine the author’s credentials and expertise in the field . Look for authors who have relevant academic backgrounds or professional experience related to the topic. ✍️

Lastly, consider the reputation of the publisher . Reputable publishers are known for maintaining high standards of quality and accuracy in their publications. 

Don’t know where to start? Check the publisher’s website, browse through its publication list, and look for details about its editorial board and reviewers. 🧐

Putting together a top-notch essay is a Herculean task — but if you can collect the right resources you’re already halfway there! 💯

The Easy Guide to Finding Essay Sources: Frequently Asked Questions

What are academic sources .

Academic sources are dependable and trustworthy documents created by subject-matter specialists and distributed by respectable publishers or academic publications . 

They go through an exhaustive screening procedure and frequently contain citations or references to other academic publications.

How do I find trustworthy sources for my academic research?

Start with reputable sources such as scholarly journals and books from respected publishers. Consider the expertise of the author and the publisher’s reputation, and look for sources that have undergone the peer review process. 

Check the publication date to ensure the information is current. Be aware of potential biases in the sources and evaluate the evidence provided. 

What are the best sources for essays?

The best sources for essays are those that offer accurate and up-to-date information. 

Scholarly journals, expert books, government websites, academic databases, credible websites with specific domains (.gov,.edu, and .org), must-read books related to the topic, secondary readings for additional insights, scholarly sites, scientific papers, and reliable news and interviews are examples of these. 

How do I include a source in an essay? 

Introduce the source with an initial phrase. Then, summarize, paraphrase, or quote the material as needed and provide proper citations . 

When directly quoting the source, use quotation marks and cite the author, year, and page number. 

For summarizing, briefly present the main points and cite the author and year. When paraphrasing, restate the information in your own words and cite the author, year, and page number. 

Include relevant details about the author, title, and genre when citing the source for the first time. Each college may have varying guidelines for sourcing, so it’s important to check with your institution what is required.

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Google Scholar

  • Google Scholar Basics

Advanced Scholar Search

Accessing the advanced scholar search menu, advanced search features.

  • Results Page

Much of the time, a simple keyword search will help you find what you need. However, there are times when you may want to have more control over what your search does. You may want to control the publication date, search for results by a particular author or in a particular journal, give synonyms, or remove unwanted results. When you need to do this, the Advanced Scholar Search menu can help. 

Menu in upper left with role button

  • In the upper left corner of the page, press the button made of three horizontal lines to open a new menu. 
  • Advanced Search should be the second to last option in the newly-opened menu. 

The Advanced Scholar Search menu has eight ways of searching, organized into three broad sections. You are able to mix and match these different search options together.

The Advanced Scholar Search Menu

All / Exact Phrase / At Least One / Without

Helps you control the search words you are searching with.

  • Words typed into the first search bar must all be included in your result. This is how a regular Google Scholar search works.
  • You can also do this in the regular search bar by putting the words in quotes. Ex. "myocardial infarction" 
  • You can also do this in the regular search bar by putting "OR" in between your search words. Ex. Missouri politics OR government
  • You can also do this in the regular search bar by putting a minus sign (-) before a word. Ex. Shakespeare -tragedies

Where My Words Occur

Controls where Google Scholar will look for your search words. 

  • Selecting "anywhere in the article" will likely turn up a larger number of results, because the search engine can look for your keywords in more places. This is the Google Scholar default. 
  • Selecting "in the title of the article" may help improve the relevance of your results, because if your keyword is in the title, it is likely more important to what the article is about.

Authored by/Published in/ Dated Between

  • You can also do this in the regular search bar by putting "author:" before the author's name. Ex. intersectionality author:Crenshaw
  • The second search bar lets you search for results in a particular  scholarly journal . Google Scholar understands many common ways of abbreviating journal titles.
  • You can also adjust this from the results page . 
  • << Previous: Google Scholar Basics
  • Next: Results Page >>
  • Last Updated: Jan 11, 2023 11:21 AM
  • URL: https://semo.libguides.com/google-scholar

Reference management. Clean and simple.

The top list of academic search engines

academic search engines

1. Google Scholar

4. science.gov, 5. semantic scholar, 6. baidu scholar, get the most out of academic search engines, frequently asked questions about academic search engines, related articles.

Academic search engines have become the number one resource to turn to in order to find research papers and other scholarly sources. While classic academic databases like Web of Science and Scopus are locked behind paywalls, Google Scholar and others can be accessed free of charge. In order to help you get your research done fast, we have compiled the top list of free academic search engines.

Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

  • Coverage: approx. 200 million articles
  • Abstracts: only a snippet of the abstract is available
  • Related articles: ✔
  • References: ✔
  • Cited by: ✔
  • Links to full text: ✔
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, RIS, BibTeX

Search interface of Google Scholar

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany. That is also where its name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

  • Coverage: approx. 136 million articles (contains duplicates)
  • Abstracts: ✔
  • Related articles: ✘
  • References: ✘
  • Cited by: ✘
  • Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

Search interface of Bielefeld Academic Search Engine aka BASE

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open-access research papers. For each search result, a link to the full-text PDF or full-text web page is provided.

  • Coverage: approx. 136 million articles
  • Links to full text: ✔ (all articles in CORE are open access)
  • Export formats: BibTeX

Search interface of the CORE academic search engine

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need anymore to query all those resources separately!

  • Coverage: approx. 200 million articles and reports
  • Links to full text: ✔ (available for some databases)
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX (available for some databases)

Search interface of Science.gov

Semantic Scholar is the new kid on the block. Its mission is to provide more relevant and impactful search results using AI-powered algorithms that find hidden connections and links between research topics.

  • Coverage: approx. 40 million articles
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX

Search interface of Semantic Scholar

Although Baidu Scholar's interface is in Chinese, its index contains research papers in English as well as Chinese.

  • Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 100 million articles
  • Abstracts: only snippets of the abstract are available
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX

Search interface of Baidu Scholar

RefSeek searches more than one billion documents from academic and organizational websites. Its clean interface makes it especially easy to use for students and new researchers.

  • Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 1 billion documents
  • Abstracts: only snippets of the article are available
  • Export formats: not available

Search interface of RefSeek

Consider using a reference manager like Paperpile to save, organize, and cite your references. Paperpile integrates with Google Scholar and many popular databases, so you can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons:

how to search essay in google

Google Scholar is an academic search engine, and it is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only let's you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free, but also often provides links to full text PDF file.

Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature developed at the Allen Institute for AI. Sematic Scholar was publicly released in 2015 and uses advances in natural language processing to provide summaries for scholarly papers.

BASE , as its name suggest is an academic search engine. It is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that's where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. For each search result a link to the full text PDF or full text web page is provided.

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need any more to query all those resources separately!

Rhetorical analysis illustration

Stand on the shoulders of giants

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research.

how to search essay in google

How are documents ranked?

Google Scholar aims to rank documents the way researchers do, weighing the full text of each document, where it was published, who it was written by, as well as how often and how recently it has been cited in other scholarly literature.

Features of Google Scholar

  • Search all scholarly literature from one convenient place
  • Explore related works, citations, authors, and publications
  • Locate the complete document through your library or on the web
  • Keep up with recent developments in any area of research
  • Check who's citing your publications, create a public author profile

how to search essay in google

Disclaimer: Legal opinions in Google Scholar are provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed lawyer. Google does not warrant that the information is complete or accurate.

  • Privacy & Terms

ThePhDHub

7 Ways to Find Peer-Reviewed Articles on Google Scholar

Google Scholar is the professional place to find scholarly literature, peer-reviewed articles and high-quality, patented and unpatented research on a specialized Google platform. 

Google search is everything in 2021; one can search anything on the internet by Google search which provides nearly 99% accurate results. One can find products, literature, articles, information or any data from Google simply by telling “Hell Google” from your Phone. 

Say “Hello Google please suggest to me the best recipes for poached egg”

And that’s it! 

It will give you tons of results. 

But let me tell you that finding high-quality, peer-reviewed articles on Google isn’t that easy. The reason is that the Google search is meant for all people. Meaning, when searching anything directly from Google search, it will provide broad search results to cover all topics, products and results for all age groups. 

For example, 

When you search “Symptoms of H1N1 flu”; The results might show

  • Some common symptoms
  • Questions relevant to the topics  
  • Products related to the H1N1 flu- medication, therapies and testing 
  • Some good blog articles 
  • Global News on H1N1 
  • And like that… 

If you are a researcher, PhD scholar or scientist, these search results may not help you, I guess. You need more powerful, research-based, peer-reviewed and more scientific results. 

And for that my friends you have to go to Google Scholar. I know it isn’t that much hard to use Google Scholar but still, many research students still don’t know how to use it. 

I have conducted a small research study and asked my research students how they start searching the literature. 87% of them said, 

They go the Google, search their queries like 

  • H1N1 Wikipedia 
  • H1N1 articles PMC 
  • H1N1 article PubMed 
  • H1N1 article NCBI 

Like that, but mostly they avoid the very first segment suggested by Google itself, that’s our Google scholar,

The Google Scholar segment of Google Search

When you click on it, you will get tons of high-quality research articles. Note that Google standard search and Google Scholar search have some substantial differences, take a look at the table,

Difference Between Google Search and Google Scholar search: 

There are several ways you can use this tool to find peer-reviewed articles, journal reviews and thesis. In this article, I will explain 7 ways to find peer-reviewed articles on Google Scholar. 

Search on Google: 

Directly go to google scholar: , write a topic name with +google scholar: , search peer-reviewed articles: , short by relevance: , search by author or authors name:,  search from the google scholar profile: .

  • Wrapping up: 

7 Ways to find Peer-Reviewed articles on Google Scholar:

One of the easiest ways to find scholarly articles is by searching anything directly using Google search. 

Go to Google Search using this link > https://www.google.com/ .

Search in the search box, for example, “Articles on H1N1”. 

You will get various results, see the very first results (Image below)

Click on the “Scholarly articles for Articles on H1N1”

Now you will get so many articles that are well-cited, peer-reviewed and in-depth. 

how to search essay in google

Newbies usually don’t go directly to Google scholar, instead prefer to use Wiki or other resources. If you just have started your PhD and don’t know where to initiate, start reading articles only on Google Scholar. 

Go to the URL: https://scholar.google.com/

In the search box search only “H1N1” 

You will get various resources on H1N1 that help in your study. You will also get other relevant studies and articles, contact details, scientists, organizations or labs working in your research area, etc. 

In addition, you will get ideas for additional research queries relevant to your research. 

The easiest way to use the Google scholar database is to customize your research query. 

Go to Google >>  https://www.google.com/ .

Search “H1N1 articles on Google scholar” 

You will get a Google scholar list of articles as well as only high-quality articles related to the topic you searched.

Yet another easiest way to find the most outstanding peer-reviewed journal articles is by a consuming search query. 

Go to Google >> https://www.google.com/ .

Write Peer-reviewed articles on H1N1 

You will get the same list of scholarly articles on the present topic. 

Getting more relevant resources is yet another difficult task to complete. It’s practically not possible to go through all articles present in the Google Scholar library.  

One needs more precise, customized, appropriate and relevant results. 

Google Scholar provides a “Short By relevance” feature to find articles only what you want. 

For example, for H1N1 you will get tons of resources, some are useful and some are not!

Suppose you need review articles. 

Go to the sidebar and click on review articles. 

Suppose you need only articles published since 2020. 

On the sidebar, you can choose a year or from which year you want research articles. 

There are other options as well which you can use as per your requirement. 

how to search essay in google

Yet another interesting way to search scholarly research work is by searching articles by the name of the author; if his/her profile is there on Google scholar, it immediately shows you. 

Take look at the example, 

Influenza A H1N1 by Michaelis, you will get results like this, 

how to search essay in google

This is exactly the same results on Google Scholar, take a look, 

how to search essay in google

Note that this will be fine only if you know some of the renowned researchers and scientists working in your field. 

If you already have a Google Scholar account and some scholarly articles, you can search relevant resources from the profile of other researchers as well. 

For example,

Take a look at the profile of Elspeth M McLachlan. 

how to search essay in google

You can find all the publications and his collaboration on the Google Scholar profile. 

Read more: How to Generate a Bibliography using Citation Generator .

Wrapping up:  

Google Scholar is a significantly important sub-search engine for researchers, scientists and PhD students. If you have a Google Scholar profile, some Peer-reviewed articles, trust me you will get more citations, reads and rewards in your academic and research field. 

Use scholars and try to publish some good quality work as well. 

I hope this article will help you. 

Dr Tushar Chauhan

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

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8 Ways to find Scholarly Articles for Free

8 Ways to find Scholarly Articles for Free

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

Scholarly Articles For Free

If you want to become a top student you will need to know how to find scholarly articles for your essays. If you don’t use scholarly articles you will never get top grades.

Fortunately, it is not hard to find academic sources online for free if you know where to look. The problem is, no one taught you where to look!

In this post, I will outline nine tips on how to find scholarly articles for free online. Tip Number 5 will change your life!

Before we get started, here’s a summary of the 9 points I’ll discuss in this article:

  • Browse your Course Website for Assigned Readings
  • Check Your teacher’s Lecture Slides
  • Your University’s Online Library
  • Your University’s Physical Library
  • Google Scholar
  • Google Books
  • Assigned Readings from Previous Subjects
  • ResearchGate.net and Academia.edu

What is a Scholarly Article?

1. A peer-reviewed journal article is usually a 4000-8000 word article published in an academic journal. Journal articles are considered the best sources for essays because they:

  • Have been blind peer reviewed. This means that two experts who don’t know the author read the article and critiqued it;
  • Have been written by an expert;
  • Are generally written by the person who conducted the original research. This means it’s information straight from the original source.

2. A textbook (ebooks included) is also a respected scholarly text that you can cite in your essays. Teachers love to see that you’re reading and citing textbooks. I recommend reading textbooks because they:

  • Are written by experts;
  • Have been professionally edited;
  • Are widely respected in their field;

Are written for students, meaning they’re easier to read than journal articles!

Why are Scholarly Articles so Important in your Essay?

The top students reference only scholarly articles 95% of the time. That’s because they know how to play the essay writing game.

Before we look at the secret strategies for finding the best sources to reference in your essay, let’s pause for a minute to look at some of the rules of this essay-writing game.

One important rule to remember is that markers don’t read the sources that you reference. They very rarely actually look up where you found the scholarly articles or check to see if they’re real. They don’t have the time. Frankly, they also don’t really care.

So here’s something important to remember:

Graders want to know that you have accessed the best sources, according to the rules of essay writing .

How do they do this?

The person grading your paper will scan through your essay and your reference list to make sure all your sources are from textbooks or peer reviewed journal articles. They’ll be looking for red flags like:

  • URLs to blogs or dot-com websites;
  • Sources older than about 15 years;
  • Sources not written in your college’s referencing format;
  • Not enough sources.

I strongly recommend quickly reading our posts on seven terrible sources and seven impressive sources you should be referencing in your essays before reading on. I’ll proceed with the assumption that you have read those posts and already know what a quality reference is.

Let’s look at some places you can go to access those top sources to push your marks up and ensure you ace your next essay.

9 Ways to Find Scholarly Articles

1. browse your course website for assigned readings.

You should always reference all relevant set readings in your essay as a starting point. The set readings, often called ‘recommended’ or ‘assigned’ readings are usually provided on your course homepage.

Jump onto your course homepage (usually on Blackboard, Canvas or Moodle – whichever Learning Management system your university uses). Then, have a scan around for your set or recommended readings.

All these readings that your teacher provides for you are essential to reference. Your teacher has most likely put a lot of effort into finding sources that they think are the best quality ones around.

They are also sources that you know your teacher has read. This means that they are likely to have informed your teacher’s thinking on the topic. The teacher is therefore likely looking for this information in your work.

Referencing set readings also indicates to your teacher that you have been paying attention. You’ve taken the course seriously and read the content that they advised. It’s a signal to your teacher that you are a ‘good’ student. You want them to think you’re a top student before they’ve even read your assignment in order to get the best marks.

At every university I’ve ever worked at, the Library has made certain that all my recommended readings are easily and freely available to all students – so you shouldn’t have a problem accessing the assigned readings online, instantly.

I’ll leave one quick caveat here:

Don’t only reference your set or recommended readings. You should start with the recommended readings but then go beyond them to show that you’re a top student. The next tips give some suggestions for what to cite next.

2. Check Your teacher’s Lecture Slides

The teacher will likely have provided quotes on their lecture slides. Don’t use the quotes but farm those sources. If your teacher has quoted someone, it means that this author has influenced their thinking. If you can find a way to reference that person they’ve quoted, you’ll get some extra marks. There is also often a list of references on the last page of your teacher’s lecture slides. Here’s an example of a really common ‘final slide’ of a teacher’s lecture:

example of a lecture slide

Check out those sources and see if you can reference a few of them. Again, if they’re good enough for your teacher to reference, they’re good enough for you to reference.

Something to keep in mind is that your teacher will often try to withhold the lecture slides from you. They do this to try to force you to attend the lecture. I always advise students to follow these steps when trying to access lecture slides:

  • If the lecture slides are posted online, download them immediately and store them on the computer. You don’t want your teacher to remove your access to them at a whim partway through your course;
  • Take plenty of lecture notes . We’ve provided some advice on how top students take lecture notes that you might want to check out.
  • If you can’t find the lecture slides, you can try emailing your teacher to request the lecture slides. Your email needs to be strategic to get what you want. Feel free to download and use our free email template to get your teacher to send you lecture slides.

Once you have found the sources your teacher used, search for them using your university’s online library (Step 3) or Google Scholar (Step 5)

3. Your University’s Online Library

University online libraries are a must for finding academic sources.

University libraries have rapidly improved in the last decade as universities try to digitise their content. Universities that offer distance and online courses are especially good at providing eBooks and online journal articles.

You’re best off trying the online library catalogue before going into the library yourself. There’s no point in making a trip all the way to campus when you can do the research from the comfort of your own home. Check for eBooks and journal articles only – I’ll keep repeating it. Textbooks (eBooks included) and journal articles are the only two sources you want to look out for.

Your university’s online library is the ideal place to look for articles and books because everything in the catalogue has been checked by the library.

The journals that the university subscribes to were selected by your teachers. There won’t be blogs or wikis there – just good, pre-approved academic sources.

If you don’t know where your university’s online library catalogue is located, just google it! Just for the exercise, I tried to find a random university’s online library catalogue. It took me literally ten seconds. I typed into Google: “Northern Iowa University Library Search”:

screenshot of a google search

As suspected the first link took me straight to the university’s online library catalogue search:

screenshot of a university library online search page

You should make sure you’re logged on using your University Student ID to get free access to all the sources that pop up when searching for keywords on your topic. Most university libraries will let you know if you will have access to the scholarly article you’re looking for by providing a comment reading either ‘full text available or ‘online access’:

screenshot of library online catalogue search results demonstrating that some books are accessible online

4. Your University’s Physical Library

Look, I know this isn’t an online source. But I would be negligent not to recommend your university’s most underused resource: its library.

Once you’ve checked the university’s online library, it’s worth taking a moment between classes to go into the on-campus library to find hard-copy books.

The one biggest benefit of textbooks is that they were written with students in mind. You will find that journal articles are harder to read than textbooks. Textbooks give clear, accessible overviews of key topics. They also usually do a great job of summarising tough ideas.

If you’ve been set a difficult topic to write on and the journal articles are doing your head in, go get a textbook on your topic. Make sure you go to your library early on. Textbooks linked to your topic will go fast. If you manage to get your hands on a copy, photocopy the relevant pages that you think you will need to use for your essay before returning it.

5. Google Scholar

Thank god for Google Scholar.

Not to be confused with regular old google, google scholar (scholar.google.com) provides access to the best journal articles online.

Google Scholar makes it easier than ever to bypass journals’ paywalls. The rules changed for archiving journal articles in the past five years, enabling authors to store their publications on their open-access university research databases. Google scholar’s search engine looks through all of these databases and provides direct links to millions of these scholarly articles for free . Up until 5 years ago, it would have cost you money for most of these articles.

This means that even if you’ve searched your university database you should always search Google Scholar as well. You’ll find a much wider range of relevant articles. When searching through google scholar, use topic keywords to find scholarly articles relevant to your topic. Let’s say you’ve been asked to write an essay on theories of nursing. You Can simply type nursing theory into Google Scholar:

screenshot of google scholar search bar with the text nursing theory written in the search bar

Once you’ve clicked search, I recommend refining your search to articles within the past ten years. This will ensure the scholarly articles you gather will pass the test when your teacher looks to see whether you selected up-to-date, relevant articles:

screenshot of a custom search range entered into the google scholar customize toolbar

Once you’ve refined the search, you can start looking through for articles that are relevant to you. You will find that about half of the sources will still be hidden behind paywalls. Try to stick to the sources that have a [pdf], [doc] or [html] link provided in the top-right corner. These are the scholarly articles you’re most likely to have instant, free, online access to:

screenshot of full-text availability on a google scholar search

Another thing that makes Google Scholar superior to most university catalogues is that Google Scholar searches for keywords in both the title and abstract of the paper .

Most university databases do not search for keywords in the abstract, only the title.

This means your google scholar search will usually render both more specific results for you, as well as simply more results for you.

In the above image, for example, neither of the scholarly sources that Google Scholar found has the phrase “nursing theory” in the title. However, you can see that both mention “nursing theory” or “nursing” and “theory” separately in the blurb below.

Chances are these are two relevant sources that you’d never have found on your university library database. (Note, for example, that in the University of Northern Iowa database search in Tip 1, only sources that had the exact phrase “nursing theory” in the title popped up).

What if the links don’t work?

Sometimes even Google Scholar can’t find free access to scholarly articles for you. There’s still some hope, though!

If an article looks really useful but you don’t have access to Google Scholar, copy the article’s title and search for it on your university’s online database.

Your university might have institutional access. However, as noted above, your original search in your university database may just not have been specific enough for their clunky old system because the exact keywords weren’t in the title. So, try copying the exact title into your university database – it may have access to that source you were after.

There are tons more tricks you can do with Google Scholar. It can help you accurately cite sources, follow ‘As Cited In’ paths to access relevant sources you’d never have found otherwise, and help you narrow down your search terms.

To become an expert at using Google Scholar, I recommend reading my blog post: How to Use Google Scholar like a Pro .

6. Google Books

Once again, thank god for Google!

Google books (books.google.com) gives ‘previews’ of tens of millions of books. More than once, I’ve not had access to a book through my university library but google books have saved the day. Search for books in google books using keywords, just like Google Scholar:

screenshot of the google books search bar

Once again, you’ll see that books pop up that your university database wouldn’t have found. The first two sources for ‘Nursing Theory’ read ‘Nursing Theories’. Many university databases are too old and clunky to realise the words ‘theory’ and ‘theories’ are interchangeable for a book search.

But, here’s the really neat thing: you can begin to read most of the books online for free! Google has a ‘book preview’ option that allows you to read a certain percentage of books without the need to download them.

To know which books you’ll have instant access to, look out for the peeled-over bottom right-hand corner of book covers in the thumbnails. I’ve circled them in red below. You can see that two of the first three sources are available to preview instantly!

screenshot of a google books results page showing some book preview options

Click on the book’s image to receive a book preview. You could start browsing through the book instantly to see whether it’s got any pearls of wisdom you can put in your assignment.

However, Google Books still has another amazing trick up its sleeve.

When in the book preview, you can use the search bar on the right-hand side to search for keywords. If you know that you want to write a paragraph on one nursing theory – say, ‘ social cognitive theory ’ – you can type this key phrase in the search bar and Google Books will take you right to the place you need to go:

screenshot of a google books preview

Google Books has just saved you a ton of time searching through the textbook. Plus, it looks like you can actually access all of Pages 18 and 19 where the relevant content you need information in is found. If the link to the page number is in blue, click it and go straight to the relevant page in the book:

screenshot of a google books preview with the term social cognitive theory highlighted on the page

If you still didn’t find the information you were after on Pages 18 or 19, keep toggling through the ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ buttons highlighted in red above to see every time Social Cognitive Theory is mentioned in the whole book.

Google books can save you a trip to the library and is great for finding scholarly sources when you’re cramming to finish an essay overnight.

Is this too good to be true?

The biggest downside of Google books is that you can only sample some pages from most books. That means that you might find that your information is cut-off part-way through reading or blocked entirely.

Nonetheless, Google books can be a lifesaver for finding good-quality information for your essays. Most importantly, Google books provide access to books , which is one of the two most high-quality sources teachers look for when marking your work.

7. Assigned Readings from Previous Subjects

Readings from previous subjects are a great source for providing academic references.

When I was teaching an undergraduate Bachelor of Education, all first-year students took a compulsory Introduction to Teach subject. In this subject, three very useful introductory books were provided that could be referenced in just about every subsequent subject throughout the degree.

The top students recognised the value of these books and referenced them regularly.

Similarly, you should make a habit of always downloading and saving set readings from every subject you take into folders on your computer. I have a folder that contains all set readings for every course I’ve ever taken and taught. It has over 350 journal articles that act as my own personal database of sources. I can use my computer’s search function to type in keywords and find articles that are readily available for me to cite.

If you make a habit of saving useful articles in a folder on your computer, you’re five steps ahead of all your classmates when it comes time to finding good quality journal articles that you can reference for your essays.

ResesarchGate.net and Academia.edu

Research Gate and Academia.edu are two places where academics store their articles. These websites are like Linkedin for academics. Most actively publishing academics will store their articles on these websites.

You can go onto these two websites, set up an account for free , and start downloading journal articles, book chapters and even entire books from those websites.

My personal preference is for the research gate. Research gate seems to be less pushy about coercing you into buying a premium subscription, and I’ve never felt I needed to.

Research Gate also has the option to privately send a message to authors to ask them to send you a copy . If you can’t find a source that you really want to cite anywhere else, try using Research Gate to drop the author an email. To conduct a search for papers, simply create your free account then conduct a search through the search bar at the top of the screen:

screenshot of the research gate search bar

Once you’ve pressed ‘enter’, you’ll need to switch to the ‘Publications’ tab to see search results:

screenshot of a request full text option on the research gate website

Here, you can see that you can browse different articles and read their abstracts just like any other article search. But, with the click of a button, you can also request the full-text article from the author.

The author will then get an email and approve or decline the request.

This is a secret way a lot of professors find academic articles, but it’s really useful (and free!) for students as well.

I use Research Gate and have all 20+ of my academic peer-reviewed articles and book chapters privately stored there. Academics and students around the world regularly send me a request for my articles. I can send the article’s final manuscript draft to them at the click of a button. I always send the article – why wouldn’t I!?

Research Gate is great for authors because they become aware that real people are reading their work, and it’s good for you because you get access to otherwise unobtainable sources.

The one downside of this method is that the articles don’t come to you instantly. It might take 24 – 48 hours for the author to check their emails and send off the full-text copy for you. So, I don’t recommend using the ‘Request full-text option if you’re on a really tight deadline. Nevertheless, there is often the option to instantly access the full-text article, which makes this website worth using no matter what.

Summing Up: How to Find Scholarly Articles

Using scholarly sources is essential for getting top marks. You should always aim to use peer-reviewed journal articles and textbooks as your core sources for all essays. To learn how to read these texts effectively, I’d recommend reading up on how to use text features to navigate texts effectively.

This post is a part of a series on finding sources for your essays. The other posts that might be of use are below:

  • How to use Google Scholar (Like a Pro!)
  • Bad Sources to Avoid in Essays
  • Great Sources to use in Essays

Chris

  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 10 Reasons you’re Perpetually Single
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  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 101 Hidden Talents Examples

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    Get the most out of Google Scholar with some helpful tips on searches, email alerts, citation export, and more. Finding recent papers. Your search results are normally sorted by relevance, not by date. To find newer articles, try the following options in the left sidebar: click "Since Year" to show only recently published papers, sorted by ...

  2. Google Scholar

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    Google Scholar searches are not case sensitive. 2. Use keywords instead of full sentences. 3. Use quotes to search for an exact match. 3. Add the year to the search phrase to get articles published in a particular year. 4. Use the side bar controls to adjust your search result.

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    Save interesting articles to your library. It's easy to go down fascinating rabbit hole after rabbit hole in Google Scholar. Don't lose track of your research and use the save option that pops up under search results so articles will be in your library for later reading. 13. Keep your library organized with labels.

  5. How to Use Google Scholar: A Step-by-Step Guide

    Quick Steps. Go to https://scholar.google.com. Link your institution's library in ☰ > Settings > Library Links. Use the search bar to search for your topic. Use the side menu to the left to narrow your search. Click Advanced Search in the menu (☰) to access advanced search options.

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  8. LibGuides: Google Scholar Search Strategies: Research

    The first step is make sure you are affiliated with the UML Library on and off campus by Managing your Settings, under Library Links. When searching in Google Scholar here are a few things to try to get full text: click a library link, e.g., "Full-text @ UML Library", to the right of the search result; click a link labeled [PDF] to the right of ...

  9. How to use Google Scholar to find Research Papers

    Learn how to use Google Scholar effectively with critical tips and tricks for effective research. The tutorial provides Scenario-Based Search using Google Sc...

  10. The Easy Guide to Finding Essay Sources: Academic Research Tips

    Use Academic Search Engines Let's get this straight: It's hard to write a research paper without consulting the internet. Most of us start our search with Google, but unfortunately, search engines don't always churn out credible results.That's why it's crucial to explore other portals with an academic focus when searching for essay sources. ⚠️

  11. Research Guides: Google Scholar: Advanced Searching

    Accessing the Advanced Scholar Search Menu. To pull up the Advanced Scholar Search menu, go to the regular Google Scholar search page. In the upper left corner of the page, press the button made of three horizontal lines to open a new menu. Advanced Search should be the second to last option in the newly-opened menu.

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    Academic research isn't difficult if you know where and how to search for scholarly articles and research papers. Here's how to do it. How to use Google Scholar: the ultimate guide ... Take a look at our compilation of free academic search engines: Google Scholar BASE CORE Science.gov. The best research databases for computer science [Update 2024]

  13. The best academic search engines [Update 2024]

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  15. Google Scholar

    Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Search across a wide variety of disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions. ... Advanced search. Find articles. with all of the words. with the exact phrase. with at least one of the words. without the words. where my words occur ...

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    3. Use Google Scholar to bypass Paywalls. Most quality scholarly articles are blocked behind paywalls. The way you get access to them is that your university pays a yearly fee to get access (see Point 2). Google Scholar has intuitively crawled the web looking for ways to get around Journal paywalls.

  17. About

    Stand on the shoulders of giants. Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.

  18. 7 Ways to Find Peer-Reviewed Articles on Google Scholar

    There are several ways you can use this tool to find peer-reviewed articles, journal reviews and thesis. In this article, I will explain 7 ways to find peer-reviewed articles on Google Scholar. 7 Ways to find Peer-Reviewed articles on Google Scholar: Search on Google: Directly go to Google Scholar: Write a topic name with +Google scholar ...

  19. How to search for articles from a specific journal in Google Scholar

    This is correct, though it's the same thing that they're already doing. This is, if you try to use Google Scholar's Advanced Search feature, then search for content from "Science", it'll convert it into with with the qualifier source:Science.The problem presented in the question is that this returns hits from sources that have "Science" in their name rather than just the actual journal called ...

  20. 8 Ways to find Scholarly Articles for Free

    9 Ways to Find Scholarly Articles. 1. Browse your Course Website for Assigned Readings. You should always reference all relevant set readings in your essay as a starting point. The set readings, often called 'recommended' or 'assigned' readings are usually provided on your course homepage.