to learn more about:
Google Scholar searches the same kind of articles, books, and other scholarly literature that you would find using the library's databases. It can be a great place to start your research and is useful for:
Keep in mind that while searching in Google Scholar is convenient and can be a great starting point, it's unlikely that you will have access to all of the results. Using OneSearch or individual databases means you'll have less to sift through and your results will be more likely to match your needs.
On-Campus? Google Scholar will automatically display links for access to the full text of search results.
Off Campus? Read our FAQ to find out how to connect Google Scholar to PC library resources.
This section is a derivative of "Using Google Scholar" by University of Connecticut, licensed under CC BY-NC.
Click on the links to find answers to some of our most popular questions about articles.
Journal articles related to all forms of broadly defined “communication.” Includes linguistics, social work, race and gender issues, public speaking, film, speech pathology, journalism and much, much more. Citations provided.
Journals and videos covering all areas of business including management, marketing, information systems, economics and finance. Citations provided.
Peer-reviewed scholarly journals and magazines related to science, social sciences and humanities. Easy search tools help you find images, videos, news, and books too! Audio files often included. APA and MLA citations provided.
Full-text magazines, journals, and other resources most of which are peer-reviewed. Wide range of subjects. A great place to start most research projects. Images and videos accompany most topics. Citations provided.
Full-text magazines, reference books and primary source documents including video, photos, maps and flags. Some trade publications for workers in various professions. Citations provided.
While you can write an entire sentence in Google and get relevant search results, databases aren't as friendly. Using keywords, or the main words that are related to your research question, helps you search smarter and get better results.
As you begin to develop your topic, start making a list of keywords that you can use in your search (there are many different ways to say the same thing, so you might need a lot of them). Once you come up with a list of words, don't be afraid to try them all! Trying different combinations can give you different results each time you search, so keep playing around and see what you come up with.
Learn more about using keywords from California State University, San Bernardino:
Use connector terms, called Boolean Operators, when you want to combine search terms. Here's how they work:
Use quotation marks to help you search for an exact phrase. This technique narrows your search. For example, using the phrase "sleep disorders" (with quotation marks) makes sure your search results will have that exact phrase somewhere in your results. Other examples:
"virtual environment" "cost benefit analysis" "social media"
Use truncation to search for different endings of the same root word, or to replace letters. To search for all alternate endings of a word, search with the root of the word and then an asterisk*.
Pollut* - This search will find all variations of the word, including pollute, pollutes, polluted, pollution.
Using the truncation strategy can help speed up your searching.
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