Introduction to Research Methods: Databases and Journals

Google Scholar is a free source. It searches scholarly journal articles, dissertations, theses, technical reports, patents, preprints, books, and other reports and papers to which it has access. Search results are displayed as a list of citations based on an algorithm (publisher, author, publication date, times cited by other papers, etc.). The citations may include a link to the full text of the document. If the Logan Library subscribes to the title, it is from an open access source, or it is posted on an institutional or website open to the public, you may access the full text. If you can't access the full text, you may request a copy of the needed document via interlibrary loan. Note that Google Scholar does not have access to everything. The comprehensiveness and completeness of Google Scholar results are unknown. The algorithm of Google Scholar does not always produce the same search results. Not all Google Scholar citations and links are accurate. Not all documents in Google Scholar search results are scholarly. 

Search Tips:

• Google Scholar Search Help
• Google Scholar Settings
  • Connect to: https://scholar.google.com/
  • Click on the three lines (upper left corner).
  • Click on the Settings link (left menu).
  • Click on Library links (left menu).
  • Search and place a check next to:
    • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
    • Open WorldCat - Library Search
  • Click on the Save button.
• Google Scholar Basic
  • Connect to: https://scholar.google.com/
  • Enter the search term or phrase.
  • Click on the search button.
  • Review the results.
• Google Scholar Advanced
  • Connect to: https://scholar.google.com/
  • Click on the three lines (upper left corner).
  • Click on the Advanced search link (left menu).
  • Fill out the search box.
  • Click on the search button.
  • Review the results.
• Search Tips
  • Google Scholar automatically searches for simple singular and plural forms of terms you enter, along with additional different endings to some words, and for some related terms.
    • book may return book, books
    • woman may return woman, women, female
  • Google Scholar automatically uses the "and" operator between two keywords, as in addiction diet.
  • Use advanced search operators to refine your search.
    • Use the "-" operator excludes all results that include this search term, as in [bridge -dental] or in [nicotine health -cigars].
    • Use the "+" operator to include common words, letters, or numbers that Google's search technology generally ignores, as in [+de Franco].
    • Use the "~" operator to find synonyms of this search term, as in [~robot].
    • Use the "OR" operator to find either of the search terms, as in [physics OR chemistry]. This will expand the number of search results.
    • Use the "AROUND(#)" to find results that include keywords within a specific number of words from each other, as in [addiction AROUND(5) gambling]
    • Use the "intitle:" operator to find results that include the exact search term in the title page of the document, as in intitle:ChatGPT.
    • Us the "filetype:" operator to find the exact file type (.PDF, PPT, etc.), as in filetype.ppt "animal cell" "plant cell".
    • Use the "site:" operator to find the website type (.org, .edu, .gov, etc.), as in Indiana population statistics site:.org or as in addiction diet site.gov
    • Use the "author:" operator to find an exact author, as in author:Rebecca DeVasher and in author:RB DeVasher.
    • Use quotes around a common words, letters, or numbers to ensure Google searches them, as in "the".
    • Use quotes around an exact document title or phrase, as in "Making Changes in STEM Education".
    • Use quotes around a journal title and journal abbreviations to find an exact journal title (not journal article title), as in "Journal of the American Chemical Society" "J Am Chem Soc" "J Amer Chem Soc" "JACS"
  • Use the Any time option to limit search results by date (left menu).
  • Use the Sort by relevance or Sort by date to sort search results (left menu).
  • Use the Any type or Review article to not limit or limit search results by document type (left menu). 
  • Check the include Patents Find box (left menu), enter the invention name, inventor's name, patent number, or other identifying piece of information into the search box, and click search.
  • Check the include Citations (left menu) to search articles which other scholarly articles have referred to, but which Google has not found online.

• Find the citation to a document listed in Google Scholar search results by going to the title of interest and clicking on the " Cite link below it. 
• Find citations similar to a document listed in Google Scholar search results by going to the title of interest and clicking on the Cite by link below it.