While most instructors will require you to use the subscription databases for your research assignments, Google Scholar can be a good starting point to learn more about an unfamiliar topic. It will provide information about experts in the subject, journals where scholarly articles may be located, and appropriate language to use in the subscription databases.
| Google Scholar | |
|---|---|
|
Broad in scope |
Scholarly literature found on the web |
|
Retrieves resources regardless of where they are online |
Retrieves resources from academic publishers, professional societies and organizations, online repositories, universities, etc. |
|
Results include images, news, websites, etc. |
Results include theses, dissertations, articles, books, abstracts, patents, technical reports, U.S. court opinions, conference proceedings and presentations. |
|
No requirement to be scholarly or based on research |
Based on published results of research studies |
Knowing which type of search engine to use depends upon what you're researching. Google may be a good place to start, to find background information, terminology, and experts. Google Scholar will help you focus on scholarly literature related to your topic. Move to the subscription databases when you need to find peer-reviewed scholarly literature from journals.
As a research tool, Google Scholar has strengths and weaknesses in facilitating research. When deciding whether to use Google Scholar as a resource, here are some things to keep in mind.
Google Scholar can help you:
Google Scholar cannot:
Google Scholar retrieves a list of CITATIONS and links to full-text only if:
