Google Scholar- UNTHSC

Introduction

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This step-by-step guide will give you a brief overview of Google Scholar, allowing you to use it more effectively.

Once you have completed this tutorial you will be able to search for citations and retrieve full text articles from the UNTHSC Lewis Library collection.

*Remember to use Google Scholar to complement UNTHSC’s research databases, NOT as a replacement. As with any Internet search, be cautious of your results and evaluate them for authenticity and accuracy before using them as a resource.*

Introduction

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What exactly is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar is a search engine that focuses on scholarly sources across multiple disciplines and sources at once.

How does Google Scholar work?
Google Scholar functions using a search algorithm called Googlebot. This algorithm is focused on identifying scholarly sources on the Internet. However, since Google is a proprietary company, we don’t know exactly how they are classifying sources as “scholarly.”

How do I download full-text articles using Google Scholar?

If Google Scholar finds a version of the article freely available online, it will provide you with a PDF copy to download.

For scholarly literature (such as most journal articles) that is not freely available online, you will need to link Google Scholar to Lewis Library’s collection to download an article.

Google Accounts

If you have a Google account, Google Scholar allows you to create a library of your searches. You can export your searches in to EndNote, RefWorks, and other citation software. You can also create alerts for searches that you run frequently, and Google will email you a list of results.

Log in to your Google account by hitting “Sign In” at the top right hand corner of the screen.

Library Links

Link your Google account to the Lewis Library collection to download full-text articles directly from your Google Scholar results page.

1. Navigate to the menu bar on the top left-hand side of the window

2. Select Settings

3. Click on Library links



4. In the search field, search for the University of North Texas Health Science Center



5. Select UNTHSC and click save

Searching in Google Scholar

Now we are ready to start our first search.

Search keywords in Google Scholar the same way you would in another search engine or a simple database search.

In the search field, type in “Shin splints AND therapy” and hit search.

Note that well over 9,000 results appear. The high search results are due to the fact that Google Scholar is searching the Internet, instead of a curated database.

Filtering & Sorting

The search results page is split into 3 columns. In the first column you will find a few filter options.

Select “Custom range” to narrow the date range of the search to a time period of your choosing. Or, select one of Google Scholar’s pre-determined date options.

Viewing & Saving Results

1 of 3The second column contains the titles of the article and its citation information.

Click on the title of a result to be taken to the web page for that resource. Often, this is the publisher's website. Remember, you may not find a full text version of the source from the web page in all instances.

Viewing & Saving Results

2 of 3Underneath each search result, you will find a few additional features to help you cite and save your sources.



Go back to your search results page and under your first search result, selected the “Cited by” button. You are now viewing a list of articles that have cited that particular article.

Go back to your search results page and select the large quotation mark icon under your first search result. Here you will find citations in several popular style formats that you can quickly copy and paste into a bibliography or export into a citation manager.



This is also where you can export the citation information about an article into a Citation Manager, such as EndNote or RefWorks.

Remember, always double check your citations for accuracy. Often citation information from Internet sources is incorrect or incomplete.

Viewing & Saving Results

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Exit out of the "Cite" menu to be taken back to your search results.

You can save results to a Library in your Google account. This way, you can easily access a list of articles you are interested in every time you log into Google.

Select the large star icon to save that search result to your library.

Downloading Full Text

A few steps ago we linked the Lewis Library collection to your Google account. Now, look at the third column on your results page to see the library links.



If a full text version of the article is available on the Internet, Google Scholar will provide a link with a [PDF] or [HTML] tag.

If there is not a full text version available, look for the “Find Full Text @ UNTHSC link on the right hand of the page.

Select a search result and click on the Find Full Text @ UNTHSC link.

You have now searched the library collection for that article. If we have a copy of the article available in our collection, you will be provided with a link to the PDF or catalog record for that item.

If we do not have a copy available, you will be prompted to place an inter-library loan request.

Conclusion

Google Scholar is a helpful tool but should not be used to replace traditional database searching for scholarly literature.

We at the library often use Google Scholar to quickly locate the PDF version of an article by typing the title into the search bar and navigating to the article using the “Find Full Text @ UNTHSC” link.

Contact Library Research Services if you run into any problems using Goolge Scholar or have questions about this guide. Our office is located at:

LIB222
M-F 8am-5pm
(817) 735-2388
AskALibrarian@unthsc.edu

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Certificate

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