Guides: Google Scholar: What is Google Scholar?

What is Google Scholar?

Google Scholar is a search engine that allows users to search for academic resources and scholarly literature such as abstracts, full-text articles, theses, books, and more from across many disciplines. It also includes access to case law. You can use the above search box to get started.

About Google Scholar
Find out more about Google Scholar from Google Scholar itself. This source gives an overview of what Google Scholar is and what it does. It also lists different features available and talks about how sources are ranked when searching.

Why Use Google Scholar?

Not only is Google Scholar easy to use because it has a similar set-up to a standard Google search, but it is also a free search engine that shows scholarly material that is open access, meaning it is free to use, as well as materials available through Jenks Library's resources.

5 Smart Ways Students Can Use Google Scholar
This article on Mashable is a quick, easy to understand look at how students can use Google Scholar to help with research, citations, and more. It includes a lot of visuals and memes which breaks up the text and makes it a shorter, more informal read.
Google Scholar: Potentially Good for Users of Academic Information
This article from the Journal of Electronic Publishing argues that Google Scholar can be beneficial for the academic community because it includes sources that might not come up in a standard search or a search in an academic search site. It also allows for researchers to access open access materials and not just items behind a paywall.
Making the Most of Google Scholar in Academic Libraries
This article by Pauline Dewan, a librarian at Wilfrid Laurier University, argues that Google Scholar should be viewed as a back door entrance to library resources while also acting as a useful starting point for student research.

Is Everything Reliable?

While Google Scholar is free and easy to use, it does not mean that everything found on it is a fully reliable source. It is up to the researcher to determine if the source is reliable.

Google Scholar: A Credible Database?
This blog post by the Beryl Ivey Library at Brescia University College discusses whether or not Google Scholar is a credible source. It is not an easy yes or no answer, but this blog post goes into details about how Google Scholar works and lists pros and cons for using Google Scholar.
Academic Search Engine Spam and Google Scholar's Resilience Against It
This paper looks at how well Google Scholar is at fighting academic search engine spam. This spam includes manipulating the rankings of academic articles and discusses if this will become a greater threat in the future. You will need to sign in with your Gordon username and password to access this article.
Cross-Examining Google Scholar
In this column from the Reference and User Services Quarterly journal put out by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a public librarian and academic librarian discuss idiosyncrasies, strengths, and weaknesses of Google Scholar.