Default search settings include:
- search terms are not case sensitive
- AND--search terms are automatically combined using AND
- keyword--searches the full text of scholarly material, including citation and abstract
Options to refine your search include:
- synonyms--Google automatically searches for matching and similar meaning words ex: tourism finds tourist
- "phrase searching"--use quotation marks around phrases to keep works together ex: "hearing loss"
- OR--results include either search term. OR must be in capital letters ex: ipod OR mp3
- exclude--use - immediately before a search term you want to exclude ex: ipod -itunes
- include--use + immediately before automatically excluded search terms that you want included ex: +the
- intitle--finds result with your search term in the document title ex: intitle:mp3
- author--finds results with your search term as the document author ex: author:Jones
- date range--to change from Any time, select an option from left side of the results screen
Advanced Search:
- Click on the hotdog icon located in the upper left corner of Google Scholar homepage to view the Advanced Search options
Interpreting the results screen:
Example:
LM Gessel, CL Collins, RW Dick - Journal of athletic training, 2007 - search.proquest.com
Abstract An estimated 300 000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries, predominantly
concussions, occur annually in the United States. Sports are second only to motor vehicle
crashes as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people aged 15 to 24 years. ...
A
- Below the search results are five links--Cited by, Related articles, All versions, Cite, Save
- Cited by link will generate a list of all articles that have cited this article in their source. This may be helpful because it can link you to other sources that might be focusing on the same or similar topic.
- Related articles link will generate a list of articles that are related to this topic.
- All versions link will link to other versions of this document found by Google Scholar. This may be helpful in order to access a full text version for free.
- " Cite link will give you the citation in various formats. Always be sure to check the citation for accuracy and completeness.
- * Save link will allow you to save into "My library" folder. You will be prompted to set up an account.
- Look to the right of the abstract to see if there is a link to a PDF or HTML site. If there is, click on it. This should be a link that will give you access to the full version copy of the article.
Creating email alerts:
- To create an email alert to let you know when new materials on your topic has been added:
- Click on the hotdog icon in the upper left corner of Google Scholar homepage, and click on Alerts. Follow the prompts from there.
- OR: From the search results screen, click on the Alerts icon in the left side bar. Follow the prompts.