Making Google Scholar Work for You

Google Scholar is currently a beta service that indexes items Google considers "scholarly," including articles, theses, books, preprints, abstracts, conference proceedings, and technical reports. The OSU Libraries subscribes to the electronic version of many of these materials and may own the print copy. Before purchasing materials found via Google Scholar please check to see if those materials are available free via services provided by The Ohio State University Libraries or OhioLINK.  See the  tips below for details. Send comments about our Google Scholar implementation to the OSU Libraries' Webmaster.

Connect to Google Scholar

Tips

1. Some articles ask for a password or require payment. How do I determine if OSU Libraries has the articles and books I found via Google Scholar?

Before purchasing materials found via Google Scholar please check to see if those materials are available free via services provided by The Ohio State University Libraries or OhioLINK.  Look for links called Find It with OLinks, OhioLINK OLinks or Library Search (see #2 for instructions to configure Google Scholar) or use services provided by the Ohio State University Libraries (see #3).

2.  Customize Google Scholar to use OLinks

• Click the Scholar Preferences link on the main Google Scholar page

• In the Library Links box type osu and click the Find Library button.

• Check the box beside The Ohio State University Libraries (Find It with OLinks).

• Click Save Preferences button at the bottom of the page.

3. How can I determine if the full text of a journal article is available from the OSU Libraries or OhioLINK?

Try any Find It with OLinks or OhioLINK OLinks links.

If an OLinks link is not offered try every available link as Google Scholar may find several sources for the same citation. If you are unable to find free full text through Google Scholar use these OSU Libraries' services:

• Online catalog: search by journal title or book title.

• Online Journal List: search or browse by journal title.

• Research Databases List: search or browse by database name or browse by subject. Many database have full text or use OLinks to locate available full text provided by the OSU Libraries or OhioLINK.

• Request a copy via the OSU Libraries' Interlibrary Services.

Contact a librarian if you have questions:

• e-mail for reply in 1-2 business days,

• IM chat for real time help.

4. Why does OLinks appear after some items and not others?
Google Scholar displays an OLinks option after comparing the citation to a list of electronic journals and books available from the OSU Libraries and OhioLINK. Google Scholar cannot match an incomplete citation. If the item is not available for free via the Web try the OSU Libraries' services listed in #3 above..

5. Is everything in Google Scholar free?
No. Google Scholar includes many citations that link to a publisher's web site which may charge for access or require a password. Many of these materials are available free via the OSU Libraries' services listed in #3 above. 

6. How comprehensive is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar searches open access materials as well as items from many publishers, however these are only a fraction of the published scholarly literature. For the most complete access to scholarly literature use the OSU Libraries' services listed in #3 above.

7. How do I search Google Scholar by author or limit to certain publications or dates?
Use Advanced Scholar Search which allows for author, publication and date range searching.

8. What about citation searching?
Google Scholar provides forward citation searching, automatically extracting and displaying works cited as separate results. For backwards and forwards citation searching, use the ISI Web of Science citation databases. 

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rev. 4/17/08 ppearson