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Google Scholar Guide

An image showing Google Scholar search screenOverview

Google Scholar is a freely accessible discovery tool that indexes scholarly literature, across a wide variety of publishing formats and disciplines. Its content coverage ranges from technology and science to arts, humanities, social, and behavioral sciences.

Resources & publishers in Google Scholar

There are several types of resources that could be available through Google Scholar. These resources may include books, academic articles, theses, citations, conference proceedings, reports, patents, and case laws. Academic publishers, educational institutions, professional organizations, European, U.S., and Japan patent offices, and U.S. federal and state courts are indexing their resources in Google Scholar. However, the resources which are indexed in Google Scholar are not always available under open access license which means that you may not be able to find the full-text.

Why use this guide

This guide reveals tips that can help you improve the number of full-text available results. It also takes you through the steps of searching, organizing, evaluating, and personalizing your results in Google Scholar. This guide also includes information for instructors, who wish to create their own profile and promote their work by using the Google Scholar indexing services.