FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions with their answers.
► How many libraries can I link to my browser?
You can link up to five libraries to your browser. However, you should be affiliated with the institutions to which these libraries belong. Visit the websites of these libraries or ask a librarian to verify that this is possible.
► Do I have to set up my Library links every time that I am using Google Scholar?
No, you don't have to set up your links every time that you are using Google Scholar. To retain settings, you must turn on cookies . You will have to set up your Library links again, only if you clear the cookies of your browser.
►When I set up Library links, do all library resources become available through Google Scholar?
No, even when you set up Library links, not all library resources become available through Google Scholar. There are could be many technical or copyright issues related to this. The best practice to locate more relevant sources, is to check in addition to Google Scholar, the library Discovery , or specific databases available on our website.
► Is Google Scholar smarter in searching than Discovery or library databases?
Although Google Scholar demonstrates high retrieval rates, many of the results it returns are duplicates at best. A library discovery or a database will only return a few thousand results that are more focused to the query. The processing of sorting the results in Google Scholar remains difficult, both due to the overall amount of data and to its limited functionality in refining results or eliminating duplicate references.
► Are all resources appearing in Google Scholar reliable?
Google Scholar points you to materials you might not have found otherwise. However, you should always judge the sources that it returnes, in terms of how relevant and scholarly they are. Google Scholar includes gray literature, which refers to publications like working papers, reports, academic dissertations, government, and corporate publications which are outside the mainstream of commercial publishing and lack strict bibliographic control or have not gone through the peer-review process.
► Are Google Scholar metrics reliable?
Google Scholar offers measures, which demonstrate both the productivity and citation impact of the publications of a scientist or scholar. However, its capacity to detect citation manipulation has been questioned and criticized. Read the Google Scholar Experiment , an article from our databases and see how Google Scholar's metrics system can be gamed.
► Are Google Scholar ready-made citations accurate?
The citations that Google Scholar provides, like any other ready-made citations, are not perfect. Usually, you will need to improve them by adding missing elements, fixing authors' names, or improving the capitalization of titles. You can always check our citation guides for more guidelines on how to cite your sources properly.
► Can I export my citations to any citation manager?
Google Scholar limits the mass export function of citations to a few fee-based citation management tools to which our library does not subscribe. However, it allows you to massively export citations as BibTex files which you can upload to free citation managers.
► I am a faculty member, should I set up a Google Scholar profile?
Yes, we recommend that you set up your Google Scholar profile because this is a popular way to showcase your papers and the citations they've received.