3 Google Scholar Tips Every Student Should Know About

November 13, 2015
As a research student you probably are already doing a lot of research in Google Scholar which you should given the power and reliability of this academic search engine. The strength of Scholar, however, lies in the numerous hidden features that are usually overlooked by many students. These features enable you to conduct smart and targeted search queries that can potentially return accurate results with the minimum time possible. We have already reviewed some of these features in previous posts and today we want to particularly highlight three more essential tips for refining your Google Scholar search. All of these tips are found in the Advanced Scholar Search section which can be  accessed through the button on the right side corner in Scholar search bar.

1- Search for articles by specific authors
This is particularly useful if you want to search for works of a specific scholar in your niche.  For instance, if you are into game-based learning you can probably use James Paul Gee to search for all articles written by him. You can also search for articles by two or more authors by using the word OR to separate their names in the search bar.

2- Search for articles in a specific publication
This feature allows you to search the database of a specific publication. For instance, you are working on a paper on adult learning and are in need of relevant references to use in your work. You can refine your query by searching only journals directly related to your topic such as Adult Education Quarterly, Adult Learning journal, Journal of Transformative Education and so forth. This will both save you some precious time to spend reading your references and will also get you search results with a higher degree of relevance.

3- Search for articles published within a specific timeframe
There are some research topics that are more time sensitive than others. For instance, if you are working on a paper on media literacy or emerging literacies, you will definitely be looking into journal articles written relatively recently. Using this feature will allow you to limit your search query to a specific timeframe e.g 2000-2015 and in this way you will only get papers written between 2000 and 2015.

More Google Scholar tips in the upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

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Google Released A New Powerful Chrome App for Google Scholar

April 10, 2015
A few days ago, Google release a new Chrome extension for Google Scholar titled “ Google Scholar Button”. We have just tried it on Chrome browser and found it really interesting. Google Scholar Button provides you with an easy and instant access to some wonderful functionalities supported by Google Scholar. For instance, using this Button will allow you to:

1-Find full text on the web or in your university library. Select the title of the paper on the page you're reading, and click the Scholar button to find it.

2-Transfer your query from web search to Scholar. Press the Scholar button to see top three results; click "full screen" in the lower left of the popup to see them all.

3- Format references in widely used citation styles. Press the quote button in the popup to see a formatted reference and copy it into the paper you're writing.

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An Indispensable Google Scholar Tip for Teachers and Academics

March, 2015
The power of Google Scholar as an academic search engine lies in the various hidden gems it contains. Digging a little bit deeper into the features it provides, you will definitely discover some amazing functionalities indispensable for academics and research students. We have already covered a number of these features in previous posts which you can access through this page.

Today, we are introducing you, in case you don’t know it yet, to another useful functionality integrated in Google Scholar.The citing feature is  by far one of the hacks we love the most about Google Scholar. The Cite button that appears under links in a Google Scholar search result allows you to generate citations of that reference with a single click. These citations are offered in 3 main formats: MLA, APA and Chicago. And if you use a citation manager such as BibTex,Endnote, RefMan, or Reworks, you will find links to easily export your citations to these managers.

To locate the cite button, head over to Google scholar and conduct a search query. Look for “Cite” under the links that are displayed in the search results as shown below.

When you click on it a pop up window will be displayed featuring the citation formats together with links to citation managers

Thanks to Mashable for reminding us about this excellent feature.
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Everything Teachers need to Know about Google Scholar Library

January 29, 2015
We have recently started sharing with our readers here a series of blog posts covering important tips and features embedded in Google Scholar. Today,we are introducing you to Google Scholar library. This is your personal library  where you aggregate and organize the articles and research papers you read.

Google scholar library is definitely a must-use feature for student researchers and academics. It allows you to save articles right from the search page and organize them using your own tagging system so you can easily search and find them when need be. More importantly, any link you save to your Scholar library comes in with other bibliographical information such as formatted citations, number of citations of the article, date of publication and many more.

Read this guide to learn how you can set up your Scholar library. Below are answers to some important questions regarding different features of Google Scholar library. You can use it to help you better understand how Scholar library functions. This snapshot is taken from Google Scholar help centre.

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