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Workshop: Getting the most out of Google Scholar

Understanding the results list

Quick sorting

  • Cited: Number of times an item has been cited and links to articles that cite the work.
  • Related articles: Articles that are related in theme.
  • Sorting: Available by relevance or by date.

Features of the results list

  1. sort or limit by date range
  2. sort by relevance or date
  3. create alerts
    • for a search: use the alert tool at the bottom of the left hand menu.
    • for specific articles: click on the number of times it has been cited and then create alert from the left hand menu
  4. link to articles that have cited other works with cited by 
  5. link to related articles to a particular article with related articles
  6. find works by a particular author by clicking on author name
  7. star articles to save to your library 
  8. formatted citations in APA, Chicago, MLA

Screen shot of google scholar results list sort or limit by date range sort by relevance or date create alerts for a search link to articles that have cited other works with cited by link to related articles to a particular article with related articles find works by a particular author by clicking on author name star articles to save to your library formatted citations in APA, Chicago, MLA

 

Accessing articles

Three ways to access articles 

1. Interlibrary Loan
  • If you do not see WMU article linker to the right of the article, look for the WMU Article Linker under the article. This will trigger a search in Library Search and if not available will link you to interlibrary loan. 
  • ILL is a free service to students, faculty and staff at WMU. Articles will take 1-2 business days to be received electronically. 
  • The first article below is an example of an article that requires ILL.
    • The word [Citation] appears in brackets at the beginning of the citation
    • There is not WMU Article Linker to the right so you will need to use the WMU Article Linker below the citation  to search Library Search. 
2. Full Text Access
  • Once synced to the library, use the WMU article linker to the right of  the article to quickly access full text through the library. You will be prompted to log in with your BNID. 
  • The second article listed below is an example of an article that is full text through WMU Libraries because there is WMU Article Linker to the right of the citation. 
3. Open Access Repositories
  • Google Scholar will find many pdf versions of articles available through a variety of repositories. 
  • The third article listed below is an example of an article from an open access journal repository which provides full-text.