Google Scholar: How to Use Google's Academic Search Engine

 The academic search engine Google Scholar

Google Scholar or Google Scholar in Spanish is a search engine like Google, but focused on showing results of academic interest , with Google Scholar we can find results based on scientific articles, books, citations, technical reports and similar documentation that can help us in our studies. With Google Scholar we have a search engine focused on our studies, which is why we are going to show you in this guide how to use it to get the most out of it.

Unlike the Google search engine, with Google Scholar we can focus on other types of results, this search only takes into account technical articles , in addition to other factors such as the number of times this publication or the author of the article has been cited. Thus we can find updated information on a specific article or more relevant information on the subject to be searched, Google also has another specific flight search engine called Google Flights.

The results of Google Scholar are classified and may include links to books, PDF documents, magazine articles or websites , with the possibility of acquiring, in the case of being a copyrighted work, the same from a link provided by the search engine . The search engine allows us to carry out these searches in our language or using any language of the nearly 40 that are available .

You can also be part of Google Scholar, if you have a Google account you can log in and add your publications, as well as track and view statistics on them. Thus, in addition to searching for documents, you can contribute your own and make them reach more people around the world with this academic search engine.

How to search Google Scholar

As we have commented, the ideal would be to have a Google account , in this guide we tell you how to make one in a few simple steps , once created we can use Google Scholar with all its functions.

1. We enter the Google Scholar website , it is similar to the Google search engine.
2. In the search box we write what we want to search for, we can search for a word, a phrase, a quote from a text, etc.
3. We select the language in which we want the results to appear, we can select any language in which they are available or search only in our language.
4. We click on the magnifying glass or directly press the enter key when writing.
5. Now we will see the results classified according to the format in which they are.
6. We can classify the results obtained by their year of publication, by relevance or by date . Also, we can include citations and patents in the results if we are interested in these options.

How to create an alert in Google Scholar on specific topics

We can also create an alert if we are interested in a specific topic, the search engine will notify us by email if it has found new results about a specific topic , it is very easy to create it.

1. Click on the 3 bars on the top left
3. We select Alerts to enter this section.
4. Click on the Create Alert button.
5. Now we write in the Alert query box the text to look for and that we want it to notify us when there is any change.
7. In Email, the email with which we are identified in the Google account will appear by default or we can change it to another if we wish.
8. In number of results we select between 10 or 20 results that will send us as an alert to the chosen email.
9. We click on create alert.

Now we will see a summary of all the alerts that we have created with Google Scholar, if we want to do without any we simply select cancel to the right of each alert that we have to eliminate it.

Manage your Google Scholar library with saved articles

If we want to do a quick search to see if there is documentation, but now we do not have time to read the articles that we find interesting, we can add them to our library to read them later and not have to search again. The library is managed in a similar way to the favorites in the Chrome browser , we add them and they will stay there and then consult them, we are going to show you how to do it.

1. We carry out a search following the steps in the first section.
2. At the end of each result and to the far left, we will find an unfilled star.
3. To add it to the library, we just have to click on this star and it will be filled with blue, a message will appear indicating that it has been added to our library . We can add as many as we want from the same search or from different ones.

To consult the library we will follow these steps.

1. We click on the three lines at the top left.
2. We select My library.
3. We will have the articles that we have added in order from the most recent to the oldest.
4. Next to each article there is a blank box , if we click on it we will have the option to edit, delete, export or tag that article. 

Google Scholar, an ideal tool for academic papers or research

It's that simple to use Google Scholar , we can find a lot of technical documentation about topics that may interest us for our studies, thesis or simply out of curiosity and investigate the subject a little more, we can search and save them to read later even in other languages.

With Google Scholar it will be much easier to carry out the work of the institute or university , it can also help us in our research or day-to-day work . You will find thousands of articles related to the topic you are looking for and they will surely be useful to you.