How to Search
Science
| Primary Source | Secondary Source |
| DEFINITION: A document that fully describes original research written by those that conducted that original research. | DEFINITION: A document that contains commentary, interpretation, and/or analysis of original research. |
| EX: Academic journal article where researchers describe their own research and experimentation regarding enzymes in bovine liver. European Journal of Biochemistry | EX: Popular magazine blog post that comments on multiple studies regarding the impact of sleep on regulating emotions. Psychology Today |
Avoid Natural Language
- Stick to keywords and phrases - don't write out questions in full.
Use Quotation Marks Around Phrases
- This ensures your search results will include the phrase, not the individual words found separately in the document.
Use the Advanced Search
- It will be located in different places depending on the database, but it will help refine and improve your search.
Use Limiters Provided by the Database to Narrow/Focus Your Results
- Limiters are usually found on the left or right hand side of your search results.
- Limit by source type, date of publication, reading level, subject, publication, and more
Use Boolean Operators
Why Use It?
- Use Google Scholar to search for open access academic journal articles.
Keep in Mind:
- The same basic Google Search Tips apply!
What is Unique to Scholar? You can...
- Click "Cited by" to see articles that cite the article you are looking at.
- Click "Related articles" to find similar articles.
- Click "All versions" to check if there is full-text access to a different version.
How Do You Know If You Have Access To Full Text?
- PDF link is noted at right of search results.
More Google Scholar Search Tips
You found the perfect article! Now what?
- Check the Authors, Source, Subject Terms, and Author Supplied Keywords
- Authors - These authors may have published other articles on the same subject. Search for them specifically!
- Source - Many journals cover a very specific subject matter. Explore that journal specifically for articles.
- Subject Terms - In academic databases, like Academic Search Premier, subject terms are hyperlinked and will take you to other articles on the same subject when clicked.
- Author Supplied Keywords - These are the keywords created by the author, so clicking these, or using these keywords in other databases/search engines, will help find similar articles.
- References - See what sources this source referenced. Maybe some of those will work for you too!
You can also:
- Use "Cited by" and "related articles" in Google Scholar.
