6 Basic Google Scholar Tips Every Teacher Should Know about

Here is an updated version of one of our popular Google Scholar posters we published in 2016.  The visual features some of the basic tips and features that every teacher and student using this academic search engine should know about. The content of the visual is based on guidelines provided by Scholar Help Centre.  Feel free to download, print or share our infographic the way you want provided you cite us as the source and you keep it free of charge.

You can download the visual below in PDF format from this link.


1- Refine your keywords

• Go to Google Scholar
• Click on the arrow to the right of the search box
• Choose which words or phrases you want to include or exclude

2- Search for articles by specific authors

• Go to Google Scholar
• Click on the arrow to the right of the search box
• Type in the name of the author in the box next to ‘Return articles authored by’

3- Search for articles in a specific publication

• Go to Google Scholar
• Click on the arrow to the right of the search box
• Type in the name of the publication in the box next to ‘Return articles published in’

4- Search for articles published within a specific timeframe

• Go to Google Scholar
• Click on the arrow to the right of the search box
• Specify a timeframe by providing numerical values in the boxes next to ‘Return articles dated between’

5- Create Google Scholar Alerts

• Go to Google Scholar
• Click on the envelope icon ‘Alerts’ on top of the search box
• Alternatively, you can create an alert from within a Google Scholar search result by clicking on the envelop icon on the left hand side.

6- Locate the full text of an article

• 'Click a library link to the right of the search result;
• Click a link labeled [PDF] to the right of the search result;
• Click "All versions" under the search result and check out the alternative sources;
• Click "Related articles" or "Cited by" under the search result to explore similar articles.'

Source:  Scholar Help Centre. .