Google Scholar Search Tips

Get the most out of Google Scholar with some helpful search tips.

Basic Search Tips

A good Google Scholar strategy is to try multiple searches, adjusting your keywords with each search. Google Scholar is very similar to Google, so you can use these search terms in a regular Google search as well.

• How do you get more relevant search results?
  • Search with multiple keywords that best represent the core of your topic: doctor stress retention

• How do you search for alternate terms?
  • Use OR with the alternate terms enclosed in parentheses: (teenager OR adolescent) sports

• How do you search by title or phrase?
  • Put the title or phrase in quotation marks: “A History of the China Sea”   “social learning theory”

• How do you find works that have recently been published?
  • Google Scholar’s default is to sort the search results by relevance. You can limit by more recent years or put in your own custom date range. For example, click “Since 2017” in the left sidebar of the search results page to get articles published within the last few years.
• How do you get better search results?
  • If you are new to the subject, it may be helpful to search with some of the terminology from secondary sources, e.g., an encyclopedia or a Wikipedia article.
  • Authors often write multiple works about a topic. Search for or click on the author’s name to see what else they have written.
  • Click Related articles to see related work on the same topic.
  • Click Cited by beneath a work to see newer papers that referenced it.
  • Explore! There is rarely a single answer to a research question. Try searching for different subtopics or angles related to your work.

Advanced Search Tips

For more complex searches, try Google Scholar’s Advanced Search page. To access the advanced search option, follow these steps:

1. Click on the three horizontal bars in the upper left corner of the Google Scholar search page.
2. Click on Advanced search.

  

3. From the Advanced search pop-up box, choose the search option(s) you need.

  

The advanced search allows you to search more precisely.

• Find articles with the following filters:
  • With all of the words – Choosing this option means all of your keywords must appear in the search; however, they may or may not be next to each other.
  • With the exact phrase – Choosing this option means all of the words will appear together in the exact same order you typed them in.
  • With at least one of the words – Choosing this option means one or more of the words will appear in the search results.
  • Without the words – Choosing this option means you want to exclude one or more words in the search results.
• You can direct the search by choosing where your search words occur. For example, you can select anywhere in the article or in the title of the article.
• Try the Return articles authored by option to see resources by a specific author.
• Use the Return articles published in to search for titles in a specific journal, etc.
• Use the Return articles dated between option to limit to specific years.