Library Home » Find Information

Google Scholar

FAQs

• What is Google Scholar?
• How do I access Google Scholar from off campus?
• What is the difference between searches in Google, Google Scholar and Google Books? Or, in other words, when should I use Google Scholar?
• If I use Google Scholar, can I just skip using the Library's online databases?
• What does "Find It @ UTSA" mean?
• How can I get the full text if there isn't a link or if I'm asked to pay?
• How do I find the most recent research on my topic?
• How do I do an advanced search in Google Scholar?
• What does "cited by" mean?
• What does "Library Search" mean?
• What does "Web Search" mean?
• How can I get more help?

What is Google Scholar?

Google Scholar searches for peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports from many disciplines. Results come from a variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, and universities, as well as scholarly articles from the Web. Google Scholar includes full text and citations.

[Top of page]

How do I access Google Scholar from off campus?

Use the library link to Google Scholar to access subscriptions already paid for by the UTSA Library. If you are off campus, you will be prompted for your last name and Banner ID. If you do not use the library link for off-campus access, full text may only be available with payment.

[Top of page]

What is the difference between searches in Google, Google Scholar and Google Books? Or, in other words, when should I use Google Scholar?

Regular Google is great for routine Web searches. You probably already use Google to find business Web sites, news, blogs, current events, basic facts, etc. But Google has other tools for finding more specialized content. With Google Books, you can search the full text of books. In most cases, the entire book is not available online, but Google Books will display brief previews of books on your topic which you can then locate in the Library or purchase from a book store. If scholarly journal articles or technical reports are what you're after, use Google Scholar! Google Scholar searches for peer-reviewed papers, theses, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports from many disciplines.

[Top of page]

If I use Google Scholar, can I just skip using the Library's online databases?

If you do, you may miss some great sources. While Google Scholar links to many online journal articles, it does not link to all of the articles available in the UTSA Library's online databases. In addition, even Google Scholar's own Help page admits that "a great deal of scholarly literature is still offline" and is available only in print. Google Scholar is a great place to start looking for journal articles, but if you are doing in-depth research or a literature review, search the UTSA Library's online databases accessible from the UTSA Library homepage. Ask a Librarian if you have questions!

[Top of page]

What does "Find It @ UTSA" mean?

"Find it @ UTSA" appears next to search results and links directly to full-text articles available from the UTSA Library.

[Top of page]

How can I get the full text if there isn't a link or if I'm asked to pay?

• Are you searching Google Scholar from the UTSA Library web site? When you search from the library site, you can access the full text by entering your last name and Banner ID. Click "Find it @ UTSA" to see whether we have the full-text article online or in print.
• If you do not see the "Find It @ UTSA" link or simply have a citation for an item from Google Scholar, search UCAT, the library catalog, to find it in print in the Library or online in one of our databases.
  

  Tip: Remember to search by journal title and not by the title of the article when searching for articles in UCAT.

• If we do not have the item, you may submit an Interlibrary Loan request via ILLiad, and we will get it from another Library for you.
• If you have trouble locating the item, Ask a Librarian.

[Top of page]

WHow do I find the most recent research on my topic?

Just click on the "Recent articles" link at the topic of the results page once you have completed a search and your results will be re-sorted to display the most recent articles.

[Top of page]

How do I do an advanced search in Google Scholar?

Use the Advanced Scholar Search page to search for a particular author or an article in a particular journal.

[Top of page]

What does "Cited by" mean?

If you click "Cited by," you will get a list of documents that cite your original document. This list only includes documents available in Google Scholar. To get a complete list, use a citation index such as Web of Science.

[Top of page]

What does "Library Search" mean?

"Library Search" appears when you've found a book that is available in a local library. If the UTSA Library owns the book, you'll see a link for the University of Texas at San Antonio that will take you to the record in the library's catalog. You may also see a list of other San Antonio area libraries which own the book.

[Top of page]

What does "Web Search" mean?

This link will take you to Google search results that may include purchase options. Remember to always search the library's holdings first for materials already owned by the library that you can access for free.

[Top of page]

How can I get more help?

Ask a Librarian

[Top of page]