Using Google Scholar

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. It includes articles, theses, books, abstracts, court opinions, and more. Be aware that it is not a comprehensive resource and will not always take you to the full text of items you find.

Linking to library content

For ease of access and to avoid hitting paywalls, you can customize Google Scholar to link you to content available through the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.

Follow the steps below to link your accounts.

  1. Open Google Scholar.
  2. In the upper left corner, click on the Menu (three horizontal bars) and then Settings.
  3. Click Library links on the left side of the page.
  4. Type University of Nevada Reno and click search.
  5. Make sure that you put a check mark in the box preceding University of Nevada, Reno – View It @ UNR.
  6. After you run a search, on the results page, you will see a link titled View It @ UNR to the right side of any articles that the Libraries have access to. Clicking this link will take you to a page with the full text of the article. If you are off-campus, you will have to enter your NetID and password to gain access to the full text.

The Settings page in Google Scholar with red boxes around the menu link (three horizontal bars), “Settings,” "Library links," and "University of Nevada - Reno - View It @ UNR.”

If you find an article through Google Scholar that the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries does not have access to, you can request to borrow a copy from another library for free. See our guide to requesting books and articles through Interlibrary Loan.

Basic search tips

Get the most out of Google Scholar with some helpful 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.
  • 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.
    • 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.