What is Google Scholar? How to use the academic database for research

• Google Scholar is a searchable database of scholarly literature.
• It connects users with studies and journal articles on nearly any topic of interest.
• Not all articles are free — you might need a membership to read the full versions.
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Established in 2004, Google Scholar is a massive database of scholarly literature that allows users to access information, cross reference it with other sources, and keep up with new research as it comes out.

Using Google Scholar, you can access these kinds of sources:

• Journals
• Conference papers
• Academic books
• Pre-prints
• Theses and dissertations
• Abstracts
• Technical reports

Here’s everything you need to know about the powerful research tool.

How to use Google Scholar

Anyone can access the search database. And while it’s built with college or grad students and other academics in mind — to help those writing academic papers create bibliographies more easily — anyone can reap its benefits.

Overall, Google Scholar provides an excellent avenue into scholarly research, and while it does have its drawbacks, it’s a tool that can be used to help clarify, explore and inform users about a wide variety of topics.