Using Google Scholar for Your Research

Pros and cons of using Google Scholar

Pros:

• The functionality is familiar to users, containing similar features to a Google web search.
• It searches a vast array of information, including some that does not always appear in library subscriptions (i.e. preprints, technical reports).
• It searches across all subjects and disciplines simultaneously​
• It provides access to full-text when available.
• It has the useful "Cited by" feature, which shows how many times this article was cited by other publications.
• It has an available citation generator, which the general Google search does not have.

Cons:

• It has fewer options for limiting or narrowing search results than library databases (for example, it has no limiting for just scholarly/peer reviewed articles)
• Users still need to go through library resources to access full text.
• It sometimes fails to connect to full text sources we have.
• Google is not transparent about the journals or time ranges it indexes.
• Publishers occasionally request that Google Scholar not index their publications.
• It may contain non-scholarly and/or non-peer reviewed material, so it is best used in conjunction with other search tools.
• It does not consistently identify articles that have been retracted by the publishers or authors.