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Google Scholar: About

Pros

  • User friendly 
  • Access to a wide array of articles that SCC can request through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). 
  • Citation information is provided. 
  • Offers a citation index to see how often an article has been cited by others. 
  • Can access books and articles in a single search. 
  • Google Scholar can display direct links to items that the SCC Library carries. 

Google Scholar allows users to search for scholarly literature freely at their fingertips. This includes materials such as articles, books, dissertations, and more. 

Based on these pros and cons, Google Scholar is a great starting point for research, but should not be your only option. Make sure to utilize the databases your college offers you to get more useful and trustworthy information. 

Cons

  • Not everything on Google Scholar is scholarly or peer reviewed. 

-It's always important to evaluate the sources you're using to make sure they are reliable and factual. For more information, check out our Evaluating Sources guide. 

  • The citation tracker is not always accurate. 
  • Cannot add filters for peer-reviewed content.
  • Most full-text articles are not free. 
  • Cannot browse by title. 
  • Cannot search by disciplinary field.