How to get to full text from on and off campus

To find Libraries' resources in Google Scholar, you first need to link Google Scholar to the U of MN Libraries.

Enter Google Scholar from the Libraries web site.

For example, in the "Highly Used Databases" box on the homepage lib.umn.edu - select "Google Scholar."

Select the menu in Google Scholar

Choose Settings

Select Library Links

Search for University of Minnesota

Check the box "University of Minnesota Twin Cities - FindIt @U of Twin Cities" and select "Save"

(or your library for the system campuses)

Select the link "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" when you search in Google Scholar to access the article.

What is Google Scholar?

Just like Google, Google Scholar uses web-crawling robots to collect results including journal articles, citations, theses, pre-prints and more. Materials come from academic publishers, professional societies, pre-print repositories, Universities, legal opinions, patents and more. Google Scholar is a useful as a tool for research, especially for interdisciplinary topics. However, we also recommend using article databases provided by the University of Minnesota Libraries as you will find high-quality, scholarly materials that aren't available through Google Scholar.

Are all the results free and online? What if the Libraries don't have the full text of an article?

No. Some are but often the results link to a publisher's website that asks you for payment to access an article. Don't pay for articles. Instead, you can set up Google Scholar to connect to FindIt (see above). If we do not own it, you can use Interlibrary Loan to request the full text.

How are the results ranked?

Google Scholar ranks sources according to relevance. The relevance ranking takes into account the source's title, author, the publication in which the source appeared and how often it has been cited in scholarly literature.

Is everything in Google Scholar considered "scholarly"?

No. Google Scholar uses a built in algorithm that makes a calculated guess at what it thinks is a scholarly source. You will need to look at the source and decide if it is scholarly. Talk to a librarian or your instructor if you are unsure. Google Scholar currently lacks the ability to easily focus your search with features that are specifically designed for a given discipline. Comprehensive subject databases are often a better choice when you need both high-quality academic sources and sophisticated search techniques.