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Want to stay up to date on a specific topic? Create an alert for a Google Scholar search for your topics and you\u2019ll get email updates similar to Google Search alerts. Another way to keep up with research in your area is to follow new articles by leading researchers. Go to their profiles and click \u201cFollow.\u201d If you\u2019re a junior grad student, you may consider following articles related to your advisor\u2019s research topics, for instance.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to go down fascinating rabbit hole after rabbit hole in Google Scholar. Don\u2019t lose track of your research and use the save option that pops up under search results so articles will be in your library for later reading.<\/p>\n
Labels aren\u2019t only for Gmail! You can create labels within your Google Scholar library so you can keep your research organized. Click on \u201cMy library,\u201d and then the \u201cManage labels\u2026\u201d option to create a new label.<\/p>\n
Many research funding agencies around the world now mandate that funded articles should become publicly free to read within a year of publication \u2014 or sooner. Scholar profiles list such articles to help researchers keep track of them and open up access to ones that are still locked down. That means you can immediately see what is currently available from researchers you\u2019re interested in and how many of their papers will soon be publicly free to read.<\/p>\n
Every year, Google Scholar releases the top publications based on the most-cited papers. That list (available in 11 languages) will also take you to each publication\u2019s top papers \u2014 this takes into account the \u201ch index,\u201d which measures how much impact an article has had. It\u2019s an excellent place to start a research journey as well as get an idea about the ideas and discoveries researchers are currently focused on.<\/p>\n
Click on the hamburger icon on the upper left-hand corner and select Advanced Search to fine-tune your queries. For example, articles with exact words or a particular phrase in the title or articles from a particular journal and so on.<\/p>\n
It might sound obvious, but there\u2019s a wealth of useful information to be found here \u2014 like how often the database is updated, tips on formatting searches and how you can use your library subscriptions when you\u2019re off-campus (looking at you, college students!). Oh, and you\u2019ll even learn the origin of that quote on Google Scholar\u2019s home page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n