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How to Search Papers on Google Scholar

Aug 3, 2025

Overview

This lecture covers tips for searching papers using Google Scholar, efficient search methods using search formulas, following the latest research trends, and paper management tips.

Importance of Paper Search

  • Successful research starts with accurate reference searches.
  • Research direction and quality can vary greatly depending on the search method.
  • Keyword selection is the core of paper searching.

How to Use Google Scholar Search Formulas

  • Use AND (intersection), OR (union), NOT (difference) to combine or exclude keywords.
  • OR must be uppercase, and a hyphen (-) should be used instead of NOT.
  • Using double quotes ("") for phrase search includes only results that exactly match the phrase.
  • allintitle: searches only materials where the keywords are included in the paper title.
  • source: can filter papers published in a specific journal (e.g., source:Nature).

Automatically Follow Latest Research Trends

  • Combine allintitle and source to set automatic alerts for papers on desired topics and journals.
  • Receive email alerts when new papers are published using Google Scholar alert feature.
  • Follow frequently searched authors (author:) with the alert feature.

Finding Paper Ideas/Keywords

  • Use autocomplete feature (from A to Z) to identify related keywords and latest trends.
  • Useful for collecting keywords when approaching new research fields.

Expanding References and Managing Papers

  • Clicking related academic materials shows similar papers and summarized related sentences at a glance.
  • Use Chrome extension (Moonlight) for reading and organizing papers.
  • Easily add references to management programs by clicking the citation button.

Reading Papers and Interpreting Figures

  • For difficult parts like bio paper figures for beginners, refer to paper reading guidebooks.
  • AI tools have limitations in automatic interpretation, so mastering basics is important.

Key Terms & Definitions

  • Google Scholar โ€” a free service to search papers and academic materials.
  • allintitle: โ€” searches only materials where all entered words are included in the paper title.
  • source: โ€” used to filter papers published in specific journals.
  • Alerts โ€” automatic email notifications when new papers matching the search formula are posted.
  • Citation โ€” a function to insert other papers as references within a paper.

Action Items / Next Steps

  • Write your own Google Scholar search formulas matching your research topic and set alert features.
  • Create keyword lists using autocomplete and organize them in Excel or similar.
  • Habitually organize papers using related academic materials and citation functions.
  • Refer to guidebooks if reading papers and interpreting figures is difficult.