example of research paper google scholar

200+ Google Scholar Research Topics: Strategies & Example

Academic research is all about learning new stuff and finding answers to questions. Whether you’re a student, teacher, or just someone curious, Google Scholar is like a super helpful friend for your research adventures. 

In this guide, we’ll explore how Google Scholar can make your research journey easier and more exciting. Moreover, we will check the Google Scholar Research Topics. So, let’s dive in!

What Would Be Search Strategies For Google Scholar?

Google Scholar’s search capabilities go far beyond the basic search bar. To unlock its full potential, it’s crucial to understand advanced search techniques, Boolean operators, and filters. Here are some strategies to consider:

Advanced Search Techniques

Google Scholar offers an advanced search feature that enables you to refine your queries. You can use this feature to narrow down results by specific authors, journals, publication dates, and more. It’s a powerful way to find precisely what you’re looking for.

Boolean Operators

Employing Boolean operators like “AND,” “OR,” and “NOT” can help you create complex search queries. For instance, combining “climate change” AND “policy” can yield research papers that specifically address the intersection of these two topics.

Filters and Operators

Utilizing filters and operators, such as the citation count, can help you identify the most influential and highly cited research in your field. This can be especially useful for locating seminal papers.

80+ Google Scholar Research Topics: Subject Wise Topics

• The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity
• Quantum Computing: Current Developments and Challenges
• Nanotechnology Applications in Medicine
• The Role of AI in Drug Discovery
• Dark Matter and the Structure of the Universe
• Advancements in Gene Editing Technologies
• Renewable Energy Sources and Sustainable Solutions
• The Effects of Pollution on Aquatic Ecosystems
• Ethical Considerations in AI and Machine Learning
• Cybersecurity Threats and Mitigation Strategies
• Internet of Things (IoT) and its Impact on Daily Life
• Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Education
• Blockchain Technology and Its Applications Beyond Cryptocurrency
• 5G Technology and Its Potential for Transforming Communication
• Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design
• Robotics in Healthcare: Current Trends and Future Prospects
• Precision Medicine and Personalized Treatment Approaches
• Mental Health Stigma and Access to Care
• The Role of Gut Microbiota in Human Health
• Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy
• Telemedicine and Remote Patient Monitoring
• Health Disparities Among Vulnerable Populations
• Antibiotic Resistance: Causes and Solutions
• Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Research Challenges

Social Sciences

• Social Media’s Influence on Political Behavior
• The Psychology of Social Networks and Online Communities
• Gender Inequality in the Workplace: Recent Developments
• The Impact of Immigration Policies on Social Cohesion
• Educational Inequality and Access to Quality Education
• Climate Change and Public Opinion: A Global Perspective
• Youth Activism and Social Change Movements
• Cultural Diversity and Identity in Contemporary Society
• Postcolonial Literature and Identity
• The Philosophy of Ethics and Morality
• Historical Preservation and Cultural Heritage
• Existentialism in Modern Literature and Philosophy
• Art as a Medium for Social Commentary
• The Influence of Ancient Philosophers on Contemporary Thought
• Folklore and Oral Traditions in Modern Society
• Human Rights and Literature in Global Contexts
• The Evolution of Digital Art and New Media
• Contemporary Dance and Its Exploration of Gender Roles
• Sound Art and its Impact on Auditory Perception
• Environmental Art and Sustainability Messages
• Film as a Reflection of Societal Values
• The Intersection of Technology and Visual Arts
• Street Art and Graffiti as Forms of Urban Expression
• Music Therapy and its Therapeutic Applications
• Quantum Entanglement and Communication
• Gravitational Waves and their Detection
• Superconductivity and Its Potential Applications
• Particle Physics: The Quest for Fundamental Particles
• Black Holes: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Universe
• Quantum Computing and Quantum Algorithms
• Dark Energy and the Fate of the Universe
• Advanced Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion
• Behavioral Economics and Decision-Making
• Income Inequality and Its Economic Consequences
• Economic Impact of Global Trade Agreements
• Financial Markets and Behavioral Biases
• Sustainable Economic Development Models
• Economic Resilience in the Face of Global Crises
• The Economics of Healthcare Systems
• Cryptocurrency and Its Implications for Monetary Policy
• Cognitive Neuroscience and Memory Processing
• Psychopathology and Innovative Treatment Approaches
• The Psychology of Social Media Addiction
• Positive Psychology and Well-Being Interventions
• Cross-Cultural Psychology and Cultural Norms
• Child Development and Early Childhood Education
• Emotional Intelligence and Workplace Success
• Psychology of Decision-Making in High-Stress Situations
• Historical Analysis of Revolutionary Movements
• Environmental History and the Impact of Human Activity
• Ancient Civilizations and Their Cultural Legacy
• History of Science and Technological Advancements
• The Role of Women in Historical Events
• Indigenous Histories and Narratives of Resistance
• World Wars and their Socioeconomic Consequences
• Historical Preservation and Museums as Educational Tools
• Postmodern Literature and Its Fragmented Narratives
• Transcultural Literature and Identity in Migration
• Science Fiction as a Reflection of Technological Progress
• Shakespearean Studies in Modern Contexts
• Contemporary Poetry and its Exploration of Language
• Graphic Novels as a Medium for Social Commentary
• Literature and Ecocriticism: Nature’s Role in Stories
• Dystopian Fiction and its Socio Political Themes

25+ Google Scholar Research Topics For Beginners

• Introduction to Google Scholar: An overview of what Google Scholar is and how to use it effectively for academic research.
• Research Basics: Exploring the fundamental principles of research, including formulating research questions and conducting literature reviews.
• Citing Sources: Understanding the importance of proper citation and how to cite sources using different citation styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago.
• Research Ethics: An introduction to ethical considerations in research, including plagiarism, informed consent, and data integrity.
• Using Keywords: Tips and techniques for selecting and using keywords effectively to improve search results.
• Finding Reliable Sources: Strategies for identifying reputable and peer-reviewed sources in Google Scholar’s search results.
• Creating Alerts: How to set up email alerts for specific research topics or authors to stay updated on the latest publications.
• Managing References: An introduction to reference management tools like Zotero or Mendeley for organizing and citing sources.
• Research Question Development: Guidance on formulating clear and focused research questions that drive your inquiry.
• Literature Review: Basics of conducting a literature review to summarize and analyze existing research on a particular topic.
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Understanding the difference between primary and secondary sources in academic research.
• Data Collection Methods: An overview of various methods for collecting research data, including surveys, interviews, and observations.
• Statistical Analysis: Introduction to basic statistical concepts and tools for analyzing research data.
• Research Presentation: Tips for creating effective presentations and posters to communicate research findings.
• Choosing a Research Topic: Strategies for selecting a research topic that aligns with your interests and goals.
• Research Design: Exploring different research design options, such as experimental, observational, or case study approaches.
• Data Visualization: Basics of creating visual representations of data, including graphs and charts.
• Qualitative Research Methods: An introduction to qualitative research approaches, including content analysis and thematic analysis.
• Quantitative Research Methods: An overview of quantitative research methods, including surveys and experiments.
• Writing a Research Paper: Steps and guidelines for structuring and writing a research paper, from the introduction to the conclusion.
• Peer Review Process: Understanding the peer review process and its role in ensuring the quality of research publications.
• Using Google Scholar Metrics: Exploring Google Scholar Metrics to assess the impact and visibility of research articles.
• Open Access Journals: Learning about open access journals and their role in making research more accessible.
• Research Funding: An introduction to sources of research funding, grants, and scholarships for beginners.
• Collaborative Research: Tips for collaborating with other researchers and forming research partnerships.

15+ Google Scholar Research Topics For Intermediate

• “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Healthcare Delivery: A Comprehensive Review”
• “Environmental Sustainability in Urban Planning: Analyzing Current Practices and Challenges”
• “The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Discourse: A Comparative Analysis”
• “Exploring the Effects of Climate Change on Global Food Security: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach”
• “The Psychology of Online Learning: Factors Influencing Student Engagement and Performance”
• “Digital Marketing Strategies in E-commerce: An Analysis of Best Practices and Emerging Trends”
• “Cross-Cultural Communication in Global Business: Challenges and Strategies for Success”
• “The Neurobiology of Addiction: Insights into Treatment and Rehabilitation”
• “Impact Investing and Sustainable Finance: Evaluating Social and Environmental Outcomes”
• “The Evolution of Renewable Energy Technologies: Assessing Viability and Adoption”
• “Criminal Justice Reform: Evaluating the Effects of Restorative Justice Programs”
• “The Influence of Literature on Social Movements: A Comparative Study of Historical Contexts”
• “Cybersecurity Threats in the Internet of Things (IoT): Strategies for Protection and Resilience”
• “The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Addressing Bias and Accountability in AI Systems”
• “Post-pandemic Workforce Trends: Remote Work, Mental Health, and Organizational Adaptation”

10+ Google Scholar Research Topics For Advanced

• Quantum Computing Algorithms for Cryptography: Investigate advanced quantum computing algorithms and their implications for cryptography and data security.
• Neural Networks in Natural Language Processing: Explore cutting-edge techniques in neural network-based natural language processing and their applications in machine translation and sentiment analysis.
• Genome Editing and Ethical Considerations: Analyze the ethical challenges surrounding genome editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas9 and their potential impact on society.
• Advanced Data Mining Techniques for Healthcare: Research advanced data mining and machine learning methods for predicting disease outbreaks and improving patient outcomes in healthcare.
• Post-Quantum Cryptography: Investigate cryptographic methods designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers, which have the potential to break current encryption algorithms.
• Neurobiology of Consciousness: Delve into the intricacies of neurobiology to explore the nature of consciousness and its neural correlates.
• Quantum Machine Learning: Explore the intersection of quantum computing and machine learning to develop quantum-enhanced algorithms for solving complex problems.
• Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Study the development of AGI systems, which possess human-level intelligence, and examine the ethical and societal implications of AGI.
• Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy: Investigate novel materials and nanotechnologies for enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of renewable energy sources like solar cells and batteries.
• Social Network Analysis in Cybersecurity: Analyze advanced techniques in social network analysis to detect and mitigate cybersecurity threats and attacks in complex online environments.

Tips and Guides: How To Search Google Scholar Research Topics

• Research Topic Selection: Discovering the right research topic is crucial. Google Scholar can assist you in identifying trending topics and gaps in existing literature.
• Literature Review: Conducting a thorough literature review is a fundamental step in research. Google Scholar’s vast database simplifies the process of finding relevant studies.
• Bibliographic References: Google Scholar generates citations in various citation styles, making it easier to compile your bibliography.
• Evaluating Sources: Not all sources are created equal. Google Scholar provides tools to assess the reliability and credibility of sources, ensuring you rely on trustworthy research.
• Academic Writing: Improve your academic writing skills by reading well-crafted research papers available on Google Scholar. Analyze their structure, style, and citation methods.

Example: How To Get Desired Google Scholar Research Topics?

Let’s take the example of researching the topic “Neural Networks in Natural Language Processing” using Google Scholar. I’ll provide a step-by-step guide and include a table to organize the information.

Step 1: Access Google Scholar

Go to Google Scholar using your web browser.

Step 2: Formulate Your Search Query

In the search bar, enter your research topic: “Neural Networks in Natural Language Processing.”

Step 3: Refine Your Search

To refine your search results, you can use various techniques:

Quotation Marks: To search for an exact phrase, put it in quotation marks. For example, “Neural Networks in Natural Language Processing” will return results containing that exact phrase.

Advanced Search: Click on the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper-left corner and select “Advanced search” to access advanced search options. Here, you can specify authors, publications, and date ranges.

Filters: Use the filters on the left-hand side to narrow down results by publication year, author, or journal. You can select “Since” to specify a particular year.

Step 4: Explore Search Results

Browse through the search results to identify relevant articles, papers, and books. Each result includes the title, authors, publication source, and a brief excerpt from the content.

Now, let’s create a table to organize and track the information from your search results:

Step 5: Access Full Text

Click on the title of a search result to access the full text of the article or paper. Some may require a subscription or purchase, while others are freely accessible.

Step 6: Review and Cite

Read the selected articles thoroughly, take notes, and cite them in your research. Make sure to note the key findings and contributions to your topic.

By following these steps and organizing your findings in a table like the one above, you can efficiently conduct research on your chosen topic using Google Scholar. This approach helps you keep track of relevant publications and easily access the information you need for your research project.

Final Remark

Google Scholar is like a huge treasure chest filled with knowledge. It’s a must-have tool for researchers, scholars, and students all over the world. If you learn how to use it well, you can have a successful research journey that helps us all understand more about the world. Whether you’re looking for answers to specific questions or just curious about something, Google Scholar is your doorway to a world of academic learning. Check all above mentioned google scholar research topics. Try as per your requirement.

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SCI 1001 & SCI 1002: Writing and Research in the Sciences

• About This Guide
• 1A. Science Reference Sources
• 2A. What is peer review?
• 3A. Google Scholar
• 4. Using Information Ethically
• 5. CSE Citation Style
• ---> QUIZ: Using Information Ethically <--

Why Use Google Scholar?

The Pros and Cons of Using Google Scholar

Pros: Google Scholar combines the ease of Google with access to scholarly materials. Google Scholar searches the Web for scholarly articles, abstracts and books, but not popular magazine, newspaper or Internet articles. It allows you to search multiple formats across multiple disciplines in one search.

Cons: Google Scholar doesn’t access everything in the library’s subscription databases, especially the most current information. Not everything is peer-reviewed, nor can you search or filter by peer-review status. Full- text versions of many items indexed by Google Scholar are not available for free through the Internet; however, many are accessible through the LSU Libraries' website.

The Bottom Line: Google Scholar is a great place to begin your search, but should not be the only place you search. Think of it as a resource you can use in addition to the LSU Libraries' catalog and databases.

How to use Google Scholar

Google Scholar searches for scholarly articles on the Internet, using Google’s familiar interface. Like regular Google it can generate THOUSANDS of results, even from resources the library does not have.  Still, Google Scholar is a powerful discovery tool.

Here’s how to use it.

Step 1: You can access Google Scholar through this link:  https://scholar.google.com/ 

Step 2: If you are off campus, you will need to set your "Scholar Preferences" so that Google will provide a link to the material that LSU Libraries owns. 

• To do this, you will need to click on the 3 lines at the upper left-hand side of the screen.
• Next, click on "Settings" 
• Then "Library Links" 
• In the search bar type in "Louisiana State University"
• Open WorldCat - Library Search 
• Louisiana State University - E-Resources @ LSU 
• LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES BATON ROUGE - ProQuest Fulltext
• Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries - Full Text at LSU Library 

Step 3: Now you are ready to search for material that LSU Libraries has access to! 

• If LSU has access to the article, a link will appear on the right of the article information. The link will say "E-resources @ LSU"  
• If you are on campus it will lead you directly into the article. If you are off campus you will have to verify your identify by signing into myLSU. 

Remember, LSU does not have access to every single article that appears on Google Scholar. But, if there is not a link on the right side of the screen, you can make a request to borrow that article from another library using Interlibrary Loan. And it's free! More information about Interlibrary Loan can be found at this link:  https://www.lib.lsu.edu/services/ill  

If you have any questions about articles you find on Google Scholar, please reach out to us through Ask Us! at this link:  https://askus.lib.lsu.edu/  

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18 Google Scholar tips all students should know

Dec 13, 2022

[[read-time]] min read

Think of this guide as your personal research assistant.

“It’s hard to pick your favorite kid,” Anurag Acharya says when I ask him to talk about a favorite Google Scholar feature he’s worked on. “I work on product, engineering, operations, partnerships,” he says. He’s been doing it for 18 years, which as of this month, happens to be how long Google Scholar has been around.

Google Scholar is also one of Google’s longest-running services. The comprehensive database of research papers, legal cases and other scholarly publications was the fourth Search service Google launched, Anurag says. In honor of this very important tool’s 18th anniversary, I asked Anurag to share 18 things you can do in Google Scholar that you might have missed.

1. Copy article citations in the style of your choice.

With a simple click of the cite button (which sits below an article entry), Google Scholar will give you a ready-to-use citation for the article in five styles, including APA, MLA and Chicago. You can select and copy the one you prefer.

2. Dig deeper with related searches.

Google Scholar’s related searches can help you pinpoint your research; you’ll see them show up on a page in between article results. Anurag describes it like this: You start with a big topic — like “cancer” — and follow up with a related search like “lung cancer” or “colon cancer” to explore specific kinds of cancer.

Related searches can help you find what you’re looking for.

3. And don’t miss the related articles.

This is another great way to find more papers similar to one you found helpful — you can find this link right below an entry.

4. Read the papers you find.

Scholarly articles have long been available only by subscription. To keep you from having to log in every time you see a paper you’re interested in, Scholar works with libraries and publishers worldwide to integrate their subscriptions directly into its search results. Look for a link marked [PDF] or [HTML]. This also includes preprints and other free-to-read versions of papers.

5. Access Google Scholar tools from anywhere on the web with the Scholar Button browser extension.

The Scholar Button browser extension is sort of like a mini version of Scholar that can move around the web with you. If you’re searching for something, hitting the extension icon will show you studies about that topic, and if you’re reading a study, you can hit that same button to find a version you read, create a citation or to save it to your Scholar library.

Install the Scholar Button Chrome browser extension to access Google Scholar from anywhere on the web.

6. Learn more about authors through Scholar profiles.

There are many times when you’ll want to know more about the researchers behind the ideas you’re looking into. You can do this by clicking on an author’s name when it’s hyperlinked in a search result. You’ll find all of their work as well as co-authors, articles they’re cited in and so on. You can also follow authors from their Scholar profile to get email updates about their work, or about when and where their work is cited.

7. Easily find topic experts.

One last thing about author profiles: If there are topics listed below an author’s name on their profile, you can click on these areas of expertise and you’ll see a page of more authors who are researching and publishing on these topics, too.

8. Search for court opinions with the “Case law” button.

Scholar is the largest free database of U.S. court opinions. When you search for something using Google Scholar, you can select the “Case law” button below the search box to see legal cases your keywords are referenced in. You can read the opinions and a summary of what they established.

9. See how those court opinions have been cited.

If you want to better understand the impact of a particular piece of case law, you can select “How Cited,” which is below an entry, to see how and where the document has been cited. For example, here is the How Cited page for Marbury v. Madison , a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established that courts can strike down unconstitutional laws or statutes.

10. Understand how a legal opinion depends on another.

When you’re looking at how case laws are cited within Google Scholar, click on “Cited by” and check out the horizontal bars next to the different results. They indicate how relevant the cited opinion is in the court decision it’s cited within. You will see zero, one, two or three bars before each result. Those bars indicate the extent to which the new opinion depends on and refers to the cited case.

In the Cited by page for New York Times Company v. Sullivan, court cases with three bars next to their name heavily reference the original case. One bar indicates less reliance.

11. Sign up for Google Scholar alerts.

Want to stay up to date on a specific topic? Create an alert for a Google Scholar search for your topics and you’ll 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 “Follow.” If you’re a junior grad student, you may consider following articles related to your advisor’s research topics, for instance.

12. Save interesting articles to your library.

It’s easy to go down fascinating rabbit hole after rabbit hole in Google Scholar. Don’t 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.

13. Keep your library organized with labels.

Labels aren’t only for Gmail! You can create labels within your Google Scholar library so you can keep your research organized. Click on “My library,” and then the “Manage labels…” option to create a new label.

14. If you’re a researcher, share your research with all your colleagues.

Many research funding agencies around the world now mandate that funded articles should become publicly free to read within a year of publication — 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’re interested in and how many of their papers will soon be publicly free to read.

15. Look through Scholar’s annual top publications and papers.

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’s top papers — this takes into account the “h index,” which measures how much impact an article has had. It’s an excellent place to start a research journey as well as get an idea about the ideas and discoveries researchers are currently focused on.

16. Get even more specific with Advanced Search.

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.

17. Find extra help on Google Scholar’s help page.

It might sound obvious, but there’s a wealth of useful information to be found here — like how often the database is updated, tips on formatting searches and how you can use your library subscriptions when you’re off-campus (looking at you, college students!). Oh, and you’ll even learn the origin of that quote on Google Scholar’s home page.

18. Keep up with Google Scholar news.

Don’t forget to check out the Google Scholar blog for updates on new features and tips for using this tool even better.

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Google Scholar Search Strategies

• About Google Scholar
• Manage Settings
• Enable My Library
• Google Scholar Library
• Cite from Google Scholar
• Tracking Citations
• Add Articles Manually
• Refine your Profile Settings

Using Google Scholar for Research

Google Scholar is a powerful tool for researchers and students alike to access peer-reviewed papers. With Scholar, you are able to not only search for an article, author or journal of interest, you can also save and organize these articles, create email alerts, export citations and more. Below you will find some basic search tips that will prove useful.

This page also includes information on Google Scholar Library - a resource that allows you to save, organize and manage citations - as well as information on citing a paper on Google Scholar.

Search Tips

• Locate Full Text
• Sort by Date
• Related Articles
• Court Opinions
• Email Alerts
• Advanced Search

Abstracts are freely available for most of the articles and UMass Lowell holds many subscriptions to journals and online resources. The first step is make sure you are affiliated with the UML Library on and off campus by Managing your Settings, under Library Links. 

When searching in Google Scholar here are a few things to try to get full text:

• click a library link, e.g., "Full-text @ UML Library", to the right of the search result;
• click a link labeled [PDF] to the right of the search result;
• click "All versions" under the search result and check out the alternative sources;
• click "More" under the search result to see if there's an option for full-text;
• click "Related articles" or "Cited by" under the search result to explore similar articles.

Your search results are normally sorted by relevance, not by date. To find newer articles, try the following options in the left sidebar:

• click "Sort by date" to show just the new additions, sorted by date;  If you use this feature a lot, you may also find it useful to setup email alerts to have new results automatically sent to you.
• click the envelope icon to have new results periodically delivered by email.

Note: On smaller screens that don't show the sidebar, these options are available in the dropdown menu labeled "Any time" right below the search button .

The Related Articles option under the search result can be a useful tool when performing research on a specific topic. 

After clicking you will see articles from the same authors and with the same keywords.

You can select the jurisdiction from either the search results page or the home page as well; simply click "select courts". You can also refine your search by state courts or federal courts. 

To quickly search a frequently used selection of courts, bookmark a search results page with the desired selection. 

 How do I sign up for email alerts?

Do a search for the topic of interest, e.g., "M Theory"; click the envelope icon in the sidebar of the search  results page; enter your email address, and click " Create alert ". Google will periodically email you newly published papers that match your search criteria. You can use any email address for this; it does not need to be a Google Account. 

If you want to get alerts from new articles published in a specific journal; type in the name of this journal in the search bar and create an alert like you would a keyword. 

How do I get notified of new papers published by my colleagues, advisors or professors?

First, do a search for your their name, and see if they have a Citations profile. If they do, click on it, and click the "Follow new articles" link in the right sidebar under the search box.

If they don't have a profile, do a search by author, e.g., [author:s-hawking], and click on the mighty envelope in the left sidebar of the search results page. If you find that several different people share the same name, you may need to add co-author names or topical keywords to limit results to the author you wish to follow.

How do I change my alerts?

If you created alerts using a Google account, you can manage them all on the "Alerts" page . 

From here you can create, edit or delete alerts. Select cancel under the actions column to unsubscribe from an alert. 

This will pop-open the advanced search menu

Here you can search specific words/phrases as well as for author, title and journal. You can also limit your search results by date.

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Literature Review: Google Scholar

• Sample Searches
• Examples of Published Literature Reviews
• Researching Your Topic
• Subject Searching
• Google Scholar
• Track Your Work
• Citation Managers This link opens in a new window
• Citation Guides This link opens in a new window
• Tips on Writing Your Literature Review This link opens in a new window
• Research Help

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Chat with a Librarian

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Google Scholar Library Links

To see links to BenU Library subscription content in your Google Scholar search results:

• Go to Google Scholar > Settings > Library Links
• Search " Benedictine "
• Check the boxes
• Click Save and you're done!
• Google Scholar Library Links Tutorial This tutorial will guide you step-by-step through the quick setup process.

Finding Academic Literature

• 8 Winning hacks to use Google Scholar for your research paper

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• Next: Track Your Work >>
• Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 3:34 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.ben.edu/lit-review

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How to Find Primary Research Articles on Google Scholar

How to Find Primary Research Articles on Google Scholar can be a daunting task. But with the right tips and tricks, you can quickly locate relevant sources to inform your work or study. By leveraging advanced search features like My Library, you’ll be able to stay organized while exploring topics of interest in no time. Let’s dive into how best to find primary research articles on Google Scholar so that you can get started uncovering valuable insights today.

Table of Contents

What is Google Scholar?

Searching for primary research articles on google scholar, tips for effective searches on google scholar, utilizing advanced search features, keeping track of your research with my library on google scholar, additional resources for finding primary research articles on google scholar, faqs in relation to how to find primary research articles on google scholar, how do i search for only primary articles in google scholar, how do i find primary research articles, how do i find research articles on google scholar, how do you tell if an article is a primary or secondary source.

Google Scholar is an online search engine that allows users to find primary research articles. Google Scholar, established in 2004, is a powerful search engine that gives access to scholarly documents including theses, preprints, and books. By using advanced algorithms and natural language processing techniques it offers a more comprehensive view of academic publications than traditional databases or search engines like Google.

How to Find Primary Research Articles on Google Scholar has numerous advantages; it provides a convenient way for researchers to quickly find applicable sources needed for their research without having to browse through many web pages or databases. Secondly, its sophisticated algorithms allow researchers to refine their searches based on relevance and date published to easily narrow down results for specific topics or time periods. Finally, because it indexes content from across the web – including open-access repositories such as PubMed Central – users have access to full-text versions of articles that may not be available elsewhere.

Accessing Google Scholar is easy; simply go to scholar.google.com and start searching with keywords related to your topic area or use the Advanced Search feature if you want more control over your results (e.g., restricting by author name). You can also sign up for an account which will enable you to save searches, create alerts when new content is added that matches your criteria, and organize references into collections known as ‘My Library’ – making tracking progress on a project much more efficient.

Google Scholar is an invaluable resource for researchers looking to access primary research articles. With the right search techniques, you can easily find full-text articles on Google Scholar and maximize your research potential. Next, we’ll explore how to use the search interface and refine results in order to locate these resources more effectively.

“Easily find primary research articles for your #R&D project with Google Scholar. Advanced algorithms and natural language processing make it easier to narrow down results quickly.” #Cypris Click to Tweet

To make the process easier, it is important to understand the search interface and refine your results with filters and preferences.

The first step in searching for primary research articles on Google Scholar is understanding the search interface. This includes learning how to use keywords, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), quotation marks (” “) for exact phrases, and wildcards (*). These search parameters can be employed to refine the results, making them pertinent to your inquiry.

Utilizing filters and personal preferences to narrow down search results can expedite the discovery of what is needed. With advanced features like citation tracking, “My Library” which allows users to save their searches, and “Similar Articles” for discovering related topics within a field of study, the research process is made easier. Additionally, keywords such as Boolean operators (AND, OR NOT), quotation marks (” “) for exact phrases, and wildcards (*) can be used to narrow down results in order to make them more relevant.

Finally, finding full-text articles is key when researching primary research papers on Google Scholar. The platform offers access to free versions of some publications through its “Find Full Text @ Your Library” feature but many require a subscription or purchase fee before viewing them in full detail online or downloading them as PDFs.

Exploring Google Scholar for primary research articles can be laborious, yet with some useful tips and tricks you can enhance your search results. Now that we have an understanding of the search interface, let’s explore how to refine our results and find full-text articles using advanced features such as filters and preferences.

Unlock the power of Google Scholar for primary research papers with advanced features like citation tracking, My Library, and Similar Articles. Use Boolean operators & wildcards to refine your search results. #GoogleScholar #ResearchPapers Click to Tweet

Google Scholar is an invaluable tool for researchers, scientists, and engineers looking to stay up-to-date on the latest research in their field. With its advanced search features, it can help you quickly find primary research articles that are relevant to your project or interests. Here are some suggestions to optimize your utilization of Google Scholar when seeking out primary research papers.

Google Scholar has several advanced search options that allow you to refine your searches and find more specific results. For example, you can limit your search by date range, language, author name, or journal title. Boolean operators, like “AND” and “OR”, can be utilized to form a single query by combining various keywords.

To refine your search even further, you can utilize the filters and preferences available on Google Scholar to narrow down results according to peer-reviewed papers from journals with high-impact factors or exclude certain authors or topics. For instance, if you want only peer-reviewed papers from journals with high-impact factors then simply select those filters before conducting your search. Additionally, if there are certain authors or topics that you would like excluded from your results then this too can be done via the preferences menu within Google Scholar.

Once you have located some applicable articles through basic keyword searches, delving into associated citations and related content can help to expand your understanding of the topic. This is especially helpful if there is not much information available on a particular subject yet, but still offers potential avenues of exploration worth pursuing further down the line. By exploring related articles and citations associated with each article one will often uncover new ideas which could potentially lead them toward interesting discoveries.

By making use of the sophisticated search capabilities, filters, and preferences provided by Google Scholar, one can easily identify primary research material related to their requirements. My Library on Google Scholar is an excellent tool for organizing and tracking your research; let’s explore how it works.

Key Takeaway  Google Scholar provides advanced search features, filters and preferences to help researchers quickly locate primary research articles relevant to their project or interests. By making use of these tools and exploring related articlescitations associated with each article one can uncover new ideas that could lead them towards interesting discoveries. Google Scholar is a great aid in locating pertinent research articles.

My Library on Google Scholar is a great asset for scientists and innovators to monitor their research progress. My Library enables users to construct a personalized repository of scholarly works, which they can organize into categories, export as bibliographies, or share with others.

Setting up a personal library in My Library is easy. To create a personal library, simply click the “My Library” link at the top right corner of any page on Google Scholar and select “Create new library” from the drop-down menu. Once your library has been created, you can start adding articles by clicking the “Save” button next to each article title in your search results list.

Organizing your library is also simple; simply drag and drop articles into different folders within My Library for easy access later on. You can also create collections of related topics or research themes which are great for organizing large amounts of data quickly and easily. Moreover, you can label articles with descriptors to make them easier to locate when needed.

By utilizing My Library on Google Scholar, researchers can easily keep track of their research and stay organized. Additionally, by exploring other databases in conjunction with Google Scholar as well as open-access journals and interlibrary loan services, they can find even more primary research articles to further their studies.

Key Takeaway  My Library on Google Scholar is a great resource for researchers and innovators to stay organized with their research. Creating a library is straightforward – just hit the ‘Create new library’ button in the top right of any page on Google Scholar, and then drag & drop articles into collections or folders to keep them ordered. Moreover, you can assign labels or tags to make it simpler to locate the material when necessary.

It can provide access to a wide variety of sources, including journal articles, books, and conference papers. Nevertheless, in order to broaden one’s search range, other databases and sources can be used alongside Google Scholar.

Using Other Databases in Conjunction with Google Scholar: Many academic institutions have their own subscription-based library databases that can be accessed through the institution’s website or portal. These databases may include full-text versions of some journals not available on Google Scholar as well as more comprehensive indexing than what is available on Google Scholar. Moreover, numerous universities offer access to specialized databases such as Web of Science or Scopus that enable users to search across multiple areas and sources simultaneously.

Open-access journals, which receive funding from sources such as the NIH and Wellcome Trusts, provide free online content under Creative Commons licenses for readers to share or reuse without permission. Open-access journals typically make all content freely available online and often use Creative Commons licenses so readers are free to share and reuse material without permission from the publisher or author(s). While these publications tend to focus more heavily on scientific topics rather than humanities topics they still contain valuable information worth exploring when searching for primary research articles related specifically to science fields such as biology or medicine.

If a desired article cannot be located elsewhere, interlibrary loan services may provide an avenue to acquire it through either physical or digital means. Through this service, users can request copies of materials held by another library either physically (through mail) or electronically (via email). This allows researchers who do not have immediate access to certain materials due to geographical restrictions the ability to acquire them nonetheless, thus greatly expanding their research capabilities beyond what would otherwise be possible with just local resources alone.

Key Takeaway  Google Scholar is a great tool for finding primary research articles, however there are other databases and resources that can be used in conjunction with it to maximize search capabilities. Additionally, open access journals may provide valuable content related to scientific fields while interlibrary loan services can also help researchers acquire materials from libraries located elsewhere.

To search for primary articles in Google Scholar, first, go to the main page and select ‘Advanced Search’. In the Advanced Search window, check off the box that says ‘Only show results from content I can access’ and then select ‘Include Patents’. Finally, click on ‘Search’. This will filter out all secondary sources such as reviews or books, leaving only primary research articles relevant to your query.

Primary research materials can be obtained through multiple avenues, such as searching online repositories, utilizing sophisticated search strategies, and consulting specialists in the discipline. Utilizing PubMed and other online databases, researchers can access an abundance of primary research articles covering a broad range of topics. Advanced search techniques involve combining keywords with Boolean operators (AND/OR) to refine searches for specific results. Consulting experts in the field is also an effective way to locate relevant primary research articles as they have specialized knowledge about certain areas that may not be available from other sources.

Begin your hunt for research articles on Google Scholar by inputting a keyword or phrase in the search field. You can refine your search results by applying filters such as date of publication, author name, and topic area. To further narrow down your search results you can use advanced search features like exact phrases and multiple keywords. Additionally, you may access scholarly literature through library databases that are connected to Google Scholar. Finally, save time by setting up email alerts for newly published papers related to topics of interest.

A primary source is an original document or record that provides first-hand information about a particular topic. Examples of primary sources can include interviews, diaries, letters, articles from when an event occurred, and photos and videos taken during the occurrence. Secondary sources are documents or records created after the fact by someone who did not experience the events firsthand. These may include books, journal articles, and reviews that analyze or discuss research already published by others.

How to find primary research articles on Google Scholar is an essential skill for researchers and innovators. With its advanced search capabilities, My Library feature, and additional resources available online, it can be an invaluable asset in the quest to discover new insights into any given topic. Whether you are looking for one article or hundreds of them on a specific subject matter – Google Scholar is here to help. Use these tips as your guide when searching for primary research articles on Google Scholar so that you can get the most out of this platform’s features.

Discover the power of Cypris to quickly find primary research articles on Google Scholar and unlock insights faster for your R&D and innovation teams. Unlock time-saving solutions with our comprehensive platform that centralizes data sources into one easy-to-use interface.

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Google Scholar: Every Researcher's Go-To Guide

Table of Contents

When Google was officially launched as a web-based search engine, none of us would have thought it could address academicians' research discovery problems via "Google Scholar."

The launch of Google Scholar in November 2004 took the scholarly communication world by storm by authenticating the true meaning of Google, i.e., "largest information resource."

At first, researchers worldwide acknowledged this new product of Google intended to empower research by transforming the research-finding process. Over the years, with the advent of gaming, inaccurate citation counts, no periodic data updates, and other platform-centric concerns ascended gradually. As a result, many users started questioning the reliability of the platform. Consequently, some users request feature updates with advanced search options or services, while others dig into the sources' credibility. Meanwhile, the budding research scholars are still wondering if it is a reliable academic search engine or if they should rely on other exhaustive search engines like Web of Science, Scopus, and SciSpace.

To help all the researchers, including students, authors, and professors across academia, we have created a comprehensive guide on using Google Scholar. It provides a synopsis of the platform, centralizing its features, limitations, strengths, weaknesses, and future pursuits.

Introduction to Google Scholar searches

It indexes all scientific papers, including full-text and subscription-based content from major academic publishers, universities, digital repositories, and other commercial publishers. It also includes grey literature that is available online. In short, it helps you find relevant scientific works that hasten your scholarly projects.

It covers a wide range of research subjects, including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine) and Social studies (Education and Counseling) in a broader spectrum. On the other hand, it comprises a modest amount of research content or consists of the fewest papers subjected to Humanities (Religion and Biblical Studies). In addition to scholarly literature, it indexes legal documents, as court opinions, case law reports, and patent data about the law.

How does the Google Scholar crawling work?

Google Scholar uses a web crawler or a web robot to crawl the particular journal's consented content from the Online Computer Library Center's (OCLC) Open WorldCat and the National Library of Medicine's PubMed.

Major publishers or universities deliberately want to get crawled by this database. Because of the readership and significant discoverability that the ingested content receives by getting indexed in the search engine.

History of Google Scholar

The idea of building a dedicated scholarly search engine arose amidst a discussion between two tech guys, Alex Verstak and Anurag Acharya, on their sabbatical leave. The agenda behind their sabbatical leave was to identify an approach or a way to rank scholarly papers higher and easier on Google scholar search itself. Initially, their idea wasn't just to find an indexing database but to feed the academic community with intent queries with quality research reports. Accordingly, they built an internal prototype. The prototype witnessed constructive feedback, and people tried and acknowledged the results. And that's how it turned out to be "Scholar," aka Google Scholar search engine. To reinforce easy and unrestricted access to scientific knowledge, they decided to roll out the beta version of it in November 2004. The publicizing strategy included the slogan "Stand on the shoulders of giants" from Bernard of Chartres, quoted by Isaac Newton. The saying unveils the fact that using Google Scholar to search will be the foundation of your future scientific innovation and discovery.

As the product was familiarized, the inventors released new features to help research scholars worldwide. Thus, they introduced the following series of updates to the platform.

• 2006: A citation importing feature was enforced to support the reference database, such as RefWorks, RefMan, EndNote, and BibTeX.
• 2007: A program was initiated to digitize and host journal articles online in agreement with their publishers. It was an effort to distinguish Google Books that indexes the older literature without the metadata .
• 2011: The "Scholar" was detached from Google to promote a smoother user transition from the home page to its landing page.
• 2012: They reached a significant milestone by providing the authors a platform to create their profiles under "Scholar Citations profiles" and start tracking their research articles' metrics.
• 2013 : Introduced "Google Scholar library" that allows researchers to save their search results, or it can be called the authors' personalized collection tab for their references.

What is the Ranking Algorithm of the Google Scholar?

Unlike other search engines, it searches for a publication using a combined ranking algorithm guarded by multiple factors, including relevance, citation counts, and publication date. Predominantly the algorithm scale is drawn toward citation counts and relevance.

For example, when people search for any particular keyword, author, or year, it shows relevant papers based on the highest citation counts, which makes it the primary ranking factor.

But, the algorithm rituals don't always stick to the citation counts. It works "the way researchers do — weighing the full text of each article, the author, the publication in which the article appears, and how often the piece has been cited in other scholarly literature." So, besides citation counts, it also gives prominence to the article title length and other factors similar to a researcher's search mechanism.

How does Google Scholar choose and include the sources?

A study compared Web of Science and Scopus databases with Google Scholar search to review the approach of coverage and inclusion of the scholarly content.

Web of Science and Scopus uses a selective approach based on specific criteria and crawls only the appropriate or selective, scholarly articles and academic resources, from the web. It follows a comprehensive and automated inclusion technique and indexes academic documents that its robot crawlers can locate on the web. As a result, these databases only include a small portion of the social sciences and humanities, non-English literature, and scholarly texts while majorly focusing on science journal articles. Conversely, the inclusive and unsupervised methodology used by Google Scholar indexes all the academic literature available on the web without any sieving of the sources. Thus, it maximizes the coverage and discoverability of both the authors and papers. However, this could also be one of the shortcomings of the database because of the lack of source evaluation. But, it still plays a vital role in boosting the discoverability of all papers.

What are the advantages of the Google Scholar search engine?

It helps us retrieve research articles and aids in inventing research works for the advancement of science.   The advantages of using Google Scholar include:

• It is relatively easy to use and user-friendly , retrieving desired user-intent documents in no time.
• It allows the author to search for all forms of scholarly literature on various topics, including grey literature like conference proceedings.
• The results surpass the search-intent query keyword , i.e., it provides additional and other keyword-associated information and helps the user to learn more.
• You can access an abundance of knowledge at your fingertips.
• You can explore other authors' profiles, publications, citations, and related publications.
• Find the whole document or shortlist it in your library.
• You can stay up to date with the latest scientific development in your research area by creating alerts (which is located on the left column of the website).
• Create your academic profile and keep track of your research works citations.

How Google Scholar helps publishers?

Google had a superior association with the publishers in indexing their web content even before the launch of this scholarly indexing database. However, convincing the academic community and publishers to get their journal content crawled on the search engine was still challenging for the entire team.

The inflow of academic queries helped the team convince publishers about the traffic they would receive when their content gets indexed on Google Scholar. That way, it helps publishers to boost the visibility and accessibility rates of the content worldwide by making them readily discoverable. Since then, all the peer-reviewed articles, theses, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports from across multiple academic disciplines have been indexed by the platform in collaboration with publishers.

What is Academic Search Engine Optimization?

Like how search engine optimization works by making the web content rank higher on the search engine and search result page, ASEO is the process of optimizing scholarly papers to rank higher on the academic search engine. Most publishers and organizations are adopting ASEO to help them rank higher and increase the visibility of the research article. As a researcher/author, optimizing your papers for academic search engines is crucial. If you are a newbie to ASEO and want to gain more insights into ASEO; you can refer to the article " Optimizing Scholarly Articles For Academic Search Engines — Every Researcher's SEO Guide ," co-authored by Dr. Lisa Schillan.

What is the difference between Google, Google Books, and Google Scholar?

How to create a Google Scholar profile?

Creating a profile helps both the searchers and the readers in terms of disseminating knowledge. Researchers can keep track of their citations and h-index, increasing the paper's discoverability. Alternatively, readers can easily find relevant literature on the search engine. It also helps researchers showcase their publications and access Google Scholar and citations to the readers directly without hassle. The Google Scholar profile creation is easier and involves five simple steps to get an official account here.

1. Set up your account

Visit scholar.google.com , and click on the "My Profile" option at the top left of the page. It takes you to the next page and asks you to input your Name, Affiliation, Email address, Areas of interest, and university homepage (however, it is not mandatory); you can skip it.

2. Add your publications

You can either select "Group" searches or "Articles" by looking into the research articles listed. Since Google Scholar has been indexing all the scholarly works, it might be easier for you to choose your documents and add them to your publications.

Please note if you have selected the "Groups," there are chances the group might have articles that you do not author. You can delete them later manually once you have completed creating your account.

3. Make your profile "Public"

You're almost there! You need to pick the convenient options that work best for you regarding your article updates, profile visibility, and follow-by email. It's advisable to add a profile picture and make it public to increase your profile's visibility, discoverability, and publications. Note: You can change your profile visibility from "public" to "private" anytime. There you go! Your profile is completed, and you officially have your scholar account. So, you now have the profile; what next? Time to explore its features and specifications! Let's get to know them!

What are the features and specifications of Google Scholar?

It provides a decent set of features that aids in the author's publication primary discovery, management, and organization process.

The major features include:

• Save/My library: This allows you to save the relevant articles to your library.
• Cite: You can use the "Cite" feature to cite your current or future research works
• Cited by: By far, it is the quickest and fastest way to find out the citations of the research paper. It only shares the analytics of the times the research paper is cited in other works and provides access to the abstracts of the other articles that have cited this research paper.
• Related articles: Helps you find similar articles on your topic of interest
• All versions: As a reader, using this feature, you can explore the author's past versions of the research paper and keenly refer to the latest updates of the article.
• Create Alert: You can create instant alerts for the intended topics.
• Auto-add: It automatically updates all your latest publications to your profile. However, this can also lead to author ambiguity and show the wrong publications on your profile. But don't despair; you can manually remove unwanted articles from your profile.
• Add Co-authors: You can also add your co-authors who have already created their profiles on the platform and keep your profile and publications updated.

What is Google Scholar Button? (GS Button)

Google Scholar Button is a browser extension or plugin that provides direct access to the search Google Scholar from any webpage. It is a search button browser extension that helps you find and access google scholar for full-text research articles on the web page or in university libraries.

How does the Google Scholar Chrome Extension work?

• Install or add the extension to your browser.
• Search for any research articles using partial match keywords or exact phrase keywords on Google Scholar or on the university library database.
• Now, select the article title and click the GS button to find the article.
• You will get the article that you can save for later or click on the cite quotes option, choose the preferred references style, and export it in the required format.

The extension works differently for On-campus library links and Off-campus library links. You can customize the settings (click on the gear icon) to choose library links, and use the extension. It's easier to find open-access articles when you are on campus. However, linking your library to the Google Scholar library or search engine while off-campus would be most beneficial. Also, library links connect to Google Scholar also work great when you are on-campus. So, how do the students link their universities to google scholar searches or the search engine? Let's unfold!

How to link your University school library to Google Scholar?

The advantages are more rhetorical when you link your university library to Google Scholar, as you can gain unrestricted access to the full-length articles and other e-materials or e-resources registered on your university database. If your university repository has cached the paywalled or subscription-based articles, you can quickly get access for free with your university ID. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Open Scholar Homepage >> Go to Menu >> Jump over to "Google Scholar Settings."

Step 2: Click on the "Library Links" option >> Next to the library links enter your University name >> Check the box next to your university name. Don't forget to check the Open WorldCat box to access all the papers listed in your database.

Step 3: Click save

Step 4: Go back to the search bar >> Type any topic or article >> Shows the results.

Step 5: On the right-hand side of the result, you will find a link to the paper that is accessible from your university library (This is not the case for all the articles, for a few, you might not get any link mentioned, but you could use the ">> (more)" option to find it or access it)

Step 6: You will be redirected to your university library database upon clicking the link. Login using the credentials and find the paper!

More or less, the linking procedure remains the same for most university records. However, even after multiple attempts, if you did not get the article, you can request the article from your University; they will help you find or get it from another source!

Remember, linking your University to this database will not provide access to all the e-resources. For subject-specific or complex and in-depth paper discovery, you must explore subject-specific or individual subject databases at your University.

Few quick examples:

The Catholic University of America

The University of Texas at San Antonio

How to connect Google Scholar to the Walden Library

How to find articles on Google Scholar?

We all know that Google Scholar links most research papers to commercial journals or publishers. Once you have accessed the platform via Google Scholar login and when you search for an article on the query bar, the search results there would consist of only the abstract of the paper and citation information with a link redirecting to its publisher. Thus, the search results would predominantly include paywalled papers.

If you are accessing it from your University, here is how you find the research paper:

On-Campus: It's easier to search google scholar than ever; Login to your university, connect google scholar repository, open the link https://scholar.google.com and start searching! You will find the desired or interesting papers.

Off-Campus: First, you must link your University to the Google Scholar account. Then, use google scholar, to connect google scholar to your university VPN and start surfing for the paper that you have been looking for.

If you are interested in accessing it as an individual author without any affiliation to the University, here is how you find it:

Step 1: Search for any keyword or phrase or topic on the search bar; it's a good practice to use quote marks for the searches for faster discovery.

Step 2: You could find the article in the first SERP if the article is available on the database.

Step 3: Click on the article title; it will take you to the publisher's site. You could access the article based on its accessibility (free or paid).

Step 4: You can use the link, refer to it, and cite it if it's free. If it's paid, you can use the link to buy or pay for the access.

How to cite a reference using Google Scholar?

Google Scholar provides a hassle-free feature to cite a reference in different citation formats and styles quickly. You can mention the paper you have been eyeing by using the option "Cite" right beneath the article description. Sometimes, you will get it by clicking on the "more" option.

Click on the "cite" feature; you will get a dialogue box with different citation styles, including APA, MLA , Chicago, Harvard, and Vancouver. You can copy and paste them on paper or export them in various formats.

How to export the citations to the citation manager?

Google Scholar search provides you with various citation export formats, including BibTeX, EndNote, RefMan, RefWorks, Zotero, Mendeley, and more.

Its default bibliography manager is set to BibTeX. You can change the settings to export references to the desired format.

Follow the steps to change the settings:>> Go to Menu>> Click on Settings (gear icon) >> Bibliography Manager >> Choose the option "Show links to import citation links into">> Pick the reference management app you want from the drop-down menu. BibTeX would be set as the default one.

Now, you can find the “import link” activated, and the moment you click on the desired format, it gets downloaded, and you can save it appropriately.

Also read: Things To Keep in Mind While Citing

How to export in different formats?

What are the limitations and criticisms of Google Scholar?

Among numerous academic search engines, Google Scholar is often regarded as one of the largest bibliographic databases that have swiftly transformed the era of basic or fundamental data access to scientific data access.

It is no joke that the database has gained popularity and created a buzz around the scholarly communication world since its onset (2004). Of course, it adheres to a guarded algorithm to show the research articles and is equipped with a series of updates on the platform. Still, tailgating the competitor's or other academic databases and accommodating the latter using Google Scholar and advanced search features has become a blocker lately and affecting its credibility and reputation.

The valuable updates and more user-friendly platform of competitor's site have set a high bar for Google, which is challenging to cross the pathway.

So, what are the limiting factors of it?

1. Criteria for assessing or evaluating the sources? It is essential to consider multiple evaluation factors while assessing any novel research paper before indexing. But, there is no technical information about the criteria or approach used to include the scholarly source in the database. Thus, the quality of the paper remains obscure to the audience.

Google scholar is regarded as the world's comprehensive bibliography database; reflecting all the "scholarly" sources without evaluation and assessment is inappropriate. Ideally, it does include all the scholarly SERP pages ranging from high-quality publications to mediocre content concealed within.

2. Ranking algorithm distortion It looks biased and impartial if we speak about the ranking or the indexing algorithm of Scholar. The results it yields are highly dependent on the citation counts, so the first SERP results would include the papers with more citations, and the reader would likely proceed with the paper and ignore the papers with the least counts. As a result, it will affect many novel research papers that might go unnoticed in the database because of low citation counts. Thus, it affects the visibility and accreditation of both budding authors and their articles.

3. In need of more filtering options

Scholar has a huge database of 389 Million papers, but it lacks the filtering options that other search engines like SciSpace (Formerly Typeset) provide. Finding a relevant article among 300M+ documents with minimal filtering options is not worthwhile.

It lacks the following features:

• Direct search options via papers, Authors, Conferences, Institutions, topics, etc.
• Lack of options to select a PDF or open access (which SciSpace has and that deliberately takes the searchers to their desired set of papers for free and you don't have to pay for most of the papers)
• Lacks the "Sort by" all criteria option (with SciSpace, anybody can find the article based on the citation counts, newest, oldest, or even in alphabetical order)
• Filtering out the desired data based on the type, author, institution, and year.
• The option for quick link sharing on social media platforms (which SciSpace exhibits)

4. Free Access to the papers? Or only to the abstracts? The highly critiqued question these days! Though Google Scholar has made its mark with an emblem and title of "finding infinite research papers," the question here is, "Are the articles available on the database completely free," or how do we even access them for free? No! The search engine is only responsible for searching and giving you the research papers based on the keywords. So, the results would include both freely accessible and paywalled articles.

Most of the content on the platform is from commercial journals or publishers' worlds, allowing us to access only the abstract and not the entire article. But, this is not the case with SciSpace. In SciSpace discover, you will find most of the freely available papers in PDFs, and you can access them and cite them for free. 5. Prone to Cyber sleuths, spam, and gaming! The authentication process needs to be even more stringent in Scholar. People are creating fake profiles, adding fake papers or duplicate papers on their profiles, and gaining counterfeit citations.

According to the study conducted by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, the documents created on SCIgen are getting indexed by Google Scholar, providing more citation counts and quantifying the researcher's h-index and impact factors with a good score, which is against the ethics and a question of the platform's reliability? Thereby manipulating the h-index and impact factors.

6. Lack of dynamic citation graphs view

The static portrayal of academic search engines is faded now. Lately, the ocean of scholarly publications has been flooded with numerous papers. Presenting them in 3D or visual citation formats with graphs or citation information would be fruitful for the readers and help them easily squeeze in the required information. One such example is connected graphs, which allow you to create a graph or map of your shortlisted papers required for the literature review and help you compare, analyze, and get the required information from them quicker and faster. Though the feature has great benefits, currently most databases lack it including Google Scholar.

7. Amass of information clutter

When you conduct any Google Scholar search, you will sometimes find fragmentary, hodgepodge, and even duplicated results. The output might also include different versions of the published article or preprints, so the decluttering and heuristic nourishment are still lacking on the platform.

8. Includes predatory journals

Google Scholar makes an effort to index as many publications as it can. As a part, it is also enclosing predatory journals contributing to the contamination of authentic scientific and academic resources too. There should be some approach or use of NLP to avoid this.

9. Erroneous search results

Google Scholar has trouble identifying works on the other sites precisely; thus, the output includes scattered and zombie information from many disciplines, causing inaccurate additional results. The mixed case and the interpunctuation characters in the article titles confuse the results, and the authors are given the wrong papers. Sometimes, a few sloppy outputs are presented without apparent justification. The best example would be indexing the arXiV preprint site.

10. Lacks mapping to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

The basic user interface and lack of Google Scholar advanced search features on Google Scholar fail to provide the information relevant to clinical practice or medicine as MEDLINE offers. Ideally, the database would be of little or no use to clinicians. Instead, clinicians are using SciSpace to get relevant pieces of information on medical library associations, clinical practice, and more.

11. No systematic and timely content feeding

Google Scholar doesn't crawl scholarly content regularly like SciSpace and Scopus databases. It falls behind in indexing the articles and keeping the database up to date. It is almost a full year behind in indexing PubMed entries. So, we cannot rely on this database to retrieve clinical practice data or records.

12. Lack of claim-level analysis

Those who have explored Scite.ai might have understood the preface of claim-level analysis. Google Scholar emphasizes the citation-based algorithm to produce the results. But, when you are performing a literature review, the citation-level study doesn't serve the purpose of providing relevant articles as the paper could or could not have supported the claim of your topic of interest.

To dodge this, Scite.ai has implemented the new NLP algorithm or tools that support the retrieval process) to sort the results based on supporting or contrasting claims. It helps the users to include or select relevant publications. However, this NLP search button doesn't work the same or yield accurate results for all the cases, and the effectiveness is still being investigated. But, users are in favor of using this claim-level analysis approach.

Likewise, myriad other limiting factors must be addressed to stand on top among competitors like SciSpace, Scopus, Web of Science, and more. Hence, the users are requesting the Google Scholar advanced search features and pitching the support team about the discrepancies and ambiguities happening on the platform.

Although it is a limited tool and not as comprehensive as it claims to be, the Google Scholar database is a decent tool that delivers results quicker and faster. You will have to wait for what it has in store for you in the future!

What is the future of Google Scholar Database?

The advantage of being an exhaustive database is itself a disadvantage here. Because a single query would fetch thousands of articles that might or might not be relevant, factoring out the irrelevant papers is another ball game. So, the database needs to work on the serendipity process to minimize scanning thousands of irrelevant or other documents by implementing recommended engines.

In the present scenario, other databases like Web of Science and Scopus essentially play with NLP and API for automatic data retrieval of papers and profiles. Google Scholar database should level up the retrieval game by integrating an AI-based or API interface to act smarter and stay connected with the reader's demands.

The research discovery should be made simpler and user-friendly by showing the full-length scientific data directly rather than sharing only the abstracts of the paper. On the flip side, it would be difficult for the Google Scholar team as they work more with commercial publishers and can only lead users to the abstract, not the full text (for paywalled articles). Again, this needs to be sorted out.

As of now, it is merely a basic search engine that crawls all the academic content published on the web. Sometimes, it even crawls the latest version of the existing article as a new paper and indexes it to the database, which could impact the author's credibility and citation counts. So, users are in quest of a better Google Scholar database that encompasses all the above-discussed pointers.

Technically, the infrastructure must be standardized to align with the researcher's needs. The updates should promote scientific discovery and support the user's novel idea.

Overall, the quality of the content, ambiguities, lack of transparency, and disingenuous results need to be evaded on the platform.

The Best Alternatives to Google Scholar

Web of Science, Scopus, and SciSpace are the best alternatives to search Google Scholar. All three databases include millions of research papers and advanced filtering options, which help you choose desired research paper in less than seconds. But, Web of Science and Scopus only help you find the research articles and are paid platforms, whereas SciSpace is the largest indexing database that caters to academicians' needs (you can access it for free).

SciSpace is the only integrated research platform where academicians can discover, write (effortless writing and auto-formatting), publish, and disseminate their research papers."Trace the paper" is the most crucial feature of SciSpace embraced by the research realm. The feature aids the research discovery process by keeping all the related papers visually on par. Yes, it keeps your literature review woes at bay by providing a hassle-free or click-click method to access all the relevant papers on a single page. With this feature, you can explore the related papers, citations, references, author details, contributing institutions, and related topics in no time.Another significant feature of SciSpace is Copilot. It’s an AI research assistant that simplifies reading research papers and helps researchers gain an in-depth understanding of the papers.

Let’s say you are reading a research paper and need to decode any complex/technical section of the research paper. What do you do? You go through the paper multiple times, try to refer to other papers, try to search for their meaning, and whatnot? Despite all these, getting the proper context of the section is still tricky and time-consuming. But with the help of Copilot, you can just highlight any text/section, image, table, or figure, and get the explanations. You can even snip mathematical equations and understand them in easier terms. You can even change the language and get the descriptions in a language that you would like to read a paper. You can explore Copilot on any of your papers either by searching for a paper on SciSpace directly or by uploading a PDF. You can try SciSpace Copilot and read any paper of your choice.

So yeah, SciSpace is not merely a search engine, it’s an end-to-end comprehensive platform. It helps researchers right from research discovery to reading and understanding a research paper, to writing a manuscript and submitting it to a journal.

Academicians have acknowledged our database and incorporated SciSpace research papers into their universities worldwide, including the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Nanyang Technological University, Kent University, and more. If you've come here in search of an academic search engine to find a research paper, head over to SciSpace Discover and access any paper.

Frequently Asked Questions about Google Scholar

1. are google scholar citations accurate.

Google Scholar citations are prone to manipulation and inaccurate as it indexes all the academic content on the web regardless of version history, duplicates, name ambiguities, and more. Anything cited by the research paper, be it a blog or an excerpt, would be considered a gained citation.

2. Are google scholar articles credible?

The lack of transparency or the non-disclosure of its indexing algorithm on how the content is included in the database makes it less ideal for literature reviews and systematic reviews.

3. Is google scholar reliable?

There is no proper validation of sources on Scholar, so its reliability is still being questioned.

4. Is google scholar free to use?

Yes! The platform is free to use. You can search and discover research papers on the search engine. However, if the article is paywalled or subscription-based, you might have to follow their publishers' policy to access the research paper.

5. Is google scholar social networking?

It is not a social networking site; you can only find or discover publications on the site. But yes, you can create your academic profile on the platform and add any of your co-authors but interacting with other users is not attainable.

6. Can google scholar find conference proceedings?

You can surely find conference proceedings and conference papers. If you want to search within a particular conference, you will have to hover over the Google Scholar advanced search features and then search for them.

7. What do I do if I can't access google scholar?

The access errors can be for various reasons. Depending on the error, you can reach out to their support team.

8. How often does Google Scholar get updated?

For new papers, it gets updated regularly (day or weekly basis). For existing papers, it takes a minimum of 6-8 months to update the paper.

9. How to find research articles on google scholar?

Go to the website, input the desired paper and click on search. If the database has indexed the article, you will get it on top of the page. Else, you can discover it on SciSpace seamlessly.

10. Why is google scholar not showing my paper?

It depends on multiple factors, including accessibility (should be hosted on academic pages), publication period (it might take weeks or months to get indexed), transparency (the abstract or full-text should be made available to the users), formats (should be available in .PDF format) or size (shouldn't exceed more than 5 MB)

11. Why is google scholar not updating citations?

It takes several months to update the Google Scholar citations. So, you need to wait for it to get reflected. Also, the citation counts will not reflect if the article that has cited your paper is not indexed on this academic database.

12. Can we rely on Google scholar for grey literature?

You can refer to some of the top results, but it shouldn't be the go-to or only source for grey literature.

13. Are google scholar articles peer-reviewed?

The articles are not entirely peer-reviewed; it also indexes preprints, grey literature, and other scholarly materials that are not peer-reviewed.

14. How do I use Google Scholar for legal research?

You can click on the Case Law button on the home page and find the required information on legal research. However, the information accuracy is not assured by Google.

15. How can I access google scholar without institutional email?

You can easily access and search for any research paper without any email address or account. You will need an institutional email only if you want to indicate a verified status on your scholar profile.

16. Can I create a google scholar account without Gmail?

You cannot create an account without Gmail, but you can explore the platform and discover any research papers without creating an account.

17. How does the google scholar alert work?

Once you have set up the alert query, email, and the number of search results on the "create alert" feature, you will be notified via email of your alert preferences.

18. What is google scholar case law?

Google Scholar case law provides access to judicial branch laws or common law based on written opinions by appellate courts.

19. Does google scholar show the journals list?

There is no clear picture of the journals listed on the search engine. But, it shows the list of top publications under the feature "Metrics".

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Google Scholar Guide

• Advanced searching

Google Scholar provides several advanced searching options. These options may include the use of:

• the Advanced search features.
• Boolean and proximity operators.
• words as search operators.
• symbols as search operators.

The Advanced search features

Click the hamburger icon ( ) on the left-hand corner. This reveals a menu from which you could choose the Advanced search .

Once you select the Advanced search , a pop-up window with the available advanced search options appears.

You may use the following options:

• Find articles with all of the terms: Default search option. | Combines search terms. | Retrieves articles that include all search terms. | Narrows down search results.
• Find articles with the exact phrase: Retrieves articles which include the search terms when they appear together, as an exact phrase. | Narrows down search results.
• Find articles with at least one of the words: Retrieves articles which include either or all search terms. | Expands search results.
• Find articles without the words: Excludes search terms. | Narrows down search results.

You can specify where the words you are searching may appear, by using any of the following options:

• anywhere in the article: Default search option. | Returns articles which include the search terms in any part of the article; title or body. | Works in conjunction with any of the "Find articles" options.
• in the title of the article: Returns articles which include the search terms only in the title of the article. |  Works in conjunction with any of the "Find articles" options. 

There are three additional search options to use:

• Return articles authored by: Returns articles written by a particular author | Works in conjunction with any of the "Find articles" or "Return articles" options. | Narrows down search results.
• Return articles published in: Returns articles published in a particular periodical publication. | Works in conjunction with any of the "Find articles" or "Return articles" options. | Narrows down search results.
• Return articles dated between: Returns articles published in a particular date range. | Works in conjunction with any of the "Find articles" or "Return articles" options. | Narrows down search results.

Boolean operators

This type of search uses operators that help you narrow or broaden your search. The most common operators are AND , OR , NOT . Check the table below to see when and how to use them in Google Scholar.

Words as search operators

Google Scholar supports the use of words as search operators. These words are:

• intitle : Results include a specific search term in the title of the article.| Syntax: intitle:search term   Tip! Do not add a space after the colon.
• intext : Results include a specific search term in the body of the article.| Syntax: intext:search term   Tip! Do not add a space after the colon.
• author : Results include articles written by a specific author.| Syntax: author:"first name last name"   Tip! Do not add a space after the colon. Place quotation marks around the author's name.
• source : Results include articles published in a particular journal.| Syntax: source:"journal title"   Tip! Do not add a space after the colon. Place quotation marks around the journal title.
• ininventor : Results include patent related documents including the name of a patent inventor. Syntax: ininventor:"first name last name"   Tip! Do not add a space after the colon. Place quotation marks around the inventor's name.
• assignee : Results include patent related documents including the entity that is granted the ownership of the patent.| Syntax: assignee:"entity name"   Tip! Do not add a space after the colon. Place quotation marks around the entity name.

Symbols as search operators

Google Scholar supports the use of symbols as search operators. These symbols are:

• Quotation marks ( " " ): Results include the search terms when they appear as a phrase. Syntax: "search term A search term B"
• Hyphen (  -  ): You can use the hyphen to indicate that words are strongly connected. Syntax: search term A-search term B |  Tip! Do not add spaces before and after the hyphen.
• Hyphen (  -  ): You can use the hyphen to exclude words from a search query. Syntax: search term A -search term B |  Tip! Add a space after the first search terms, but do not add a space between the hyphen and the search term you want to exclude.
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A Practical Guide to Writing Quantitative and Qualitative Research Questions and Hypotheses in Scholarly Articles

Edward barroga.

1 Department of General Education, Graduate School of Nursing Science, St. Luke’s International University, Tokyo, Japan.

Glafera Janet Matanguihan

2 Department of Biological Sciences, Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA.

The development of research questions and the subsequent hypotheses are prerequisites to defining the main research purpose and specific objectives of a study. Consequently, these objectives determine the study design and research outcome. The development of research questions is a process based on knowledge of current trends, cutting-edge studies, and technological advances in the research field. Excellent research questions are focused and require a comprehensive literature search and in-depth understanding of the problem being investigated. Initially, research questions may be written as descriptive questions which could be developed into inferential questions. These questions must be specific and concise to provide a clear foundation for developing hypotheses. Hypotheses are more formal predictions about the research outcomes. These specify the possible results that may or may not be expected regarding the relationship between groups. Thus, research questions and hypotheses clarify the main purpose and specific objectives of the study, which in turn dictate the design of the study, its direction, and outcome. Studies developed from good research questions and hypotheses will have trustworthy outcomes with wide-ranging social and health implications.

INTRODUCTION

Scientific research is usually initiated by posing evidenced-based research questions which are then explicitly restated as hypotheses. 1 , 2 The hypotheses provide directions to guide the study, solutions, explanations, and expected results. 3 , 4 Both research questions and hypotheses are essentially formulated based on conventional theories and real-world processes, which allow the inception of novel studies and the ethical testing of ideas. 5 , 6

It is crucial to have knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative research 2 as both types of research involve writing research questions and hypotheses. 7 However, these crucial elements of research are sometimes overlooked; if not overlooked, then framed without the forethought and meticulous attention it needs. Planning and careful consideration are needed when developing quantitative or qualitative research, particularly when conceptualizing research questions and hypotheses. 4

There is a continuing need to support researchers in the creation of innovative research questions and hypotheses, as well as for journal articles that carefully review these elements. 1 When research questions and hypotheses are not carefully thought of, unethical studies and poor outcomes usually ensue. Carefully formulated research questions and hypotheses define well-founded objectives, which in turn determine the appropriate design, course, and outcome of the study. This article then aims to discuss in detail the various aspects of crafting research questions and hypotheses, with the goal of guiding researchers as they develop their own. Examples from the authors and peer-reviewed scientific articles in the healthcare field are provided to illustrate key points.

DEFINITIONS AND RELATIONSHIP OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

A research question is what a study aims to answer after data analysis and interpretation. The answer is written in length in the discussion section of the paper. Thus, the research question gives a preview of the different parts and variables of the study meant to address the problem posed in the research question. 1 An excellent research question clarifies the research writing while facilitating understanding of the research topic, objective, scope, and limitations of the study. 5

On the other hand, a research hypothesis is an educated statement of an expected outcome. This statement is based on background research and current knowledge. 8 , 9 The research hypothesis makes a specific prediction about a new phenomenon 10 or a formal statement on the expected relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable. 3 , 11 It provides a tentative answer to the research question to be tested or explored. 4

Hypotheses employ reasoning to predict a theory-based outcome. 10 These can also be developed from theories by focusing on components of theories that have not yet been observed. 10 The validity of hypotheses is often based on the testability of the prediction made in a reproducible experiment. 8

Conversely, hypotheses can also be rephrased as research questions. Several hypotheses based on existing theories and knowledge may be needed to answer a research question. Developing ethical research questions and hypotheses creates a research design that has logical relationships among variables. These relationships serve as a solid foundation for the conduct of the study. 4 , 11 Haphazardly constructed research questions can result in poorly formulated hypotheses and improper study designs, leading to unreliable results. Thus, the formulations of relevant research questions and verifiable hypotheses are crucial when beginning research. 12

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

Excellent research questions are specific and focused. These integrate collective data and observations to confirm or refute the subsequent hypotheses. Well-constructed hypotheses are based on previous reports and verify the research context. These are realistic, in-depth, sufficiently complex, and reproducible. More importantly, these hypotheses can be addressed and tested. 13

There are several characteristics of well-developed hypotheses. Good hypotheses are 1) empirically testable 7 , 10 , 11 , 13 ; 2) backed by preliminary evidence 9 ; 3) testable by ethical research 7 , 9 ; 4) based on original ideas 9 ; 5) have evidenced-based logical reasoning 10 ; and 6) can be predicted. 11 Good hypotheses can infer ethical and positive implications, indicating the presence of a relationship or effect relevant to the research theme. 7 , 11 These are initially developed from a general theory and branch into specific hypotheses by deductive reasoning. In the absence of a theory to base the hypotheses, inductive reasoning based on specific observations or findings form more general hypotheses. 10

TYPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

Research questions and hypotheses are developed according to the type of research, which can be broadly classified into quantitative and qualitative research. We provide a summary of the types of research questions and hypotheses under quantitative and qualitative research categories in Table 1 .

Research questions in quantitative research

In quantitative research, research questions inquire about the relationships among variables being investigated and are usually framed at the start of the study. These are precise and typically linked to the subject population, dependent and independent variables, and research design. 1 Research questions may also attempt to describe the behavior of a population in relation to one or more variables, or describe the characteristics of variables to be measured ( descriptive research questions ). 1 , 5 , 14 These questions may also aim to discover differences between groups within the context of an outcome variable ( comparative research questions ), 1 , 5 , 14 or elucidate trends and interactions among variables ( relationship research questions ). 1 , 5 We provide examples of descriptive, comparative, and relationship research questions in quantitative research in Table 2 .

Hypotheses in quantitative research

In quantitative research, hypotheses predict the expected relationships among variables. 15 Relationships among variables that can be predicted include 1) between a single dependent variable and a single independent variable ( simple hypothesis ) or 2) between two or more independent and dependent variables ( complex hypothesis ). 4 , 11 Hypotheses may also specify the expected direction to be followed and imply an intellectual commitment to a particular outcome ( directional hypothesis ) 4 . On the other hand, hypotheses may not predict the exact direction and are used in the absence of a theory, or when findings contradict previous studies ( non-directional hypothesis ). 4 In addition, hypotheses can 1) define interdependency between variables ( associative hypothesis ), 4 2) propose an effect on the dependent variable from manipulation of the independent variable ( causal hypothesis ), 4 3) state a negative relationship between two variables ( null hypothesis ), 4 , 11 , 15 4) replace the working hypothesis if rejected ( alternative hypothesis ), 15 explain the relationship of phenomena to possibly generate a theory ( working hypothesis ), 11 5) involve quantifiable variables that can be tested statistically ( statistical hypothesis ), 11 6) or express a relationship whose interlinks can be verified logically ( logical hypothesis ). 11 We provide examples of simple, complex, directional, non-directional, associative, causal, null, alternative, working, statistical, and logical hypotheses in quantitative research, as well as the definition of quantitative hypothesis-testing research in Table 3 .

Research questions in qualitative research

Unlike research questions in quantitative research, research questions in qualitative research are usually continuously reviewed and reformulated. The central question and associated subquestions are stated more than the hypotheses. 15 The central question broadly explores a complex set of factors surrounding the central phenomenon, aiming to present the varied perspectives of participants. 15

There are varied goals for which qualitative research questions are developed. These questions can function in several ways, such as to 1) identify and describe existing conditions ( contextual research question s); 2) describe a phenomenon ( descriptive research questions ); 3) assess the effectiveness of existing methods, protocols, theories, or procedures ( evaluation research questions ); 4) examine a phenomenon or analyze the reasons or relationships between subjects or phenomena ( explanatory research questions ); or 5) focus on unknown aspects of a particular topic ( exploratory research questions ). 5 In addition, some qualitative research questions provide new ideas for the development of theories and actions ( generative research questions ) or advance specific ideologies of a position ( ideological research questions ). 1 Other qualitative research questions may build on a body of existing literature and become working guidelines ( ethnographic research questions ). Research questions may also be broadly stated without specific reference to the existing literature or a typology of questions ( phenomenological research questions ), may be directed towards generating a theory of some process ( grounded theory questions ), or may address a description of the case and the emerging themes ( qualitative case study questions ). 15 We provide examples of contextual, descriptive, evaluation, explanatory, exploratory, generative, ideological, ethnographic, phenomenological, grounded theory, and qualitative case study research questions in qualitative research in Table 4 , and the definition of qualitative hypothesis-generating research in Table 5 .

Qualitative studies usually pose at least one central research question and several subquestions starting with How or What . These research questions use exploratory verbs such as explore or describe . These also focus on one central phenomenon of interest, and may mention the participants and research site. 15

Hypotheses in qualitative research

Hypotheses in qualitative research are stated in the form of a clear statement concerning the problem to be investigated. Unlike in quantitative research where hypotheses are usually developed to be tested, qualitative research can lead to both hypothesis-testing and hypothesis-generating outcomes. 2 When studies require both quantitative and qualitative research questions, this suggests an integrative process between both research methods wherein a single mixed-methods research question can be developed. 1

FRAMEWORKS FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

Research questions followed by hypotheses should be developed before the start of the study. 1 , 12 , 14 It is crucial to develop feasible research questions on a topic that is interesting to both the researcher and the scientific community. This can be achieved by a meticulous review of previous and current studies to establish a novel topic. Specific areas are subsequently focused on to generate ethical research questions. The relevance of the research questions is evaluated in terms of clarity of the resulting data, specificity of the methodology, objectivity of the outcome, depth of the research, and impact of the study. 1 , 5 These aspects constitute the FINER criteria (i.e., Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, and Relevant). 1 Clarity and effectiveness are achieved if research questions meet the FINER criteria. In addition to the FINER criteria, Ratan et al. described focus, complexity, novelty, feasibility, and measurability for evaluating the effectiveness of research questions. 14

The PICOT and PEO frameworks are also used when developing research questions. 1 The following elements are addressed in these frameworks, PICOT: P-population/patients/problem, I-intervention or indicator being studied, C-comparison group, O-outcome of interest, and T-timeframe of the study; PEO: P-population being studied, E-exposure to preexisting conditions, and O-outcome of interest. 1 Research questions are also considered good if these meet the “FINERMAPS” framework: Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant, Manageable, Appropriate, Potential value/publishable, and Systematic. 14

As we indicated earlier, research questions and hypotheses that are not carefully formulated result in unethical studies or poor outcomes. To illustrate this, we provide some examples of ambiguous research question and hypotheses that result in unclear and weak research objectives in quantitative research ( Table 6 ) 16 and qualitative research ( Table 7 ) 17 , and how to transform these ambiguous research question(s) and hypothesis(es) into clear and good statements.

a These statements were composed for comparison and illustrative purposes only.

b These statements are direct quotes from Higashihara and Horiuchi. 16

a This statement is a direct quote from Shimoda et al. 17

The other statements were composed for comparison and illustrative purposes only.

CONSTRUCTING RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

To construct effective research questions and hypotheses, it is very important to 1) clarify the background and 2) identify the research problem at the outset of the research, within a specific timeframe. 9 Then, 3) review or conduct preliminary research to collect all available knowledge about the possible research questions by studying theories and previous studies. 18 Afterwards, 4) construct research questions to investigate the research problem. Identify variables to be accessed from the research questions 4 and make operational definitions of constructs from the research problem and questions. Thereafter, 5) construct specific deductive or inductive predictions in the form of hypotheses. 4 Finally, 6) state the study aims . This general flow for constructing effective research questions and hypotheses prior to conducting research is shown in Fig. 1 .

Research questions are used more frequently in qualitative research than objectives or hypotheses. 3 These questions seek to discover, understand, explore or describe experiences by asking “What” or “How.” The questions are open-ended to elicit a description rather than to relate variables or compare groups. The questions are continually reviewed, reformulated, and changed during the qualitative study. 3 Research questions are also used more frequently in survey projects than hypotheses in experiments in quantitative research to compare variables and their relationships.

Hypotheses are constructed based on the variables identified and as an if-then statement, following the template, ‘If a specific action is taken, then a certain outcome is expected.’ At this stage, some ideas regarding expectations from the research to be conducted must be drawn. 18 Then, the variables to be manipulated (independent) and influenced (dependent) are defined. 4 Thereafter, the hypothesis is stated and refined, and reproducible data tailored to the hypothesis are identified, collected, and analyzed. 4 The hypotheses must be testable and specific, 18 and should describe the variables and their relationships, the specific group being studied, and the predicted research outcome. 18 Hypotheses construction involves a testable proposition to be deduced from theory, and independent and dependent variables to be separated and measured separately. 3 Therefore, good hypotheses must be based on good research questions constructed at the start of a study or trial. 12

In summary, research questions are constructed after establishing the background of the study. Hypotheses are then developed based on the research questions. Thus, it is crucial to have excellent research questions to generate superior hypotheses. In turn, these would determine the research objectives and the design of the study, and ultimately, the outcome of the research. 12 Algorithms for building research questions and hypotheses are shown in Fig. 2 for quantitative research and in Fig. 3 for qualitative research.

EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS FROM PUBLISHED ARTICLES

• EXAMPLE 1. Descriptive research question (quantitative research)
• - Presents research variables to be assessed (distinct phenotypes and subphenotypes)
• “BACKGROUND: Since COVID-19 was identified, its clinical and biological heterogeneity has been recognized. Identifying COVID-19 phenotypes might help guide basic, clinical, and translational research efforts.
• RESEARCH QUESTION: Does the clinical spectrum of patients with COVID-19 contain distinct phenotypes and subphenotypes? ” 19
• EXAMPLE 2. Relationship research question (quantitative research)
• - Shows interactions between dependent variable (static postural control) and independent variable (peripheral visual field loss)
• “Background: Integration of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive sensations contributes to postural control. People with peripheral visual field loss have serious postural instability. However, the directional specificity of postural stability and sensory reweighting caused by gradual peripheral visual field loss remain unclear.
• Research question: What are the effects of peripheral visual field loss on static postural control ?” 20
• EXAMPLE 3. Comparative research question (quantitative research)
• - Clarifies the difference among groups with an outcome variable (patients enrolled in COMPERA with moderate PH or severe PH in COPD) and another group without the outcome variable (patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH))
• “BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in COPD is a poorly investigated clinical condition.
• RESEARCH QUESTION: Which factors determine the outcome of PH in COPD?
• STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed the characteristics and outcome of patients enrolled in the Comparative, Prospective Registry of Newly Initiated Therapies for Pulmonary Hypertension (COMPERA) with moderate or severe PH in COPD as defined during the 6th PH World Symposium who received medical therapy for PH and compared them with patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) .” 21
• EXAMPLE 4. Exploratory research question (qualitative research)
• - Explores areas that have not been fully investigated (perspectives of families and children who receive care in clinic-based child obesity treatment) to have a deeper understanding of the research problem
• “Problem: Interventions for children with obesity lead to only modest improvements in BMI and long-term outcomes, and data are limited on the perspectives of families of children with obesity in clinic-based treatment. This scoping review seeks to answer the question: What is known about the perspectives of families and children who receive care in clinic-based child obesity treatment? This review aims to explore the scope of perspectives reported by families of children with obesity who have received individualized outpatient clinic-based obesity treatment.” 22
• EXAMPLE 5. Relationship research question (quantitative research)
• - Defines interactions between dependent variable (use of ankle strategies) and independent variable (changes in muscle tone)
• “Background: To maintain an upright standing posture against external disturbances, the human body mainly employs two types of postural control strategies: “ankle strategy” and “hip strategy.” While it has been reported that the magnitude of the disturbance alters the use of postural control strategies, it has not been elucidated how the level of muscle tone, one of the crucial parameters of bodily function, determines the use of each strategy. We have previously confirmed using forward dynamics simulations of human musculoskeletal models that an increased muscle tone promotes the use of ankle strategies. The objective of the present study was to experimentally evaluate a hypothesis: an increased muscle tone promotes the use of ankle strategies. Research question: Do changes in the muscle tone affect the use of ankle strategies ?” 23

EXAMPLES OF HYPOTHESES IN PUBLISHED ARTICLES

• EXAMPLE 1. Working hypothesis (quantitative research)
• - A hypothesis that is initially accepted for further research to produce a feasible theory
• “As fever may have benefit in shortening the duration of viral illness, it is plausible to hypothesize that the antipyretic efficacy of ibuprofen may be hindering the benefits of a fever response when taken during the early stages of COVID-19 illness .” 24
• “In conclusion, it is plausible to hypothesize that the antipyretic efficacy of ibuprofen may be hindering the benefits of a fever response . The difference in perceived safety of these agents in COVID-19 illness could be related to the more potent efficacy to reduce fever with ibuprofen compared to acetaminophen. Compelling data on the benefit of fever warrant further research and review to determine when to treat or withhold ibuprofen for early stage fever for COVID-19 and other related viral illnesses .” 24
• EXAMPLE 2. Exploratory hypothesis (qualitative research)
• - Explores particular areas deeper to clarify subjective experience and develop a formal hypothesis potentially testable in a future quantitative approach
• “We hypothesized that when thinking about a past experience of help-seeking, a self distancing prompt would cause increased help-seeking intentions and more favorable help-seeking outcome expectations .” 25
• “Conclusion
• Although a priori hypotheses were not supported, further research is warranted as results indicate the potential for using self-distancing approaches to increasing help-seeking among some people with depressive symptomatology.” 25
• EXAMPLE 3. Hypothesis-generating research to establish a framework for hypothesis testing (qualitative research)
• “We hypothesize that compassionate care is beneficial for patients (better outcomes), healthcare systems and payers (lower costs), and healthcare providers (lower burnout). ” 26
• Compassionomics is the branch of knowledge and scientific study of the effects of compassionate healthcare. Our main hypotheses are that compassionate healthcare is beneficial for (1) patients, by improving clinical outcomes, (2) healthcare systems and payers, by supporting financial sustainability, and (3) HCPs, by lowering burnout and promoting resilience and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to establish a scientific framework for testing the hypotheses above . If these hypotheses are confirmed through rigorous research, compassionomics will belong in the science of evidence-based medicine, with major implications for all healthcare domains.” 26
• EXAMPLE 4. Statistical hypothesis (quantitative research)
• - An assumption is made about the relationship among several population characteristics ( gender differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of adults with ADHD ). Validity is tested by statistical experiment or analysis ( chi-square test, Students t-test, and logistic regression analysis)
• “Our research investigated gender differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of adults with ADHD in a Japanese clinical sample. Due to unique Japanese cultural ideals and expectations of women's behavior that are in opposition to ADHD symptoms, we hypothesized that women with ADHD experience more difficulties and present more dysfunctions than men . We tested the following hypotheses: first, women with ADHD have more comorbidities than men with ADHD; second, women with ADHD experience more social hardships than men, such as having less full-time employment and being more likely to be divorced.” 27
• “Statistical Analysis
• ( text omitted ) Between-gender comparisons were made using the chi-squared test for categorical variables and Students t-test for continuous variables…( text omitted ). A logistic regression analysis was performed for employment status, marital status, and comorbidity to evaluate the independent effects of gender on these dependent variables.” 27

EXAMPLES OF HYPOTHESIS AS WRITTEN IN PUBLISHED ARTICLES IN RELATION TO OTHER PARTS

• EXAMPLE 1. Background, hypotheses, and aims are provided
• “Pregnant women need skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth, but that skilled care is often delayed in some countries …( text omitted ). The focused antenatal care (FANC) model of WHO recommends that nurses provide information or counseling to all pregnant women …( text omitted ). Job aids are visual support materials that provide the right kind of information using graphics and words in a simple and yet effective manner. When nurses are not highly trained or have many work details to attend to, these job aids can serve as a content reminder for the nurses and can be used for educating their patients (Jennings, Yebadokpo, Affo, & Agbogbe, 2010) ( text omitted ). Importantly, additional evidence is needed to confirm how job aids can further improve the quality of ANC counseling by health workers in maternal care …( text omitted )” 28
• “ This has led us to hypothesize that the quality of ANC counseling would be better if supported by job aids. Consequently, a better quality of ANC counseling is expected to produce higher levels of awareness concerning the danger signs of pregnancy and a more favorable impression of the caring behavior of nurses .” 28
• “This study aimed to examine the differences in the responses of pregnant women to a job aid-supported intervention during ANC visit in terms of 1) their understanding of the danger signs of pregnancy and 2) their impression of the caring behaviors of nurses to pregnant women in rural Tanzania.” 28
• EXAMPLE 2. Background, hypotheses, and aims are provided
• “We conducted a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate and compare changes in salivary cortisol and oxytocin levels of first-time pregnant women between experimental and control groups. The women in the experimental group touched and held an infant for 30 min (experimental intervention protocol), whereas those in the control group watched a DVD movie of an infant (control intervention protocol). The primary outcome was salivary cortisol level and the secondary outcome was salivary oxytocin level.” 29
• “ We hypothesize that at 30 min after touching and holding an infant, the salivary cortisol level will significantly decrease and the salivary oxytocin level will increase in the experimental group compared with the control group .” 29
• EXAMPLE 3. Background, aim, and hypothesis are provided
• “In countries where the maternal mortality ratio remains high, antenatal education to increase Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BPCR) is considered one of the top priorities [1]. BPCR includes birth plans during the antenatal period, such as the birthplace, birth attendant, transportation, health facility for complications, expenses, and birth materials, as well as family coordination to achieve such birth plans. In Tanzania, although increasing, only about half of all pregnant women attend an antenatal clinic more than four times [4]. Moreover, the information provided during antenatal care (ANC) is insufficient. In the resource-poor settings, antenatal group education is a potential approach because of the limited time for individual counseling at antenatal clinics.” 30
• “This study aimed to evaluate an antenatal group education program among pregnant women and their families with respect to birth-preparedness and maternal and infant outcomes in rural villages of Tanzania.” 30
• “ The study hypothesis was if Tanzanian pregnant women and their families received a family-oriented antenatal group education, they would (1) have a higher level of BPCR, (2) attend antenatal clinic four or more times, (3) give birth in a health facility, (4) have less complications of women at birth, and (5) have less complications and deaths of infants than those who did not receive the education .” 30

Research questions and hypotheses are crucial components to any type of research, whether quantitative or qualitative. These questions should be developed at the very beginning of the study. Excellent research questions lead to superior hypotheses, which, like a compass, set the direction of research, and can often determine the successful conduct of the study. Many research studies have floundered because the development of research questions and subsequent hypotheses was not given the thought and meticulous attention needed. The development of research questions and hypotheses is an iterative process based on extensive knowledge of the literature and insightful grasp of the knowledge gap. Focused, concise, and specific research questions provide a strong foundation for constructing hypotheses which serve as formal predictions about the research outcomes. Research questions and hypotheses are crucial elements of research that should not be overlooked. They should be carefully thought of and constructed when planning research. This avoids unethical studies and poor outcomes by defining well-founded objectives that determine the design, course, and outcome of the study.

Disclosure: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Author Contributions:

• Conceptualization: Barroga E, Matanguihan GJ.
• Methodology: Barroga E, Matanguihan GJ.
• Writing - original draft: Barroga E, Matanguihan GJ.
• Writing - review & editing: Barroga E, Matanguihan GJ.

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Research Paper Format | APA, MLA, & Chicago Templates

Published on November 19, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 20, 2023.

The formatting of a research paper is different depending on which style guide you’re following. In addition to citations , APA, MLA, and Chicago provide format guidelines for things like font choices, page layout, format of headings and the format of the reference page.

Scribbr offers free Microsoft Word templates for the most common formats. Simply download and get started on your paper.

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Table of contents

Formatting an apa paper, formatting an mla paper, formatting a chicago paper, frequently asked questions about research paper formatting.

The main guidelines for formatting a paper in APA Style are as follows:

• Use a standard font like 12 pt Times New Roman or 11 pt Arial.
• Set 1 inch page margins.
• Apply double line spacing.
• If submitting for publication, insert a APA running head on every page.
• Indent every new paragraph ½ inch.

Watch the video below for a quick guide to setting up the format in Google Docs.

The image below shows how to format an APA Style title page for a student paper.

Running head

If you are submitting a paper for publication, APA requires you to include a running head on each page. The image below shows you how this should be formatted.

For student papers, no running head is required unless you have been instructed to include one.

APA provides guidelines for formatting up to five levels of heading within your paper. Level 1 headings are the most general, level 5 the most specific.

Reference page

APA Style citation requires (author-date) APA in-text citations throughout the text and an APA Style reference page at the end. The image below shows how the reference page should be formatted.

Note that the format of reference entries is different depending on the source type. You can easily create your citations and reference list using the free APA Citation Generator.

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The main guidelines for writing an MLA style paper are as follows:

• Use an easily readable font like 12 pt Times New Roman.
• Use title case capitalization for headings .

Check out the video below to see how to set up the format in Google Docs.

On the first page of an MLA paper, a heading appears above your title, featuring some key information:

• Your full name
• Your instructor’s or supervisor’s name
• The course name or number
• The due date of the assignment

Page header

A header appears at the top of each page in your paper, including your surname and the page number.

Works Cited page

MLA in-text citations appear wherever you refer to a source in your text. The MLA Works Cited page appears at the end of your text, listing all the sources used. It is formatted as shown below.

You can easily create your MLA citations and save your Works Cited list with the free MLA Citation Generator.

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The main guidelines for writing a paper in Chicago style (also known as Turabian style) are:

• Use a standard font like 12 pt Times New Roman.
• Use 1 inch margins or larger.
• Place page numbers in the top right or bottom center.

Chicago doesn’t require a title page , but if you want to include one, Turabian (based on Chicago) presents some guidelines. Lay out the title page as shown below.

Bibliography or reference list

Chicago offers two citation styles : author-date citations plus a reference list, or footnote citations plus a bibliography. Choose one style or the other and use it consistently.

The reference list or bibliography appears at the end of the paper. Both styles present this page similarly in terms of formatting, as shown below.

To format a paper in APA Style , follow these guidelines:

• Use a standard font like 12 pt Times New Roman or 11 pt Arial
• Set 1 inch page margins
• Apply double line spacing
• Include a title page
• If submitting for publication, insert a running head on every page
• Indent every new paragraph ½ inch
• Apply APA heading styles
• Cite your sources with APA in-text citations
• List all sources cited on a reference page at the end

The main guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style are as follows:

• Use an easily readable font like 12 pt Times New Roman
• Include a four-line MLA heading on the first page
• Center the paper’s title
• Use title case capitalization for headings
• Cite your sources with MLA in-text citations
• List all sources cited on a Works Cited page at the end

The main guidelines for formatting a paper in Chicago style are to:

• Use a standard font like 12 pt Times New Roman
• Use 1 inch margins or larger
• Place page numbers in the top right or bottom center
• Cite your sources with author-date citations or Chicago footnotes
• Include a bibliography or reference list

To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .

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If we don't have it and you can't access it on Google Scholar, you can always request it via interlibrary loan .

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How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal

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• Published: 30 April 2020
• Volume 36 , pages 909–913, ( 2021 )

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Communicating research findings is an essential step in the research process. Often, peer-reviewed journals are the forum for such communication, yet many researchers are never taught how to write a publishable scientific paper. In this article, we explain the basic structure of a scientific paper and describe the information that should be included in each section. We also identify common pitfalls for each section and recommend strategies to avoid them. Further, we give advice about target journal selection and authorship. In the online resource 1 , we provide an example of a high-quality scientific paper, with annotations identifying the elements we describe in this article.

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Introduction

Writing a scientific paper is an important component of the research process, yet researchers often receive little formal training in scientific writing. This is especially true in low-resource settings. In this article, we explain why choosing a target journal is important, give advice about authorship, provide a basic structure for writing each section of a scientific paper, and describe common pitfalls and recommendations for each section. In the online resource 1 , we also include an annotated journal article that identifies the key elements and writing approaches that we detail here. Before you begin your research, make sure you have ethical clearance from all relevant ethical review boards.

Select a Target Journal Early in the Writing Process

We recommend that you select a “target journal” early in the writing process; a “target journal” is the journal to which you plan to submit your paper. Each journal has a set of core readers and you should tailor your writing to this readership. For example, if you plan to submit a manuscript about vaping during pregnancy to a pregnancy-focused journal, you will need to explain what vaping is because readers of this journal may not have a background in this topic. However, if you were to submit that same article to a tobacco journal, you would not need to provide as much background information about vaping.

Information about a journal’s core readership can be found on its website, usually in a section called “About this journal” or something similar. For example, the Journal of Cancer Education presents such information on the “Aims and Scope” page of its website, which can be found here: https://www.springer.com/journal/13187/aims-and-scope .

Peer reviewer guidelines from your target journal are an additional resource that can help you tailor your writing to the journal and provide additional advice about crafting an effective article [ 1 ]. These are not always available, but it is worth a quick web search to find out.

Identify Author Roles Early in the Process

Early in the writing process, identify authors, determine the order of authors, and discuss the responsibilities of each author. Standard author responsibilities have been identified by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) [ 2 ]. To set clear expectations about each team member’s responsibilities and prevent errors in communication, we also suggest outlining more detailed roles, such as who will draft each section of the manuscript, write the abstract, submit the paper electronically, serve as corresponding author, and write the cover letter. It is best to formalize this agreement in writing after discussing it, circulating the document to the author team for approval. We suggest creating a title page on which all authors are listed in the agreed-upon order. It may be necessary to adjust authorship roles and order during the development of the paper. If a new author order is agreed upon, be sure to update the title page in the manuscript draft.

In the case where multiple papers will result from a single study, authors should discuss who will author each paper. Additionally, authors should agree on a deadline for each paper and the lead author should take responsibility for producing an initial draft by this deadline.

Structure of the Introduction Section

The introduction section should be approximately three to five paragraphs in length. Look at examples from your target journal to decide the appropriate length. This section should include the elements shown in Fig.  1 . Begin with a general context, narrowing to the specific focus of the paper. Include five main elements: why your research is important, what is already known about the topic, the “gap” or what is not yet known about the topic, why it is important to learn the new information that your research adds, and the specific research aim(s) that your paper addresses. Your research aim should address the gap you identified. Be sure to add enough background information to enable readers to understand your study. Table 1 provides common introduction section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

The main elements of the introduction section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Methods Section

The purpose of the methods section is twofold: to explain how the study was done in enough detail to enable its replication and to provide enough contextual detail to enable readers to understand and interpret the results. In general, the essential elements of a methods section are the following: a description of the setting and participants, the study design and timing, the recruitment and sampling, the data collection process, the dataset, the dependent and independent variables, the covariates, the analytic approach for each research objective, and the ethical approval. The hallmark of an exemplary methods section is the justification of why each method was used. Table 2 provides common methods section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Results Section

The focus of the results section should be associations, or lack thereof, rather than statistical tests. Two considerations should guide your writing here. First, the results should present answers to each part of the research aim. Second, return to the methods section to ensure that the analysis and variables for each result have been explained.

Begin the results section by describing the number of participants in the final sample and details such as the number who were approached to participate, the proportion who were eligible and who enrolled, and the number of participants who dropped out. The next part of the results should describe the participant characteristics. After that, you may organize your results by the aim or by putting the most exciting results first. Do not forget to report your non-significant associations. These are still findings.

Tables and figures capture the reader’s attention and efficiently communicate your main findings [ 3 ]. Each table and figure should have a clear message and should complement, rather than repeat, the text. Tables and figures should communicate all salient details necessary for a reader to understand the findings without consulting the text. Include information on comparisons and tests, as well as information about the sample and timing of the study in the title, legend, or in a footnote. Note that figures are often more visually interesting than tables, so if it is feasible to make a figure, make a figure. To avoid confusing the reader, either avoid abbreviations in tables and figures, or define them in a footnote. Note that there should not be citations in the results section and you should not interpret results here. Table 3 provides common results section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Discussion Section

Opposite the introduction section, the discussion should take the form of a right-side-up triangle beginning with interpretation of your results and moving to general implications (Fig.  2 ). This section typically begins with a restatement of the main findings, which can usually be accomplished with a few carefully-crafted sentences.

Major elements of the discussion section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Next, interpret the meaning or explain the significance of your results, lifting the reader’s gaze from the study’s specific findings to more general applications. Then, compare these study findings with other research. Are these findings in agreement or disagreement with those from other studies? Does this study impart additional nuance to well-accepted theories? Situate your findings within the broader context of scientific literature, then explain the pathways or mechanisms that might give rise to, or explain, the results.

Journals vary in their approach to strengths and limitations sections: some are embedded paragraphs within the discussion section, while some mandate separate section headings. Keep in mind that every study has strengths and limitations. Candidly reporting yours helps readers to correctly interpret your research findings.

The next element of the discussion is a summary of the potential impacts and applications of the research. Should these results be used to optimally design an intervention? Does the work have implications for clinical protocols or public policy? These considerations will help the reader to further grasp the possible impacts of the presented work.

Finally, the discussion should conclude with specific suggestions for future work. Here, you have an opportunity to illuminate specific gaps in the literature that compel further study. Avoid the phrase “future research is necessary” because the recommendation is too general to be helpful to readers. Instead, provide substantive and specific recommendations for future studies. Table 4 provides common discussion section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Follow the Journal’s Author Guidelines

After you select a target journal, identify the journal’s author guidelines to guide the formatting of your manuscript and references. Author guidelines will often (but not always) include instructions for titles, cover letters, and other components of a manuscript submission. Read the guidelines carefully. If you do not follow the guidelines, your article will be sent back to you.

Finally, do not submit your paper to more than one journal at a time. Even if this is not explicitly stated in the author guidelines of your target journal, it is considered inappropriate and unprofessional.

Your title should invite readers to continue reading beyond the first page [ 4 , 5 ]. It should be informative and interesting. Consider describing the independent and dependent variables, the population and setting, the study design, the timing, and even the main result in your title. Because the focus of the paper can change as you write and revise, we recommend you wait until you have finished writing your paper before composing the title.

Be sure that the title is useful for potential readers searching for your topic. The keywords you select should complement those in your title to maximize the likelihood that a researcher will find your paper through a database search. Avoid using abbreviations in your title unless they are very well known, such as SNP, because it is more likely that someone will use a complete word rather than an abbreviation as a search term to help readers find your paper.

After you have written a complete draft, use the checklist (Fig. 3 ) below to guide your revisions and editing. Additional resources are available on writing the abstract and citing references [ 5 ]. When you feel that your work is ready, ask a trusted colleague or two to read the work and provide informal feedback. The box below provides a checklist that summarizes the key points offered in this article.

Checklist for manuscript quality

Data Availability

Michalek AM (2014) Down the rabbit hole…advice to reviewers. J Cancer Educ 29:4–5

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International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Defining the role of authors and contributors: who is an author? http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authosrs-and-contributors.html . Accessed 15 January, 2020

Vetto JT (2014) Short and sweet: a short course on concise medical writing. J Cancer Educ 29(1):194–195

Brett M, Kording K (2017) Ten simple rules for structuring papers. PLoS ComputBiol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005619

Lang TA (2017) Writing a better research article. J Public Health Emerg. https://doi.org/10.21037/jphe.2017.11.06

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Acknowledgments

Ella August is grateful to the Sustainable Sciences Institute for mentoring her in training researchers on writing and publishing their research.

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Busse, C., August, E. How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal. J Canc Educ 36 , 909–913 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

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Finding Scholarly Articles: Home

What's a Scholarly Article?

Your professor has specified that you are to use scholarly (or primary research or peer-reviewed or refereed or academic) articles only in your paper. What does that mean?

Scholarly or primary research articles are peer-reviewed , which means that they have gone through the process of being read by reviewers or referees  before being accepted for publication. When a scholar submits an article to a scholarly journal, the manuscript is sent to experts in that field to read and decide if the research is valid and the article should be published. Typically the reviewers indicate to the journal editors whether they think the article should be accepted, sent back for revisions, or rejected.

To decide whether an article is a primary research article, look for the following:

• The author’s (or authors') credentials and academic affiliation(s) should be given;
• There should be an abstract summarizing the research;
• The methods and materials used should be given, often in a separate section;
• There are citations within the text or footnotes referencing sources used;
• Results of the research are given;
• There should be discussion   and  conclusion ;
• With a bibliography or list of references at the end.

Caution: even though a journal may be peer-reviewed, not all the items in it will be. For instance, there might be editorials, book reviews, news reports, etc. Check for the parts of the article to be sure.   

You can limit your search results to primary research, peer-reviewed or refereed articles in many databases. To search for scholarly articles in  HOLLIS , type your keywords in the box at the top, and select  Catalog&Articles  from the choices that appear next.   On the search results screen, look for the  Show Only section on the right and click on  Peer-reviewed articles . (Make sure to  login in with your HarvardKey to get full-text of the articles that Harvard has purchased.)

Many of the databases that Harvard offers have similar features to limit to peer-reviewed or scholarly articles.  For example in Academic Search Premier , click on the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals  on the search screen.

Review articles are another great way to find scholarly primary research articles.   Review articles are not considered "primary research", but they pull together primary research articles on a topic, summarize and analyze them.  In Google Scholar , click on Review Articles  at the left of the search results screen. Ask your professor whether review articles can be cited for an assignment.

A note about Google searching.  A regular Google search turns up a broad variety of results, which can include scholarly articles but Google results also contain commercial and popular sources which may be misleading, outdated, etc.  Use Google Scholar  through the Harvard Library instead.

About Wikipedia .  W ikipedia is not considered scholarly, and should not be cited, but it frequently includes references to scholarly articles. Before using those references for an assignment, double check by finding them in Hollis or a more specific subject  database .

Still not sure about a source? Consult the course syllabus for guidance, contact your professor or teaching fellow, or use the Ask A Librarian service.

• Last Updated: Oct 3, 2023 3:37 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/FindingScholarlyArticles

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Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research.

How are documents ranked?

Google Scholar aims to rank documents the way researchers do, weighing the full text of each document, where it was published, who it was written by, as well as how often and how recently it has been cited in other scholarly literature.

Features of Google Scholar

• Search all scholarly literature from one convenient place
• Explore related works, citations, authors, and publications
• Locate the complete document through your library or on the web
• Keep up with recent developments in any area of research
• Check who's citing your publications, create a public author profile

Disclaimer: Legal opinions in Google Scholar are provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed lawyer. Google does not warrant that the information is complete or accurate.

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The top list of academic search engines

1. Google Scholar

4. science.gov, 5. semantic scholar, 6. baidu scholar, get the most out of academic search engines, frequently asked questions about academic search engines, related articles.

Academic search engines have become the number one resource to turn to in order to find research papers and other scholarly sources. While classic academic databases like Web of Science and Scopus are locked behind paywalls, Google Scholar and others can be accessed free of charge. In order to help you get your research done fast, we have compiled the top list of free academic search engines.

Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles
• Abstracts: only a snippet of the abstract is available
• Related articles: ✔
• References: ✔
• Cited by: ✔
• Links to full text: ✔
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, RIS, BibTeX

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany. That is also where its name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles (contains duplicates)
• Abstracts: ✔
• Related articles: ✘
• References: ✘
• Cited by: ✘
• Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open-access research papers. For each search result, a link to the full-text PDF or full-text web page is provided.

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles
• Links to full text: ✔ (all articles in CORE are open access)
• Export formats: BibTeX

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need anymore to query all those resources separately!

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles and reports
• Links to full text: ✔ (available for some databases)
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX (available for some databases)

Semantic Scholar is the new kid on the block. Its mission is to provide more relevant and impactful search results using AI-powered algorithms that find hidden connections and links between research topics.

• Coverage: approx. 40 million articles
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX

Although Baidu Scholar's interface is in Chinese, its index contains research papers in English as well as Chinese.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 100 million articles
• Abstracts: only snippets of the abstract are available
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX

RefSeek searches more than one billion documents from academic and organizational websites. Its clean interface makes it especially easy to use for students and new researchers.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 1 billion documents
• Abstracts: only snippets of the article are available
• Export formats: not available

Consider using a reference manager like Paperpile to save, organize, and cite your references. Paperpile integrates with Google Scholar and many popular databases, so you can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons:

Google Scholar is an academic search engine, and it is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only let's you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free, but also often provides links to full text PDF file.

Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature developed at the Allen Institute for AI. Sematic Scholar was publicly released in 2015 and uses advances in natural language processing to provide summaries for scholarly papers.

BASE , as its name suggest is an academic search engine. It is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that's where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. For each search result a link to the full text PDF or full text web page is provided.

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need any more to query all those resources separately!