Tips for using Google Scholar

Law resources

 

We recommend that you start your search for resources on the Library webpage where you can search Discover, however you can also find some of our subscribed resources by using Google Scholar. Be aware that it may not automatically link you to the University of Sunderland Subscription. It is however possible to edit your settings on Google Scholar to show the full text availability at Sunderland.

Editing your settings on Google Scholar

  1. On the Google Scholar Page click on Settings in the top right of the page.
  2. Click on Library Links and search for the University of Sunderland – click on the magnifying glass and make sure you tick next to University of Sunderland – FullText@UniOfSunderland and save.
    Google scholar

 

Does it really make a difference? In the example below the settings for the left search (search A) have been edited to add the University of Sunderland). In Search B on the right, the settings have not been changed. You can see that where available links to the full text at Sunderland are provided.

 

Google scholar

 

Google scholar

 

Many journal articles are published as open access which means they are free to access and read.  Open access journal articles could either be the full published version, or the authors last version of an article before it was published, depending on requirements of the publisher. Open Access articles can be hosted on subject databases or they could be hosted on institutional repositories – the University of Sunderland has its own institutional repository (SURE) where we make available the research of our own staff. Other universities have them too and most of them will be indexed on Google Scholar.

Sometimes when you see that a pdf is available via Google Scholar, it is because it is hosted on an institutional repository. The example in the image below is available via White Rose, the shared open access repository from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York.

 

Google scholar

 

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