Google Scholar

How does Google Scholar provide full text access to resources?

While Google Scholar is primarily a citation search tool, some citations do contain links to the resource which Google Scholar can extract. Some links will be to open access or other freely available content and are described in the Other Full Text Options box at the bottom of the Accessing Full Text page. Other resources made available through FSU Libraries will be accessible through "Find it @ FSU" links once the active Google account is connected to FSU; for instructions on connecting a Google account to FSU, see the Linking Libraries to an Account box on the Accessing Full Text page. Remember that not all of the resources FSU Libraries provides will have a "Find it @ FSU" link, so if there's no link, use the information from the citation to search for the complete resource in OneSearch, the catalog, or an appropriate database in our Databases A-Z list.

How does Google Scholar rank citations in its search results?

Google Scholar's ranking algorithm is proprietary; according to the Google Scholar About page, it factors in "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."

What are Google Scholar Citations?

The Google Scholar Citations feature allows scholarly authors to create a profile to track citations to their resources and to provide information about them when someone searches for their name in Google Scholar. More information is under "Google Scholar Citations" on the Searching and Citation Management page of this guide.

What types of resources are discoverable via Google Scholar?

Google Scholar search results include citations for much more than articles from peer-reviewed journals; citations for books, dissertations, conference papers and presentations, preprint versions of peer-reviewed journal articles, and various other sources, including "grey literature" and non-scholarly content from scholarly sources (such as university newsletters). While such resources can provide valuable information, this serves as a reminder that all resources should be evaluated for credibility before use.

What are the links under the citation?

Here are some of the links most commonly found under citations and what they link to:

• Star icon: save citation to Google Scholar Library; for more information, see the Citation Management in Google Scholar box on the Searching and Citation Management page
• Quotation mark icon: copy or download citation; for more information, see the Citation Management Tools box on the Searching and Citation Management page
• Cited by #: citations for resources Google Scholar has determined contain the citation above; for more information, see the Searching Google Scholar box on the Searching and Citation Management page
• Related articles: citations Google Scholar believes are related to the citation above; for more information, see the Searching Google Scholar box on the Searching and Citation Management page
• All # versions: citations for what Google Scholar has determined are other versions of the same resource; for more information, see the Other Full Text Options box on the Accessing Full Text page
• Import into: the shortcut to download the citation in a specific format created after using the process detailed under Exporting Citations to a Citation Management Tool at the bottom of the Searching and Citation Management page
• View as HTML:  a HTML version of the full text of the cited resource
• Free from publisher: a free version of the full text of the cited resource from the publisher
• Library Search: a search for the cited resource in WorldCat; or more information, see the Other Full Text Options box on the Accessing Full Text page
• Cached: a version of the full text of the cited resource on a webpage cached by Google
• Left pointing arrows icon: expand to see more links

There are no "Find it @ FSU" full text links

1. Confirm the correct Google account is active.
2. Confirm the Google account is linked to FSU; see Accessing Full Text for more information on linking to libraries.
3. Clear the browser cache and cookies; after this, confirm that the Google account login is still active.
4. Restart the browser.

Remember, the best way to find full text resources provided by FSU Libraries is through the FSU Libraries website. While library linking is an appreciated supplement to Google Scholar's citation searching, it is not guaranteed to capture the complete range of resource FSU Libraries provides to the FSU community.

"Find it @ FSU" link results in a paywall

To access the full text of resources provided by FSU Libraries, users need to be authenticated as FSU patrons. Successful authentication is usually indicated by an image and/or text representing FSU and/or FSU Libraries; this branding is frequently found in the site header. If the page contains no such branding, it may indicate that the site doesn't recognize the user as an FSU patron.

1. Clear the browser cache and cookies; after this, confirm that the Google account login is still active.
2. Restart the browser.
3. Search for the full text of the citation with resources on the FSU Libraries website.

If the resource is behind a paywall when accessed through the FSU Libraries website, please email lib-ERM@fsu.edu with details regarding the resource and the methods of access.

For more tips on troubleshooting, please visit the eResources Troubleshooting LibGuide.