PoppaRazi: Google Scholar Search Tips

Google / Google Scholar Search Tips

Getting started

• Decide what you’re looking for.

• Choose as many descriptive words as needed; include as many synonyms as you can think of.

o Too few words may give poor results.

o The Google search box accepts up to 32 words.

o Select distinctive words; avoid stop words (unnecessary works that can skew your search). • Explore Search Settings to set your Google preferences.

Google search conventions

• Search words are not case-sensitive

o Enter keywords in upper or lower case, or both: Circles, circles, CIRCLES

o Exception: Boolean operator OR

▪ Find apartments in Bethlehem or Allentown:

apartments bethlehem OR allentown (OR must be in caps)

• Boolean operator AND is assumed

o If no operators are entered, results will contain all words entered

▪ Find apartments in Bethlehem and Allentown:

apartments bethlehem allentown

▪ Find information about Si Lewen’s painting series Eva:

si lewen eva

• Word order matters

o Google ranks the first word slightly higher than the first, the second over the third, etc. ▪ offender parole (results are slightly different from parole offender)

• Google ignores most punctuation and symbols. Exceptions:

o Dollar sign when used to indicate price

▪ hp $300 gives different results than hp 300

o Underscore or hyphen when used to connect words

▪ mother-in-law

▪ do_not_resucsitate

o Symbols when used to convey meaning, as in a programming language (C++), musical terms (F#), etc.

Search Operators

Operator

Description

Examples

“ “

Exact phrase search

o Search for words in order entered o Use double quotes at beginning and end of phrase

“family group conference”

“9 affects”

“dreaming of a new reality”

Operator

Description

Examples

Exclude words from results

o Type a minus sign before the word or phrase to eliminate

o Same as Boolean NOT

“restorative practices” –dentistry books wachtel -baruch

site:

Restrict search to specific domain or website

o Search top-level

domains: .edu, .org, .com, .gov, net, etc.

o Search within a specific country’s domain.

List of country codes

Find volunteer opportunities in Philadelphia at non-profit

organizations:

volunteering Philadelphia site:org

Information about graduate

certificates from IIRP

“graduate certificate” site:iirp.edu

Restorative practices related to indigenous communities in Canada

restorative “indigenous communities” site:.ca

Whole word wildcard

o Searches for missing word in a phrase search

“joseph * biden” retrieves

o Joseph Biden

o Joseph R. Biden

o Joseph Robinette Biden

“president * signed the executive order”

…

Numeric range search

o number…number

Find tablet devices that cost $100 to $300

tablets $100…$300

allintext:

Search for multiple words in the body of the search result

o Restricts results to pages that have all query words in body of the

document

o Use with individual words only; for phrases, use intext:

Find information on email fraud in Microsoft Outlook

allintext:outlook email fraud

intext:

Search for single word or phrase in body of the search result

o Restricts results to pages that have the query word or phrase in body of the document

Learn about grants to criminal justice programs given by the Macarthur Foundation

allintext:grants criminal

intext:”macarthur foundation”

Operator	Description	Examples
	o Use double quotes to enclose multi word phrases
allintitle:	Search for multiple words in the title of the search result o Restricts results to pages that have all query words in title of the page o Use with individual words only; for phrases, use intitle: Hint: Searching for words/phrases in titles can help maximize the relevance of your search	Find information on discrimination against LGBTQ youth allintitle:lgbtq youth discrimination
intitle:	Search for single word or phrase in title of the search result o Restricts results to pages that have the query word or phrase in title of the document o Use double quotes to enclose multi word phrases Hint: Searching for words/phrases in titles can help maximize the relevance of your search	Find information on using narrative therapy in working with traumatized children children trauma intitle:”narrative therapy”
define:	Search for definitions of terms from various web sources. o Use operator with or without colon o With colon: Results are restricted to a list of definitions o Without colon: Results are broadened to include dictionary definitions plus other relevant pages	define:civil society define affect theory
filetype:	Restrict your search to a specific file type o No space between filetype: and the following extension o List of filetypes returned in Google searches	Find handbooks in PDF format on facilitating circles Handbook facilitating circles filetype:pdf
movie:	Searches for showtimes by location or specific movie	What’s playing in Center Valley, PA? movie:18034 Find showtimes and reviews for Justice League near Freehold, NJ movie:07728 movie:justice league