Q. How can I use Google Scholar?

If you search on Google Scholar for journal articles or other resources you will be searching a combination of subscription content and open-access content.

Open access resources via 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 author's last version of an article before it was published, depending on the requirements of the publisher.

Open-access articles can be hosted on subject databases and you will also see them hosted on institutional repositories. For example, the University of Sunderland has its institutional repository where we make available the research of our staff. Other universities have them too and most of them will be indexed on Google Scholar. The example in the image below is available via White Rose, the shared open-access repository from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, and York.

You may see open-access resources in your results list when you use Library Search too.
 

Subscription resources via Google Scholar

We recommend that you start your search for resources using Library Search. 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 subscriptions, although 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 Google Scholar, click the menu button on the top left.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Library links.
4. Search for the University of Sunderland.
5. Tick next to University of Sunderland – FullText@UniOfSunderland.
6. Click Save.

Please take note that Google advises that: "Online access to library subscriptions is usually restricted to patrons of that library. You may need to log in with your library password, use a campus computer, or configure your browser to use a library proxy. Please visit your library's website or ask a local librarian for assistance."

For your settings to be retained, you must also turn on cookies if you have not already.

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