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Google Scholar

Instructions and tutorials for using Google Scholar, and connecting a Google account to the OSU Library to access full-text articles and other resources.

What is Google Scholar?

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) is a free search engine that helps you find scholarly articles, theses, books, and other academic resources. It’s a great tool for college students because it searches a wide range of academic sources and shows results from many disciplines. You can use it to discover reliable information for your assignments and research projects, and often you’ll find links to free full-text versions of articles. Just type in your topic or keywords, and Google Scholar will show you a list of relevant scholarly works.

While Google Scholar contains links to many types of scholarly resources, not all of them are available to the general public. However, there are cases in which you can get links to the full text of journal articles, book chapters, and more. These include:

  • The OSU Library subscribes to the journal
  • The article is published in an open access journal, which means it is available to the general public at no charge
  • The author has made the resource available on their website

Anyone can use Google Scholar, but OSU students, faculty, and staff can use it to access content that is provided to OSU by linking their Google Scholar account to the OSU Library.

Linking Google Scholar to the OSU Library

Visit Google Scholar by navigating to scholar.google.com. Click the SIGN IN link in the top-right corner of the screen.

Screenshot of the Google Scholar screen, with the Sign-In link highlighted.

 

Sign in to your Google account. This is not the same as your O-Key account, and if you do not have a Google account you can use the Create Account button to get one.

Screenshot of the Google Account Sign-In screen

 

Click the three-line menu icon in the top-left, and then navigate to Settings.

Screenshot of the Google Scholar menu, with the Settings option highlighted.

 

Navigate to the Library Links option. It will be displayed on the left side in a vertical list of options, or on the top in a horizontal list of tabs.

Screenshot of the Google Scholar Settings screen, with Library Links highlighted

 

Use the text box to search for "Oklahoma State University" and then select the option that corresponds to the OSU campus where you are located. This process will allow Google Scholar to show links to research materials in your search results that are available to you through OSU. You will still be required to sign in to your OSU O-Key account when accessing these materials. Click Save when finished.

Screenshot of the Google Scholar Settings screen showing links to Oklahoma State University libraries.

Using Google Scholar to Access OSU Resources

After your Google account is linked to the OSU Library, you can use Google Scholar to access materials through the OSU Library system. When you see the "Full-Text @ OSU Library" option show up in your Google Scholar search results, you can click that to access the article, journal, or other scholarly resource.

Screenshot of Google Scholar search results, with the Full-Text @ OSU Library link highlighted.

 

After clicking "Full Text @ OSU Library," use the Anywhere Library Access screen to load the resource you are searching for. Select OSU Students, Faculty, and Staff and enter your O-Key credentials unless you are a member of a program that is using an Affiliate account. In that case, enter the login credentials provided to you by your program administrator.

Screenshot of the Anywhere Library Access screen, showing two options: OSU Students, Faculty, and Staff and Affiliate Users.

 

You are now redirected to the OSU Library Catalog entry for the article, journal, or scholarly resource that you accessed from the Google Scholar search results. Use the link, or links, provided by the OSU Library to access the item.

Screenshot of the OSU Library Catalog entry for an article.