Find information

Before searching Google Scholar, set up a link between the USC Library and Google Scholar. 

1. Go to Google Scholar

2. Select Settings (More for Tablet)

3. Select Library Links

4. Search for USC

5. Tick the box with the university name

6. Select Save to update changes

Google Scholar is Google's search engine for scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories and universities.

Why use Google Scholar

• If you have have an obscure reference that is proving difficult to locate in a conventional database
• If the topic is under researched or not covered by USC programs
• It offers metrics such as how many times a publication has been cited
• It can assist with finding "grey literature" like conference proceedings 

Why not use Google Scholar

• Not everything in Google Scholar is scholarly
• There is no way to limit the search to only peer-reviewed publications
• The results do not always provide the full-text and will restrict access without a subscription