Bonato 2016

Appraisal of: Bonato, Sarah (2016). Google Scholar and scopus for finding gray literature publications Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(3), 252-25


Reviewer(s): 

Melissa Severn

Monika Mierzwinski-Urban

Full Reference: 

Bonato, Sarah (2016). Google Scholar and Scopus for finding gray literature publications. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(3), 252-254

Short description: 

This study discusses the search functionality and search options of Google Scholar and Scopus for finding gray literature publications, with a focus on conference papers and guidelines. Two searches were conducted for this review, both designed to determine how effective Google Scholar and Scopus are at locating recent grey literature sources. Neither Google Scholar nor Scopus were efficient search tools for locating recent conference papers on Panobinostat or the recently updated guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human Services. The author concludes that Google Scholar and Scopus are not ideal information sources for identifying recent conference papers or other grey literature publications; however, Google Scholar could be a notable free search engine for locating conference papers and government-issued health guidelines if more relevant content was included.

Limitations stated by the author(s): 

None stated.

Limitations stated by the reviewer(s): 

The article uses a very small sample of search strategies and grey literature documents when evaluating Google Scholar and Scopus.

Study Type: 

Single study

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