Best Search Engines for Academic Papers - arXiv and Beyond

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the best search engines for academic papers, with a focus on arXiv and Google Scholar. Participants explore various tools for searching academic literature, particularly in the field of physics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested, Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses reliance on arXiv for searching academic papers.
  • Another participant clarifies that arXiv is a repository, not a search engine, and suggests Google Scholar as an alternative.
  • There are questions about the effectiveness of Google Scholar and whether there are better options specifically for physics.
  • Some participants note that Google Scholar can find papers from arXiv as well as other sources, emphasizing the importance of search term selection and refinement.
  • One participant shares their approach to literature reviews, highlighting the significance of following citation trails and tracking influential papers and authors.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the best search engine, with differing opinions on the effectiveness of Google Scholar compared to arXiv and other resources.

Contextual Notes

There is an implicit acknowledgment of the need for skill in selecting search terms and navigating different academic databases, but specific limitations or unresolved issues are not detailed.

Thomaz
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What are the best search engines of academic papers in your opinion?

as of right now I'm only searching on arXiv :(
 
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Have you heard of Google Scholar?

ArXiv is not a search engine. It is a repository.

Zz.
 
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ZapperZ said:
Have you heard of Google Scholar?

ArXiv is not a search engine. It is a repository.

Zz.

I meant that when a need to search for a paper in a specific subject i search there :D

how good is google scholar? Any other better for physics?

thnks for your answer :)
 
Thomaz said:
I meant that when a need to search for a paper in a specific subject i search there :D

how good is google scholar? Any other better for physics?

thnks for your answer :)

Google Scholar will find anything at arXiv and often lots of papers that are not at arXiv. Like any search engine, how well it works depends on the search terms you use, and one needs to develop skill selecting and refining the search terms used in a given field and literature search.

Google Scholar is the first search engine I turn to for scholarly searches, and it is sufficient to get started most of the time, but there are occasions where I use the search features of specific repositories like DTIC or arXiv or even specific publishing organizations.

But skillful literature reviews often go beyond these kinds of searches. Most important papers I find are found by following the "paper trails" of other papers. Which papers are cited by important papers I've already found? Which papers later cite the important papers I've already found? What else on the subject has been written by authors who seem to be important and knowledgeable on the subject? Once I've published in a field, I also track who is citing MY papers. If someone thinks my paper is important enough to cite, odds are good they're bringing valuable new information both in their study itself and in the other papers they've cited and written.
 
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