Unlock the potential of Google Scholar as a treasure trove for content ideas and research. Delve into the world of academic resources, discover new perspectives, and enrich your content with credible information. Let's explore how to harness this powerful tool effectively.
Using Google Scholar
A search engine for scholarly literature at major academic publishers and university presses that lets you find articles or citations on the topic of your choice
- Well-researched content helps build audience trust and positions you as a leader in your industry
- Costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing and can triple the number of leads you bring in
Search by Year to Find Trending Topics
Google Scholar’s advanced search option can help you find the most relevant research papers by year.
- To narrow your search down by date, you use the “Since Year” option to show only recently published papers, sorted by relevance, and “Sort By Date” to show just the new additions sorted by their publish date.
Explore the Most Popular Articles and Publications
Explore the top 100 publications in multiple languages ordered by five-year h-index and h-median metrics
- This feature allows you to see which articles in a publication were cited most often and by who
- By exploring popular publications, you can find content ideas for your own blog topics.
Find Industry and Competitor Topics
Look at what your competitors and other industry leaders are doing.
- Use Google Scholar results to write about topics that are relevant to your industry
- For example, if an author or influencer in the online marketing space has recently published a book on email marketing strategy, that would be a good inspiration for potential blog post content ideas.
How Does Google Scholar Work?
Google Scholar ranks documents based on the number of times an article has been viewed, printed, or downloaded within a set period of time (usually around one year).
- The most popular topics are shown first in Google Scholar results.
- Documents are added to Google Scholar’s library when publishers submit them to the Google Scholar Metadata Program. From there, documents are indexed, ranked, and made available to users.
Use Google Scholar to Expand Your Customer Base
Search for topics relevant to your industry and see who’s writing about them.
- Even if you don’t get any new leads, you’ll still be able to gather in-depth knowledge about how other players in your industry are creating and interacting with content.
8 Strategies for Using Google Scholar for Content Ideas
Google Scholar is beneficial to searchers because it allows marketers and researchers easy access to scholarly literature like academic journal papers.
- Find content ideas on Google Scholar by searching for keywords related to your industry, brand, or topic.
Use Keyword Research to Inform Your Search
Use Ubersuggest to inform your search
- The more relevant the keywords, the more likely it is that Google Scholar will return good results for your topic
- You can also use this method when writing blog posts or articles so you can quickly look up keywords and see related concepts
How Do I Search Google Scholar for Journals?
Enter your keywords in the search bar followed by “journal” or “JSTOR”
Conclusion
When using Google Scholar search, be sure to enter all of your known keywords, not just one or two words.
- Once you have the results you are looking for, keep refining your search and explore other citations or results. Google Scholar is a great way for marketers to inform their content ideas and create innovative articles that people enjoy reading.
Explore Related Articles to a Certain Topic
Google Scholar’s Related Articles option allows you to explore articles similar to ones you’ve already read, which can help you generate more content ideas.
- To use this feature, simply click the Related Articles link at the bottom of an article on your results page.
Follow the Citations for Additional Ideas
Cited By option on Google Scholar leads you to other relevant search results within the Scholar database.
- If you find an article that’s been cited 500 times, you’ll know you’re reading something with merit
- Don’t limit yourself too much, or you might miss out on important information
Narrow Your Results by Field
Advanced Search lets you limit results to specific fields of study using fields.
- You can also segment your results by authors, publishers, and dates, which is great for marketers who want to focus on certain areas of their industry.