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CHM115: Chemistry and Society

Google Search Tips

Internet Sources

Uses: popular articles like blogs and news media, authoritative government sources

Google Search Tips

  • Use "quotation marks" for phrase searching (for example, "synthetic plastics")
  • Search a specific domain (for example, UV spectrometer uses site:.gov)
  • Search a specific site (for example, site:EPA.gov UV spectrometer uses)
  • Wildcard search: use an asterisk after a root word to bring back results with all variations of the word
    (for example: bio* = biology, bioplastics, biodegradable, bioengineering)
  • Cross search: Google images, news, Scholar, videos
  • The website's domain (.com, .edu, .org) is not an indicator of its credibility. The domain only tells you what kind of website it is: commercial, education, non-profit (possibly).

How to Cite Sources from Google Scholar

  1. Click on the image of quotation marks below the article information.
  2. Copy and paste the correct citation format into your document. (This will most likely be either APA or MLA style.)
  3. Make the necessary changes to the citation depending on the citation style.

APA:

  • Hanging indent
  • Double-spaced
  • Match font of your paper
  • Find and paste the DOI (find by clicking on the title of the article - not all will include a DOI)

MLA:

  • Hanging indent
  • Double-spaced.
  • Font: Times New Roman 12pt