An Evidence-Based Review of Academic Web Search Engines, 2014-2016: Implications for Librarians’ Practice and Research Agenda

Jody Condit Fagan

doi:10.6017/ital.v36i2.9718

Abstract

Academic web search engines have become central to scholarly research. While the fitness of Google Scholar for research purposes has been examined repeatedly, Microsoft Academic and Google Books have not received much attention. Recent studies have much to tell us about the coverage and utility of Google Scholar, its coverage of the sciences, and its utility for evaluating researcher impact. But other aspects have been woefully understudied, such as coverage of the arts and humanities, books, and non-Western, non-English publications. User research has also tapered off. A small number of articles hint at the opportunity for librarians to become expert advisors concerning opportunities of scholarly communication made possible or enhanced by these platforms. This article seeks to summarize research concerning Google Scholar, Google Books, and Microsoft Academic from the past three years with a mind to informing practice and setting a research agenda. Selected literature from earlier time periods is included to illuminate key findings and to help shape the proposed research agenda, especially in understudied areas.

Highlights

Recent Pew Internet surveys indicate an overwhelming majority of American adults see themselves as lifelong learners who like to “gather as much information as [they] can” when they encounter something unfamiliar (Horrigan 2016)
The general public may not begin with an academic search engine, but Google may direct them to Google Scholar or Google Books
Google Scholar returned more documents retrieved for each crop

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Recent Pew Internet surveys indicate an overwhelming majority of American adults see themselves as lifelong learners who like to “gather as much information as [they] can” when they encounter something unfamiliar (Horrigan 2016). Students and faculty rely heavily on academic web search engines (especially Google Scholar) for research; among academic researchers in high-income areas, academic search engines recently surpassed abstracts & indexes as a starting place for research (Inger and Gardner 2016, 85, Fig. 4). Given these trends, academic librarians have a professional obligation to understand the role of academic web search engines as part of the research process. Information scientists, librarians, and other academics conducted research into the performance and utility of academic web search engines. This article seeks to review the last three years of research concerning academic web search engines, make recommendations related to the practice of librarianship, and propose a research agenda

METHODOLOGY

Results

CONCLUSION