Importing Google Scholar Records into RefWorks

by Cindy Schmidt, M.D., M.L.S. Reference Librarian and UNMC RefWorks Administrator

Created July 26, 2014

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Intended Audience:

This short tutorial is intended for UNMC students, faculty and employees who have previously created a RefWorks account and want to learn to:

a) import Google Scholar "hits" (not regular Google web search hits) into Refworks

b) edit the created RefWorks records.

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Navigating this tutorial:

1. Use the Arrow icons below the instruction screen to go forward and backward in the tutorial.

2. Use the "Contents" button above the instruction screen when you want to skip between distant parts of the tutorial

3. Click the printer icon if you'd like a transcript of the entire tutorial.

Objectives

After completing the tutorial, you will know how to:

• Access Google Scholar
• Change Google Scholar "Settings" to enable direct import into Refworks
• Select the best of the available "versions" for import into RefWorks
• Import into RefWorks

Resize Window

RefWorks doesn't work well when enclosed in a frame so:

1. Please, resize this browser window until only the instruction panel is visible.

(You can do this by grabbing the lower right-hand corner of your browser and pulling it toward the lower right-hand edge of the instruction panel.)

2. In a moment, you will be asked to open a new browser window. Be aware that the new window will initially cover this instruction panel. You will need to move and resize the new window so that you can see the entire library homepage next to this instruction panel.

(Grab the top edge of the browser header and drag it to move the new widow. Resize by grabbing the lower right-hand corner.)

3. Okay, now its time to open the new window. RIGHT-CLICK on this link and select the "NEW WINDOW" option to open the Google Scholar in a new browser window.

4. As you work on the tutorial, you will find that you have to click once on a browser window to select the window and a second time to click the item you wished to activate.

 

Google Scholar Settings

To add "RefWorks" link to your Google Scholar search results,

Click on "Settings"

In the "bibliography manager" section, select the "Show links to import citations into" option  and select "RefWorks" from the drop-down menu.

Click the "Save" button.

You may have to go through this process every time or every-other time you use a browser. 

The direct import from Google Scholar into Refworks has worked in all browsers that I have tried.  However, at times, probably because of browser update-related code changes, the direct import into RefWorks will not work in a specific browser.  I've found that it works most reliably and consistently in Google Chrome.

 

Search Google Scholar

Enter search terms of your choice into the Google Scholar search box and hit the "Search" button or hit "Enter" on your keyboard. 

When the results appear, find a "hit" that you wish to export to RefWorks.

Problems with taking the first version offered

Many people use the "version" of the "hit" offered on the initial search result page.  For the purposes of training, give this a try. 

Click the "Import into RefWorks" link under the "hit" of interest to you.

If you're not already logged into RefWorks a login box will appear in a pop-up window.  Log into your account.

 

View Imported Record

When the "Import Completed" message appears, click on the "View last imported folder" button.

If you are not already looking at the "Full view", use the "Change view" menu to select the "Full view".  This menu is located to the right and above your reference/record

Look at the record created by the direct import from Google Scholar.  Often, the reference created lacks a lot of important information.  The reference shown in the screenshot below, for example, has no abbreviated journal title, no digital object identifier (a required part of APA style), no PMID (required in some citation styles), and no abstract.

If you planned to cite this reference in an APA-formatted style, you would have to edit it to add the doi. 

If you planned to cite it in an AMA-formatted document, you would need to edit the record to add the Index Medicus abbreviation for the  journal title.

Sometimes even the author names and article title need editing.

DON'T LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU!  It is possible to get better references/records from most Google Scholar "hits".

Importing the Best Record

1 of 2

Return to the Google Scholar window or tab.  Look again at the "hit" of interest to you. 

Do you see an "All ___ versions" link?  If so, click on the link.

When you reach the page showing all the versions of your hit, scroll down the page looking for a "version"

• from "ncbi.nlm.nih.gov" (red underline in screenshot)
• that does NOT  have a nih.gov or PMC full-text link (it may have a "GetIt!@UNMC" link, see orange underline in figure).

This is the PubMed record for the article.  Not all articles have a PubMed record but the majority of interest to UNMC-affiliated RefWorks users will have a PubMed record that appears as one version of the Google scholar "hit"

You want a hit that does NOT have an nih.gov or PMC (PubMed Central) link because unlike PubMed records,  PubMed Central records are very skimpy.

When you find a hit from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov version that has NO nih.gov or PMC link to full text, click on the hit's "Import to RefWorks" link (blue arrow in screenshot.

Importing the Best Record

2 of 2

When the "Import Completed" message appears, click on the "View Last imported Folder" button.

Note the presence of the abbreviated journal title, the abstract, the doi, and the PMID.

Want to import another reference from Google Scholar?

To import additional hits,

• return to the Gogole Scholar window or tab,
• click the browser's back button to return to your search results

• find a hit of interest,
• click the "All versions" link (if present),
• find a version with an ncbi.nlm.nih.gov source and NO nih.gov or PMC full-text links,
• and click the "Import to Refworks" link.

Want to delete the records imported during this tutorial.

The easiest way to gather all your recently imported references in a single place is:

• using the RefWorks "View" menu to select "All references".

• and using the "Sort by" menu to select "Created" (this brings the most recently created references to the top).

Select the records you wish to delete by clicking on the boxes in grey bars above the relevant references.  Checks will appear in the boxes (see red arrow in screenshot below).

Click the large "X" icon in the grey bar above the reference list to delete the references (see blue arrow in the screenshot).

 

Getting Help

This concludes the content of the CINAHL tutorial. You will be asked for any comments on the following page. Please, do offer any suggestions for improvement or let us know if this tutorial was helpful.

For additional help, you may wish to consult:

The "RefWorks -- Basic Training" tutorial

The "Exporting records from CINAHL or other EBSCOhost Databases to RefWorks" tutorial

The "Sharing and Importing Shared Refworks Records" tutorial

The Library's RefWorks FAQs (these searchable FAQ are also available through a link on the Library's homepage)

e-mail the UNMC Library's AskUs Desk askus@unmc.edu or Cindy Schmidt, cmschmidt@unmc.edu

Please only contact the UNMC AskUs desk or Cindy Schmidt for RefWorks help if you are affiliated with UNMC/TNMC/or are a UNMC alumnus.

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