From: "Blobaum, Paul" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:27:47 +0000 Standard authoritative scholarly indexes such as Medline have criteria for what literature is indexed. This predatory publishers and self-published magazines and journals are not indexed. That is why I do not necessarily trust Google Scholar. Paul Paul Blobaum MA, MS Full Professor Health and Human Services Librarian Governors State University Library, University Park, IL 60484 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Ken Masters <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:13:00 +0400 Hi All When conducting literature reviews, especially systematic literature reviews, academic researchers usually consult a number of data bases (Medline, EBSCO, etc.). Given that Google Scholar indexes so much, is there any reason to use these other data bases at all, rather than to simply go to Google Scholar? I am aware that some of these data bases allow for a more detailed type of search (e.g. terms found in abstract only, etc), but if I were doing a search for all articles that have, for example, "mobile learning" in the their text, would it not make more sense to simply perform that initial search in Google Scholar, and ignore the other academic databases? What reference could they offer me that Google Scholar doesn't? (And yes, I'm aware, that Google Scholar will pull up far more grey literature, but that is part of the manual sifting process that I would have to perform anyway.). Does anyone know of a comparison study that has been performed? Thanks. Regards Ken Dr. Ken Masters Asst. Professor: Medical Informatics Medical Education Unit College of Medicine & Health Sciences Sultan Qaboos University Sultanate of Oman E-i-C: The Internet Journal of Medical Education