Biological Issues: Google

Generally, sites that end in .edu or .gov are reliable sources of information.  

Sites that end in .org are run by organizations that most likely have an agenda, so you will have to be careful to check for bias.

For sites that end in .com, you will always have to evaluate the authenticity of the information you find there.

The following are self-paced courses where you can brush up on your Google skills:

Power Searching with Google

Advanced Power Searching

You may use the Google Scholar search box below to access scholarly literature (mainly journal articles) for your academic research. 

Google's Advanced Search page can be found here or by going directly to: https://www.google.com/advanced_search 

 To search for results only with a certain domain (such as .edu or .gov):

           In the search bar type:

            site: 
            Examples:
            “global warming”  site:.gov
            “global warming”  site:www.epa.gov
            “global warming”  site:.edu
            “global warming”  site:www.upenn.edu   

To search for a specific file type, pdf, xls, doc, ppt, ...

            filetype:

            Examples:
            "undocumented immigrants" filetype:pdf
            egyptian pyramids filetype:ppt

Use limits like intitle: or intext: to focus your search results

            intitle:

            Examples:
            intitle:voter (the word voter  must be in the title of the page)
            allintitle:voter fraud (the words voter & fraud must appear in the title of the page)

Other tips:

•  Using * as a wildcard operator when searching will search for missing words within your search phrase. For example: Remember, remember, the * of *
• Google automatically searches for similar spellings (not synonyms) when you perform a search. For example: diet, dietary, and diets.
• Using ~ will search for synonyms. For example: ~inexpensive will search for inexpensive, cheap, affordable, etc.