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Answered By: Cindy Schmidt
Last Updated: Aug 22, 2018     Views: 4500

Steps involved in Importing a Google Scholar 'hit'/record into RefWorks
1. Check to be sure you're using Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/) and not Google.
2. Click on  Google Scholar's "Settings" icon.
A screenshot of the Google Scholar homepage. An arrow points to the settings "Cogwheel" icon at the top of the page..
3.  In "Bibiography Manager" section, select "Show links to Import Citations into RefWorks."
A screenshot of the Google Scholar "Settings" page shows the selection of the RefWorks option under the "Bibliography manager" header.
3. Click the "Save" button.
 
4. When viewing Google Scholar search results, click the "Import into Refworks" link to save a record in RefWorks.
 A screenshot of a Google Scholar 'hit'. An arrow points to the "Import into RefWorks" link near the end of the bottom line of the hit.
5. After you login to your account, the reference will be imported in your account.
6. Click on "View last imported" and check the imported information.  You may need to edit the record.  If the RefWorks record that you've created doesn't appear to be complete, you may want to continue to the next section of this answer.
 
Getting the best RefWorks record from Google Scholar:
 
Google Scholar tries to de-duplicate its search results.  It, initially, only shows you the 'hit'/record produced by one source of information about the article/book/resources of interest.  If you need a perfect RefWorks record that includes the journal title abbreviation, DOI, PMID, PMCID, etc; you should take the time to  look for a Google Scholar hit produced from a PubMed record. PubMed is rarely the source for the hit shown on the search result page.  To look for a PubMed record just insert step 3b and 3c., shown below, into the method above.
 
3b.  Click the "All __ versions" link (to the left of the "Import into RefWorks" link). RefWorks 'hits' for all Google Scholar's sources for information on the article/book/etc. will appear.
A screenshot of a Google Scholar hit. An arrow points to the "All 7 versions" link in the middle of the last line of the 'hit.'
 
3c.  Scan the listed versions to find a version from an ncbi.nlm.nih.gov source.   The name or partial web address of a Google hit's source appears at the right-hand end of the green text line that is present under the hit title.
  • If you find an ncbi.nlm.nih.gov hit that doesn't have an "nih.gov" link to the right, it's a PubMed version of the hit and will produce a beautiful RefWorks record.  Click the "Import into RefWorks" link under this record.
A screenshot of the "All 7 versions" page for the Google Scholar 'hit' that's being used as an example. The source information for a version with source "ncbi.nlm.nih.gov" is underlined. An arrow points to the "Import into RefWorks" link under this version of the hit.
  • If the first ncbi.nlm.nih.gov hit you find also has an "nih.gov link" to the right of the hit, its source is a PubMed Central record, try to find another ncbi.nlm.nih.gov entry.  The second ncbi.nlm.nih.gov will be the actual PubMed record.  Click the "Import into RefWorks" link under this second ncbi.nlm.nih.gov record.  PubMed records include doi's and other information that PubMed Central records lack.
 
 
Do you want to export a whole page of Google Scholar results into a citation manager simultaneously?  This is possible using Zotero, a web-based citation manager that's similar to RefWorks.  Zotero is freely available, and the Zotero records can be exported into RefWorks or another citation manager.  When exporting a whole page of Google Scholar search results simultaneously, one doesn't get to choose the version of a record that's exported.  Many of the records will be incomplete and require editing.
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