13.1.4 Google Scholar is comprehensive

In addition to free access, ease of use and speed, Google Scholar's major advantage is the comprehensiveness of its coverage. I have already alluded to this in many chapters of this book. A detailed illustration of how Google Scholar's comprehensive coverage benefits the Social Sciences and Humanities in particular can be found in Chapter 16.

As a brief reminder, the reason why Google Scholar is more comprehensive than the two other data-bases is that it covers not just citations in journals that are listed in the Thomson ISI or Scopus database, but also citations to and in:

1. Books and book chapters.
2. Conference proceedings.
3. Working papers and government reports.
4. Journals not listed in ISI or Scopus, including journals in languages other than English.