Google Scholar AlternativesAcademic Research Tools and other similar apps like Google Scholar

Google Scholar is described as 'Freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes most peer-reviewed online journals of Europe and' and is a popular academic research tool in the education & reference category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Google Scholar, not only websites but also apps for a variety of platforms, including iPhone, iPad, Android Tablet and Android apps. The best Google Scholar alternative is Semantic Scholar, which is free. Other great sites and apps similar to Google Scholar are WorldCat, ResearchGate, Scinapse and Scopus.

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Alternatives list

  1. Semantic Scholar icon

    Semantic Scholar

     13 likes

    Semantic Scholar (paywall free) is a science publication aggregator that collects citation-data from PubMed, CiteSeer, IEEE etc and rank each article according to the percieved number of impactful citations.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Semantic Scholar screenshot 1
     
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    11
    Comments about Semantic Scholar as an Alternative to Google Scholar
    pkalnai
    Positive
    1

    SemanticScholar has a large corpus of works.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Google Scholar Icon
    Semantic Scholar icon

    • Most users think Semantic Scholar is a great Google Scholar alternative.

    • Semantic Scholar is the most popular Web-based alternative to Google Scholar.

    • Semantic Scholar is the most popular free alternative to Google Scholar.

    • Semantic Scholar is Free and ProprietaryGoogle Scholar is also Free and Proprietary
  2. WorldCat icon

    WorldCat

     21 likes

    WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information.

    58 WorldCat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    WorldCat screenshot 1
     

    • WorldCat is the most popular Android, iPhone, iPad & Android Tablet alternative to Google Scholar.

    • WorldCat is Free and ProprietaryGoogle Scholar is also Free and Proprietary
  4. ResearchGate icon

    ResearchGate

     27 likes

    Enables users to upload and share scientific papers, connect with researchers globally, discover and follow research topics, access datasets, send direct messages, participate in discussions, track citation metrics, and explore academic job opportunities.

    36 ResearchGate alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • iPhone
    ResearchGate screenshot 1
    ResearchGate screenshot 2
    ResearchGate screenshot 3
     
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  5. Scinapse icon

    Scinapse

     13 likes

    Scinapse is a free search engine for academic papers. As of September 2018, it indexes more than 200 million articles from more than 40,000 journals.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Landing page
     
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    1
    Comments about Scinapse as an Alternative to Google Scholar
    Mohamed Usman
    Positive
    0

    Compared to other similar website, scinapase seems like, close alternative to google scholar. If they introduce scholar profile section which is under beta will make it more appealing.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Google Scholar Icon
    Scinapse icon
    • Scinapse is Free and ProprietaryGoogle Scholar is also Free and Proprietary
  6. Scopus icon

    Scopus

     4 likes

    Elsevier’s Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Search and access research from the science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts and humanities fields.

    13 Scopus alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Scopus screenshot 1
     

    • Scopus is the most popular commercial alternative to Google Scholar.

    • Scopus is Paid and ProprietaryGoogle Scholar is Free and Proprietary
  9. Bielefeld Academic Search Engine icon

    Bielefeld Academic Search Engine

     1 like

    BASE is one of the world's most voluminous search engines especially for academic web resources. BASE provides more than 300 million documents from more than 10,000 content providers. You can access the full texts of about 60% of the indexed documents for free (Open Access).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Bielefeld Academic Search Engine screenshot 1
     

  10. Web of Knowledge

     3 likes

    Thomson Reuters Web of KnowledgeSM is a research platform that gives you access to objective content and powerful tools to search, track, measure and collaborate in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  11. AMiner icon

    AMiner

     2 likes

    ArnetMiner (AMiner) is designed to search and perform data mining operations against academic publications on the Internet, using social network analysis to identify connections between researchers, conferences, and publications.

    9 AMiner alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    viewing a particular paper
     
  12. Connected Papers icon

    Connected Papers

     7 likes

    Connected Papers is a unique, visual tool to help researchers and applied scientists find and explore papers relevant to their field of work.

    18 Connected Papers alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Subscription)
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Connected Papers Graph
     
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    1
    Comments about Connected Papers as an Alternative to Google Scholar
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    gives a brief view of papers associated with searched paper

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Google Scholar Icon
    Connected Papers icon
    • Connected Papers is Freemium and ProprietaryGoogle Scholar is Free and Proprietary
  13. ResearchCollab icon

    ResearchCollab

     1 like

    ResearchCollab is a web-based research collaboration platform designed to support individual researchers and teams throughout the research process.

    Cost / License

    • Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    The ResearchCollab Dashboard offers a real-time overview of your research activity, showing active projects, resources, papers, and recent updates. It helps you stay organized, track progress, monitor AI credit usage, and stay connected with collaborators, all in one central hub.
     

    • ResearchCollab is the most popular SaaS alternative to Google Scholar.

    • ResearchCollab is Paid and ProprietaryGoogle Scholar is Free and Proprietary
    • ResearchCollab is Privacy focusedGoogle Scholar is not according to our users
  14. Elicit icon

    Elicit

     5 likes

    Elicit is an AI-powered research assistant designed to help users efficiently discover, organize, and analyze academic papers and insights.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    Elicit screenshot 1
     
12 of 31 Google Scholar alternatives