Why I Stopped Using Google Scholar & Switched to SciSpace

For years, Google Scholar has been the go-to tool for students, researchers, and academics searching for scholarly papers. And while it’s still a valuable resource, I’ve recently stopped using it as my primary research tool.

Why? Because I found something better—SciSpace.

As a former university lecturer in the UK and founder of the Oxford Academy of English, I’ve worked closely with students and researchers who struggle with finding relevant academic sources efficiently. Google Scholar, while useful, often presents a major challenge: it returns thousands of papers based purely on keyword matching, leaving you to sift through irrelevant results manually.

SciSpace, on the other hand, leverages AI to help researchers find more relevant papers, answer specific questions, and even explain complex concepts. In this post, I’ll walk you through why I made the switch and how SciSpace is revolutionising the way we conduct academic research.

The Limitations of Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a powerful but traditional research tool. It works much like Google Search but for academic papers, returning results based on keyword relevance.

For example, if I search for:

“Machine learning in healthcare”

I’ll get thousands of results, ranked by citation count and vague relevance. While this is helpful, it also presents a few major issues:

Problems with Google Scholar:

• ✅ Too many results – You might have to sift through hundreds of irrelevant papers before finding the right one.
• ✅ No contextual understanding – It only matches keywords, not actual meaning or intent.
• ✅ Time-consuming – You need to manually open and check each paper to see if it’s useful.
• ✅ No AI assistance – It doesn’t help you summarise or interpret papers, making research overwhelming.

While Google Scholar is a great starting point, it lacks smart filtering, AI insights, and contextual search capabilities. That’s where SciSpace changes the game.

How SciSpace Transforms Research

Unlike Google Scholar, SciSpace isn’t just a search engine—it’s an AI-powered research assistant.

Instead of searching by keywords, you can ask specific research questions, and the AI will return relevant summaries, key insights, and citations.

Here’s why SciSpace is better:

✅ Finds the most relevant papers faster – It doesn’t just match keywords but actually understands the intent behind your query.
✅ Allows you to ask real questions – Instead of just searching “deep learning for medical imaging,” you can ask:

• “What are the latest advancements in deep learning for MRI analysis?”
• “How does deep learning improve cancer detection in radiology?”
  ✅ AI summarizes complex papers – If you struggle with understanding technical jargon, SciSpace breaks it down for you.
  ✅ Suggests related research automatically – No more manual filtering—SciSpace recommends the best papers for your topic.

How SciSpace Works (Step-by-Step Guide)

🔹 Step 1: Visit SciSpace

Go to SciSpace and create a free account.

🔹 Step 2: Ask a Research Question

Instead of typing simple keywords, ask a full research question like:

“How has AI improved disease diagnosis in 2024?”

🔹 Step 3: Get AI-Powered Summaries

SciSpace instantly provides summarized answers, key findings, and citations to the most relevant papers.

🔹 Step 4: Dive Deeper with AI Assistance

• Click on a paper to see AI-generated explanations of key concepts.
• Use the built-in PDF reader to highlight and take notes.
• Export citations in APA, MLA, or Chicago format for easy reference.

Why I Made the Switch

As someone who teaches AI in academic writing and research, I know that efficiency matters. Students and researchers are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of papers available, and traditional search engines don’t always make it easier.

SciSpace helps me:
✅ Save time by finding relevant research quickly.
✅ Understand complex papers faster with AI explanations.
✅ Ask deeper questions and get concise answers.

I still use Google Scholar occasionally, but for serious research, SciSpace is my go-to tool.

Final Thoughts: Should You Switch?

If you’re a student, researcher, or academic struggling with:
❌ Spending hours searching for the right papers
❌ Getting lost in complex research jargon
❌ Finding it hard to filter through irrelevant studies

Then SciSpace is a tool worth trying.

Of course, no tool is perfect. Google Scholar still has its place, especially for quick searches and finding citation counts. But if you’re serious about streamlining your research workflow, SciSpace is what you might want to consider.

Get 20% or 40% off and start using SciSpace today.

Use the link and the codes below: https://scispace.com/?via=katarzyna

Annual subscription: OAOE40

Monthly subscription: OAOE20