Research Tools in Google Docs

Research Tools extend Google Docs capabilities

Research tool - Link to Google Docs support page

The Research tool makes it easy to add information from the web to your documents. To access the tool:

• Select the Research option from the Tools menu.
• Use the keyboard shortcut (Cmd + Opt + R on Mac, Ctrl + Alt + R on PC).
• Right-click on a specific word and select Research.

The Research tool will appear along the right-hand side of your document. You can start a search by typing into the search bar. You can narrow your search to specific types of results (e.g. images, quotations) by using the drop-down menu in the search bar.

Researching different types of information relevant to your document

When conducting a search, the Research tool will show you different types of results — web results, images, quotations, maps, reviews, and more.
Use the back arrow to the left of the search bar to return to the previous page of your search results and the forward arrow to move forward in your search results.
Follow the instructions below to explore search results relevant to your document.

Web results

Under the web results category, you’ll find a number of websites related to your search. If you select one of these results, you’ll see several options:

• Select Preview to see a preview of the website. Click on the site link at the top of the preview pane to open this page in a separate window, or select Close at the bottom of the pane to close the preview.
• Select Insert link to add a link to the website into the body of your document.
• Select Cite to create a footnote citation of this web result within the body of your document.

Images

Images will appear in the general search, as well as an image search. Narrow your search results to only images by selecting “Images” from the drop-down menu in the search bar.

Quotations

Narrow your search results to only quotations by selecting “Quotes” from the drop-down menu in the search bar. Once you have selected the quotation you’d like to use in your document, click Insert to add it to your document with a footnote citation.

Places

When conducting a search in the Research tool for a geographic location, your search results may include a map. You can edit this map by selecting Edit and then zooming in/out or dragging the map. Once you have the exact map image you’d like to include in your document, click Insert. You can also drag and drop the map image into your document.