How to sort Google Scholar search results by number of citations?

Question

There appears to be no way to sort Google Scholar search results by any field. If somebody has figured out a way to do so, please share.

Answer 1

I've already had the same problem.

Here's a python code for dealing with that: https://github.com/WittmannF/sort-google-scholar

My suggestion is that you rank by citations/year rather than the absolute number of citations (usually older articles are more cited).

Answer 2

http://www.harzing.com/pop.htm

Some points:

1. this only is reliable if your search returns fewer than 1000 results
2. you can chop your search up and combine the pieces via CSV files and excel, to sort a larger search
3. PoP also sorts by 'cites per year', which removes the bias in favor of older articles, which have had more time to accrue citations. However, this is sometimes misleading for books and articles which have been reprinted or had new editions, since all of the citations are sometimes counted for the new edition.

For smaller sets of references that aren't from the same searches, you can use this plugin for Zotero, although it doesn't worth with the standalone version of zotero yet:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/zotero-scholar-citations/

Answer 3

If you want to find out what articles are most relevant to your query, then Google Scholar already does a pretty good job in sorting them. If the search query is rather broad (for example "Schrödinger") then the result list will mostly be sorted by the number of citations.

If your query is rather narrow, on the other hand (for example "nonlinear time-independent Schrödinger"), then Google tries to provide you with the most relevant results first (namely nonlinear time-independent Schrödinger equations) rather than putting articles high on the list which have a lot of citations but aren't exactly about what you're looking for.

That said, I'm also feeling a little uncomfortable in Google trying to find out what I actually want.

Answer 4

Well, There is another solution which I have been using for a while. If you are using Zotero for your reference management (if you don't I strongly recommend to do so), there is a plugin which downloads the number of citation from google scholar:

1. install Zotero
2. go to this GitHub Repo and download the plugin and install it as instructed
3. on you Zotero app add the "extra" to the fields:

4. Right click on the item you want to fetch citation and choose update citation right on the bottom

now you have the number of citations right into your reference management software and you can sort your collections accordingly. If you use the plugin to download citations for many items at once, Google will ask you for captcha.

Answer 5

There is a search engine called Scinapse. You can go to the page of the paper and sort based on the number of citations.

Answer 6

Google Scholar offers a way to filter the search results by field, though not necessarily sort them. To do so:

• Go to Google Scholar, and click Advanced Scholar Search

• Enter your search terms

• Under "Collections", there is a subcategory "Articles and patents". This category offers two radio button options: "search articles in all subject areas" and "search only articles in the following subject areas". The latter option provides subjects like "Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities" and "Physics, Astronomy, and Planetary Science"

• Click "Search Scholar"

Once you open your results, there will be a series of checkboxes under the search bar that let you choose which, if any, subject areas you would like to limit your search to.

Google Scholar will also allow you to search for legal decisions from certain courts.

Answer 7

This is possible on Publish or Perish which is free to download. Try that.