Cite from Google Books - Can You?

At Google Books you will find numerous scientific books that you could actually quote from. But is that allowed? We have investigated the question.

Cite scientifically with Google Books?

Copying other people's ideas without naming the author is of course worse than wrong citation. It does not matter whether it is "only" a homework or a master's or diploma thesis. Correct, scientific citation is mandatory - but is this also possible and permitted with Google Books? The answer is simple: yes, we can!

1. Google works with academic libraries that have allowed the internet company to scan your books.
2. This means that you will find a true-to-original copy of the scientific books on Google.
3. All the information you need to cite - such as author, book title, publisher, year of publication and page information - can be found on Google Books as well as the "originals" in paper form.
4. On Google Books, you will also find "Bibliographic information" for details about the respective book, which you can use as a source when quoting.
5. Tip: If you use a literature management program such as BibTex, Endnote or RefMan, you can also easily import the quotes.

Conclusion:

Where you found the book - whether borrowed, bought, copied, or scanned - is completely irrelevant for use. However, it is more important to observe the citation rules. However, you should pay attention to the respective type of work with Google Books, because "gray literature" is also among the Google hits. You can find even more hits on good literature on Google Scholar.

We have put together a few tips for you so that you can quickly find the book you are looking for on Google Books.