Google has released a new research tool which sits on the sidebar in Google Docs. The tool allows users to “learn more information about the topics in [their] document,” bringing research inside the authoring environment. the tool helps users find things like famous quotes to bolster their writings with new content. The different types of results include: “web results, images, quotations, maps, reviews, and more.”
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.
Source: Google.com