GoutPal’s Google Uric Acid section covers 2 main areas:

1. Different ways of Googling for Uric Acid research.
2. Examples of useful uric acid research submitted and/or reviewed by GoutPal members.

The purpose of this page is to help gout sufferers conduct research to help them understand uric acid. Because this helps you discuss your uric acid arthritis better with your doctor.

If you are new to using research tools, you might find it most useful to start reading GoutPal’s Uric Acid Facts. Because personal research projects are much easier when you start with other people’s efforts. Then you can choose a specific aspect of uric acid that interests you. Starting with the studies that I’ve already mentioned or reviewed.

Google Uric Acid

A good starting point for Googling uric acid is Google Scholar. Because that service draws information from many scientific sources. But there are also some pitfalls. So be sure to learn the lists of do’s and don’ts before you Google Uric Acid.

Google Uric Acid Do’s

1. Do use quotes around multi-word gout terms such as “uric acid”.
2. Install the Google Scholar Button for your browser.
   

Google Uric Acid Don’ts

1. Don’t believe everything you read. Because not all research papers listed by Google are from peer-reviewed sources. So use your judgment and also ask in the gout forum.
2. Don’t forget to include one of the citation texts from the cite tool when you mention a uric acid study. Because this ensures your work is not confused with similar sounding research papers.

Alternatives to Google

The best alternative service to Google Scholar is PubMed. Because it includes several research tools that are not available in Google. For example, there is no need to put quotes around “uric acid”. Because Pubmed recognizes uric acid as a Medical Subject Heading (MeSH). So it includes equivalent search terms such as urate in the results.

The main advantage of PubMed compared to Google Scholar is the results start more focused and that focus is easier to refine. But the main disadvantage is a smaller database of results. So Google might find uric acid research that PubMed misses. But it takes you longer to find it. Also, PubMed has all the premier journals. So uric acid research found on Google that is not in PubMed might have less impact.

There are some advanced uric acid research sources that are useful to confident researchers. But these go beyond the scope of this article. However, if you would like to learn more about specialized research services, please ask in the Gout Forum.

Google Uric Acid Examples

For examples of uric acid research reviewed and submitted by GoutPal members, see the Uric Acid PDF pages.

Google Your Uric Acid

GoutPal can help you start your own uric acid research project. Or you can join with other members to collaborate in groups.

So if you are interested, please start a forum topic about uric acid research now. But if you are not sure which aspect of uric acid you want to research first, start with my uric acid facts.

Leave Google Uric Acid to browse more Gout Research pages