Google Scholar numbers
Thomas Mautner
One search I did was said to have 900 hits. That figure was correct, as I found out when checking: 900 records appeared.
It seems, however, from the responses received and from my own experience, that when the number of results of a search exceeds some limit (perhaps if it exceeds 10 000, or 100 000, or ?), the figure produced by Google to indicate the number of results is indeed unreliable. It is as if the computer program carried an instruction that for such cases in effect says "pick at random a large number".
Is there any publication or website that has information about the nature of Google's search functions and whether an improvement in this respect is likely?
24 March 2011
Thomas Mautner
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