2. What is a Primary Source?
A primary source is original research
conducted by a scientist.
Examples:
Lab notebooks
Lab reports
Scholarly research articles
3. What is a Secondary Source?
A secondary source seeks out primary sources,
analyzes or reviews them and creates a response to
them.
Examples:
Magazine or news articles
Scholarly review articles
Encyclopedias
Textbooks
4. You . . .
Do an experiment in your You write down your results
class
These are primary sources
You write a research article
on your experiment
5. As a Result of your published article . . .
A science journalist reads your A publisher decides to add
article and references it in his information about your article
article in National Geographic in a new Biology textbook
These are secondary sources
6. When it gets complicated . . .
Most of the scholarly research articles that you find in
journals are either original research (primary sources) or
review articles (secondary sources). It can be tricky to
tell them apart.
7. Similarities Between Original Research
Articles and Review Articles
Authors are experts in the field
Academic journals publish them
Typically includes the following sections: Abstract,
introduction, and a reference list
Geared towards other scientists and college students
Very technical or advanced in their topic or study
8. Original Research Article or
Primary Source Article
These articles cover one study or experiment that was
completed by the authors
The title or topic will be very specific
Look for the following sections for clues that you’re
looking at a primary source article
Methodology Section explaining how the experiment was
setup
Results Section which includes the data or results from
the experiment
9. Review Articles or Secondary
Source Articles
These articles analyze or compare multiple original
research articles on a topic (aka. a literature review)
The article gives an overview of a specific topic or
technique
These articles may have “review” in the journal or article
title
The authors of the article did not do a study or
experiment
The article usually has headings related to the topic
10. Have More Questions? Ask!
Email: askref@ecu.edu
Phone: 252-328-6677
Website: www.ecu.edu/lib
