PRIMARY VS. SECONDARY SOURCES IN STEM

PRIMARY SOURCE

WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE?

WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE?

• A PRIMARY SOURCE ARE ORIGINAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY SCIENTISTS.

IS IT A PRIMARY SOURCE IN STEM?

• LAB NOTEBOOK?

IS IT A PRIMARY SOURCE IN STEM?

• TEXT BOOK?

IS IT A PRIMARY SOURCE IN STEM?

• LAB REPORTS?

IS IT A PRIMARY SOURCE IN STEM?

• SCHOLARLY RESEARCH ARTICLE?

SECONDARY SOURCES

WHAT IS A SECONDARY SOURCE?

• A SECONDARY SOURCE SEEKS OUT PRIMARY SOURCES, ANALYZES OR REVIEWS THEM AND CREATES A RESPONSE TO THEM.
• EXAMPLES?

WHAT IS A SECONDARY SOURCE?

• A SECONDARY SOURCE SEEKS OUT PRIMARY SOURCES, ANALYZES OR REVIEWS THEM AND CREATES A RESPONSE TO THEM.
• EXAMPLES: MAGAZINES OR NEWS ARTICLES, SCHOLARLY ARTICLES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, AND TEXTBOOKS

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WHEN IT GETS HARD ...

• MOST OF THE SCHOLARLY ARTICLES YOU FIND IN JOURNALS ARE EITHER ORIGINAL RESEARCH (PRIMARY SOURCE) OR REVIEW ARTICLES (SECONDARY SOURCE)
• IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO TELL THEM APART

SIMILARITIES

• AUTHORS ARE EXPERTS
• ACADEMIC JOURNALS PUBLISH THEM
• THEY CONTAIN ABSTRACTS, INTROS, AND REFERENCES
• FOR SCIENTISTS OR COLLEGE STUDENTS; VERY TECHNICAL AND ADVANCED TOPICS

STEM PRIMARY SOURCE

• ARTICLES COVER ONE STUDY OR EXPERIMENT THAT WAS COMPLETED BY THE AUTHORS
• TITLE/TOPIC VERY SPECIFIC
• LOOK FOR THESE CLUES IN THE ARTICLES: 1. METHODOLOGY SECTION (EXPLAINING EXPERIMENT SET UP) AND 2. RESULTS SECTION (INCLUDES DATA OR RESULTS FROM EXPERIMENTS)

REVIEW ARTICLE OR SECONDARY SOURCE ARTICLE

• ARTICLES ANALYZE OR COMPARE MULTIPLE ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES ON A TOPIC (LITERATURE REVIEW)
• ARTICLE GIVES OVERVIEW OF A SPECIFIC TOPIC OR TECHNIQUE
• AUTHORS OF ARTICLES DID NOT CONDUCT EXPERIMENT

REVIEW ARTICLE OR SECONDARY SOURCE ARTICLE

• ARTICLE MAY HAVE "REVIEW" IN THE JOURNAL OR ARTICLE TITLE
• AUTHORS OF ARTICLES DID NOT CONDUCT EXPERIMENT

LIBGUIDE
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
EBSCO ACADEMIC