Subject and Course Guides: Primary and Secondary Scientific Sources: Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Types of Science Source Articles

Primary sources are original works like research, paintings, plays, interviews, statistical tables, diaries, letters, etc. The author is the writer/creator of the original work. Most disciplines publish their original research in journal articles. These articles are considered primary sources.

Secondary sources are critiques, descriptions or reviews of original works. This includes critiques of play, review articles that discuss somebody else's original research, etc. Secondary sources are written by someone other than the author of the original work.

Scientific primary sources focus on the research done

Determining the Difference	Primary Literature	Secondary Literature
Abstract	Usually	Not always
Introduction to Topic	Yes	Yes
Methods Section	Yes	Not usually
Results Section	Yes	Not usually
Data in Figures & Tables	Yes	Infrequent
Discussion Section	Yes	Entire paper may be a discussion
Conclusion	Yes	May be called a summary
Literature Cited	Yes	Not Always
Peer Review	Yes	May or may not be
Title	Brief statement of a research project, usually very technical
Focus	Very Narrow & Specific	Broader overview

ID Primary & Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Secondary Source

· Archives

· Conference Papers

· Correspondence

· Dissertations

· Diaries

· Interviews

· Lab Notebooks

· Notes

· Patents

· Proceedings

· Studies or Surveys

· Technical Reports

· Theses

· Criticism and Interpretion

· Dictionaries

· Directories

· Encyclopedias

· Government Policy

· Guide to Literature

· Handbooks

· Law & Legislation

· Monographs

· Moral & Ethical Aspects

· Political Aspects

· Reviews

· Social Policy

· Tables