Primary and Secondary Sources in the Sciences: Home

Do you panic if your professor tells you to find a review article? Can you tell by looking at an article if it is an original research report? This guide will clarify what's what in scientific literature and give you some examples to look at.

Primary Source

• Report of first hand experience

Examples:

• Lab report for a class
• Research article published in a scholarly journal

Secondary Source

• Synthesis of current state of research in a specific field

Example:

• Review article published in a scholarly journal