While we discuss "primary versus secondary sources" mostly in relation to history, there are also primary and secondary sources in the sciences as well.
Primary sources are original research done on a particular topic. These works are mostly factual, describing the conclusions of certain experiments. There is little to no interpretation of data collected by other people. These works come first in the publishing cycle. Primary sources in the sciences are typically made up of the following (note, sometimes the names may be changed, but that these are the terms being used.
- Abstract: A brief summary of the article. Abstracts frequently include methodology and results.
- Introduction: background information about the topic being studied, describing its importance and why the studying is done.
- Methods/Methodology: A description as to how the study was conducted, including details of how the study was set up and data was collected
- Results: The results section presents the data collected during the study/experiment. Frequently the data is presented in the form of charts and tables.
- Discussion: Discussion includes some analysis of the information from the results. It describes how the information relates to existing knowledge on the subject and whether the information answers the question they original sought out to answer.
- Conclusion: A conclusion includes a summary of the discussion as well as an outline for potential future research in that topic.
- References: A lost of secondary sources consulted by the researches while doing their research.
Some examples of primary sources include
- Conference papers
- Correspondence between researchers regarding their research.
- Dissertations
- Diaries
- Interviews
- Lab notebooks
- Notes on experiments
- Patents
- Proceedings of conferences and meetings.
- Studies/surveys
- Technical reports
- Theses
Secondary sources are analyses of primary sources. These works contain commentaries and discussions on a primary source. Frequently, they bring together a number of different secondary sources in order to come to a greater conclusion. Secondary sources come second in the publishing cycle.
Some examples of secondary sources include
- Analyses of clinical trials
- Articles that discuss the significance of published research or experiments
- Criticism and interpretation
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Literature guides
- Handbooks
- Laws/legislation
- Monographs/published books
- Moral and ethical analyses of research
- Political analyses of research
- Public opinion
- Review articles, which summarize previously published studies
- Social policy
