Primary and Secondary Literature: What are these?
Primary Literature
- Primary literature presents results of original research in formats such as articles, pre-publication prints of articles, and conference proceedings. Of the sources in this category, you are most likely to find and use journal articles, whether traditional paper journals or those you will find online.
- When you see the word "article," don't assume that you will be consulting Time or Rolling Stone to find primary materials. True, those publications carry many articles, but the type you want will be found in scholarly and academic journals like Nature and Science. These articles contain original data and have been "peer-reviewed" by scientists familiar with the area being researched.
- The most efficient way to find primary literature is by using indexes and databases. These allow you to search journal literature by author, subjects, or keywords and find citations to relevant articles. A citation includes the author and title of an article, the title of the periodical in which it was published, page numbers, date of publication, and other information. Some citations provide abstracts (summaries) of the cited article. The citation gives you all the information you need to find the journal that contains the article in the Tisch Library.
Example:
Dewar, William K. Oceanography: A fishy mix. Nature 460, 581-582 (30 July 2009) | doi:10.1038/460581a; Published online 29 July 2009
Secondary Literature
- Secondary literature includes books, annual reviews, textbooks, and some periodicals. These sources differ from reference materials in at least one important way: secondary sources, like reference materials, may answer factual questions; however, they also present background information and summarize results of scientific work so that you can read the full range of thinking on a particular topic. Secondary literature does not present the most current scientific information, which is found in primary literature.
- Articles in science periodicals such as Discover and Science News are considered secondary literature because they don't present the results of original research, instead such articles synthesize and summarize descriptions of previous scientific work--which makes secondary literature very useful for you.
- Use annual reviews, textbooks, review articles in science periodicals, and books on scientific topics to gain detailed knowledge of a field, to learn about the historical development of a concept, and to become familiar with major researchers in an area of science.
- You can find more secondary sources by using the Tufts Online Catalog, finding a relevant source, and then browsing the book stacks in the call number area where you located the first relevant source. Bibliographies in reference materials may also point you to secondary sources.
Examples:
Trujillo, Alan P. Essentials of oceanography. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson Education, 2008.
Huybers, Peter and Wunsch, Carl. Paleophysical Oceanography with an Emphasis on Transport Rates. Annual Review of Marine Science 2, (January 2010).
Keyword Searching
Keyword Search Rules for the Library Catalog and Databases
Using AND/OR/NOT (Boolean Search Operators) |
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AND |
Use AND to focus search and combine different aspects of your topic. Example: human activity and coastlines |
OR |
Use OR to expand your search and find synonyms/related terms. Example: pollution or contaminants |
NOT |
Use NOT to exclude a word or phrase from your search Example: plate tectonics not Indian Ocean |
Additional Search Tips |
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"Phrase search" - Use quotation marks" " to search for a particular phrase. Example: "plate tectonic processes" |
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Truncation * - Use an asterisk to find variations of a word. Put an asterisk following the root of the word to find all variations of that word, including singular and plural. Example: contaminant* (finds contaminants, contamination, contaminant, etc.) |
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(Grouping/Nesting Keywords) - Use parentheses ( ) as a way to group all your search terms together. Example: (pollution or contamination) and "human activity" and coastlines |
See the Basic Search Tips guides for more information, including examples.
Suggested Keywords and Strategies
Combine your subject/topic with one or more of the following:
- oceanography
- marine science
- plate tectonics
- process/processes
- causation
- mechanics/mechanism
- distribution
- probability
- correlation
- variable
- human influence
- sea bed
- sea floor
- atomsphere/atmospheric
- climate/climatic
- ecology/ecological
- environment/environmental
- physical
- chemical
- biological
- geological
- waves/tides/currents
- sediment
- continental shelf
- surface
- slope
- rise
Examples:
"plate tectonics" and "continental shelf" and drift
"human influence" and pollut* and coast*
Use Advance Search modes in databases to limit search results to those that include data, statistics, tables or figures.
Help with Research |
 Regina Raboin Contact Info Science Research & Instruction Librarian Research & Instruction Tisch Library, Tufts University Phone 617-627-4221 Fax 617-627-3002 Send Email Links: Profile & Guides |
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