WRIT 1102: Science: Primary, secondary sources

Definition:  

What is Scholarly literature?

Literature written by scholars for scholars right? The hallmarks of scholarly literature is Peer Review, which means scholars in the field have reviewed the work and deemed it worthy of publication in a journal. 

Primary Source:

Most scholarly literature is in scholarly journals. If the original research work is done by the author/s and is published as original research in a journal, and the results can be replicated using the same techniques or methods as described in the article, then it is called a primary resource.

Apart from journal articles, books can be another source of primary literature:

Examples of Primary Sources as Books:

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Slave This is a first hand account, hence this is a primary source.

Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin. This is original scientific research and theory proposed by Charles Darwin.

Secondary Source:

Any author that uses the primary research and adds to the knowledge base of the primary research is called a secondary resource. A systematic review article falls in this category.

Some examples of scholarly journal articles that are secondary sources, not primary sources:

"The Joyous Circle": The Vernacular Presence in Frederick Douglass's Narratives

Prevalence of Campylobacter Species in Human, Animal, and Food of Animal Origin and their Antimicrobial susceptibility in Ethiopia: a systematic review and analysis

Secondary sources build on primary sources or original research.