Resources for researchers and writers

This eleven page guide prepared by Earlham College Libraries is a valuable resource and is worth printing for easy reference. Using Scientific Literature in Biology Courses includes clear and comprehensive definitions of primary and secondary literature and a chart to help distinguish between the two types. There is also a guide to citing many types of print and electronic sources.

This one page handout was prepared by Eastern Washington University Libraries to help students identify different types of articles and the periodicals in which they are published. Topics include Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals, Research vs. Review Articles, Primary vs. Secondary Literature and Peer-Reviewed vs. non-Peer-Reviewed.

This one page handout was created by the San Diego State University Library. It addresses ways in which primary research can be identified, with emphasis on close reading of abstracts.

Reading research papers is partly a matter of experience and skill, and partly learning the specific vocabulary of a field of study. This guide, How to Read a Scientific Research Paper, was written by a faculty member at Hampshire College. It breaks the process of reading primary research articles into manageable steps.

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