Skip to Main Content

HLTH 250 Public Health Project - Antoine

Primary Sources

Primary sources are ones written by the scientists who performed the experiments, during the time of the study - these articles include original research data. 

Secondary sources are ones that summarize or compare lots of research in a particular area.


So how can you tell if a science article is a primary source?  Primary research articles will include sections about:

  • methodology -  explaining how the experiment was conducted
  • results - detailing what happened and providing raw data sets (often as tables or graphs)
  • conclusions - connecting the results with theories and other research
  • references - to previous research or theories that influenced the research

Best Bets for Primary Sources

Interlibrary Loan

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

 

Request books, articles, and other items not available at UST. Visit the InterLibrary Loan page for more info.