Researching the literature is a critical step to reporting on various studies and their test methods. You can do this using library resources such as books, ebooks, and online journal articles. Ask your librarian for help getting started!
Some keywords and key phrases you may want to use when searching for articles and data are:
Citations and articles from scientific journals and research publications.
Plagiarizing can get you into big trouble, even if it's unintentional. These videos can help you avoid plagiarism.
Researchers often publish reviews as a way to summarize the current state of a field of study. They usually communicate specific information gleaned from numerous studies. A review is not a publication of primary research.
A review article gives an overview of the published studies on a particular topic. A review article often has an abstract, an introduction, and a list of references, but it does not outline any one study in full.
Look for words like review, critical review, literature review, and perspective. These are clues that tell you that you’re probably looking at a review article and not at primary research.
Reading review articles is extremely useful for finding original research. They include a reference list of all the studies reviewed for the article. Often you can track down the original research using this reference list.
Click here to read an example of a review article.
Primary research, on the other hand, is a publication of the methods and results from one particular study. Click here to read an example of an primary research article. Notice the sections of the article are very similar to those outlined in the document, "Dissection of Primary Research Article."
Click the link below to read a review article. Using clues in this article, locate one instance of primary literature the authors consulted. See if you can find that primary research article in our school's databases.