What is primary literature?

Primary literature in the field of science refers to journal articles written and reviewed by experts that are published and indexed by commercial publishers.  The article must report an actual research project and undergo a formal review process called peer review, jury, or referee.   The peer reviewed journal article must be written in a required format and include the following: abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, and references.

Other types of scientific literature

There are two other kinds of scientific literature.  1.) Secondary literature, generally written as prose, provides a summary of scientific research, is often written for the non-specialist, and may be published in a book, magazine, or journal.  Secondary literature can provide an overview of all the research conducted in an area.  2.) Grey scientific literature includes papers, reports, technical notes, or other documents produced and published by governmental agencies, academic institutions, and other groups that are not distributed or indexed by commercial publishers.  Many of these documents are the initial reporting of research findings and are subjected to internal review before publication.  Grey literature can be very difficult to locate because it may not be indexed and is not widely distributed.  Often research will be published in grey literature before it is published in the primary literature.

Finding primary or peer-reviewed literature

Citation databases provide the best method for finding primary literature.  These databases index all of the literature published in broad subject areas, and provide the user subject and keyword searching to identify needed articles.  Most citation databases index primary, secondary, and grey literature.  Many citation databases {Ex.: Academic Search Premier, ASFA, ES&PM, Oceanic Abstracts, Zoological Record} will identify the articles that are coded as peer reviewed.  The citation databases allow the user to link from the citation to the full-text article if the library subscribes to the online version of the article.   

Indications of peer reviewed literature

Even though a citation database coded an article as peer reviewed, it is always the responsibility of the student to determine whether an article is actually primary literature.  Following are some general indications that a journal is publishing primary literature:

• Journals published by a professional organization include primary literature.

• Publications with “Journal” or “Quarterly” in the title include primary literature; however, it is not a requirement for primary journals to have these words in the title of the journal.

• Primary journals do not include general advertisements.

• Instructions to Authors will appear in the print journal or on the electronic journal’s Web page will tell the author if a formal peer review is required.

• Primary journals will have a Board of Editors representing various fields in which articles are peer reviewed rather than only a general editor.

• Look at the journal issue and the specific article to definitively determine if the article is peer reviewed.  Remember primary journal articles are written in a specific format.  Some journals include primary and secondary articles in the same issue.