Unlike science review articles, which tend to assemble and summarise various pieces of scholarly literature, a primary research article reports on a specific experiment that’s been conducted by a researcher either in a lab or in the field.
To see if you have a primary research article, skim through the article and look for the following:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methods / Materials: primary research articles should include a methods section, a description of the subjects, procedures and tools used. A methods section is the most obvious indicator that what you have is a primary research article.
- Results / Discussion / Findings
- Conclusion / Concluding Remarks
- References / Works Cited / Bibliography: all primary research articles should come from a scholarly journal. As such, these articles will always include a bibliography, works cited, or references list.
Search for these articles in our databases.
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