The Original Source

• If a paper qualifies as primary literature it represents the first reportage of an original study. Unlike secondary literature found in newspapers or popular magazines, which may analyze or describe the original study, the primary literature is the source. According to the Oberlin College Library, it “must be written by the person or group who undertook the research.” Anyone familiar with gossip knows that versions of a story change with each retelling. Witnessing the first “telling” of an investigation lends the research writer the certainty that what he is reporting is untainted.
  
  

High Standards

• Basically, publication of a research study in a scientific journal is a good indication that the study represents “good science.” Before the paper makes its way into a journal, fellow scientists familiar with the subject matter examine it. They determine whether the study has design flaws and whether the writing meets professional standards. An editor oversees the entire process, and all of those who participate in the publication of the study must adhere to a strict code of ethics. The study still may be flawed, and this may come out at a later time, but you can be sure that the information you are including in your own paper has been carefully screened.
  
  

Topical Information

• According to the British website Engage, an online resource for medical students, primary literature is important for research because it is up-to-date. It may take a year between submission and publication of the article because of the rigorous standards for acceptance, but the information published in scientific journals today is what cutting-edge scientists are currently discussing.
  
  

Active Research

• Using primary literature for research also has importance on a personal level, which will likely be reflected in the quality of your own paper. By citing a science article from a popular source—even if the article accurately records the facts of the original scientific paper and even if the secondary writer is a more skillful wordsmith than the scientist—you are relying on another writer to interpret the original author’s ideas for you. Rather than actively responding to the assertions of the scientist, you are passively recording the reactions of the secondary author to support your own paper’s thesis.
  
  

Summary Headings

• Even though you might be convinced of the importance of primary literature for research, the average person—even the average bright person—is frequently overwhelmed by the vocabularies of the people who write journal articles. Ignoring these primary-level treatises and searching the Web for primary-grade versions of them is tempting. WebGURU advises concentrating on those sections of a scientific paper that summarize the study: the abstract, introduction, results and discussion.