Primary Research Articles in Science - Articles from Scholarly
Science Journals that report on original research. The articles are written
by the researchers themselves, and include an introduction
that outlines a problem, a description of the methods used
to study the problem, a description of the results - including
what the study found out, as well as a discussion about the
implications of the study's findings. The researchers' sources are
fully cited in bibliographies.
Secondary Sources - Articles, books, etc., which describe
or analyze information from one or more primary sources. These can
help you understand and interpret your topic, and these are also good
for helping you discover a topic to write about. Scientific review articles published in journals, and articles published
in Trade or Professional Journals and in Magazines are
usually secondary sources.
Tertiary Sources - A step further removed - these are usually
reference sources, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, and are
good for gaining background understanding.
Scholarly Journals - These are published periodically and
contain articles that report on original research, experiments,
or ideas in a specific field of discipline. They often have the word
"journal" in the title. These journals are often "peer
reviewed", meaning a panel of subject experts in the field have
reviewed the articles for quality before allowing them to be published.
There are usually few advertisements, if any, and few photos or illustrations.
Example: The Journal of Experimental Biology, Journal of the American
Medical Association
Trade or Professional Journals - these contain mostly secondary
source articles that report on issues, problems, and other items of
interest to a particular field. These also may the word "journal"
in the title. The authors are typically experts in a field, but not
the researchers themselves. These are often printed on glossy paper
and can contain photos, artwork, and trade-specific advertisements.
Examples: Practicing Anthropology, Astronomy
Magazines - Publications with a broad or general interest
focus. Articles are usually written by staff writers who may or may
not have a background in the topics they write about. In Magazines, there are usually
many advertisements, photos, artwork, sidebars, and even cartoons.
Examples: Discover, Popular Science
Click here for a chart that compares these and other types of periodicals.
Science
Direct (From off campus, login with your UH ID number)
http://system4.lib.hawaii.edu/sproxy/proxy.php?2
EBSCO Databases (From off campus, login with your UH ID number)
http://system4.lib.hawaii.edu/sproxy/proxy.php?1
Including Academic Search Premier, AGRICOLA, MEDLINE, etc.
Scientific Commons
http://www.scientificcommons.org/
NEC CiteSeer
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/
AGRIS
http://www.fao.org/agris/search/search.do
BIOLINE International
http://www.bioline.org.br/journals/
Scirus
http://www.scirus.org
Science.Gov
http://www.science.gov
InfoMine
http://infomine.ucr.edu/
Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/
Ebooks from National Academies Press
http://www.nap.edu/
