Veterinary Studies: Primary Research

Primary research is

• a methodology in which the investigators directly collect and interpret new data.
• The results of primary research are reported by the investigators themselves.
• They can be
  - journal articles,
  - conference presentations
  - academic theses
  - or dissertations.

Watch How Can You Tell If a Scientific Article is Primary Literature

Parts of a primary research paper

Publication Information:

• Author(s): The names of the people who conducted the study 
  • Their institutional affiliations are usually given
• Title: This is usually descriptive rather than clever
• Other information, such as conference or journal name, volume, Issue, date, and DOI

Abstract:  A good abstract summarizes the study: The topic, hypothesis, methodology, results, and conclusions. 

• This is sometimes absent or presented on another page.

Introduction: This does a few things:

• It provides context for investigation by summarizing what is known about the topic from prior research.
  • This is called a "literature review" and contains secondary information. 
• It describes what is not yet known, and states why it's important to find out.  
• It defines the specific hypothesis to be tested in order to fill that knowledge gap. 

Methodology: This describes the methods used to collect and analyze the data for the purpose of testing the hypothesis. 

Results: This presents the aggregated data (adding together or grouping of the raw data), often using charts, images, or tables. 

Discussion: The investigators present their analysis of the results and what they think it means. 

Conclusion: Sometimes combined with the Discussion, this outlines:

• The study's contribution to knowledge
• The limitations of the study 
• New questions raised by study

References: A list citations for the prior research referenced in the Introduction section.