To begin with, the purpose of a primary, secondary, or even a tertiary article is to provide information about a topic. The way in which the information is conveyed, differ amongst these three types of sources.
Primary sources are defined to be the work which is directly done by the author themselves such as, a journal article containing both materials and methods to signify to the reader that they conducted this research firsthand using methods to follow. Primary articles do not analyze the work done, instead, provide direct firsthand information to the reader regarding the topic of interest.
Examples of primary sources include, autobiographies/memoirs, diaries/personal letters, interviews, surveys, research work including materials and methods, emails, blogs (our blogs!), newsgroups, photographs, drawings, and works of art and literature, etc.
A Primary journal article on applied plant ecology is listed below, in which researchers have studied an area of interest and conducted firsthand research on:
- Phytoplankton Ecology of a Barrier Island Estuary: Great South Bay, New York https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/1051-0761%282002%29012%5B0335%3ACEOEAT%5D2.0.CO%3B2
In addition, secondary sources are analysis reviews of primary articles, in which authors will critique and analyze the work conducted by the researcher and relate it to further topics led throughout the research. They summarize, evaluate, and analytically interpret primary material, often by offering a personal perspective.
Examples of secondary sources include: monographs (books), analysis writing, review articles, thesis, dissertations, textbooks, indexes, abstracts, etc.
An example of a secondary source, relative to applied plant ecology:
- Review on Economics of Biodiversity Loss: Scoping the Science http://uknea.unep-wcmc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Balmford%20et%20al%2008_Economics%20of%20biodiversity_Scoping%20science%20report.pdf
Furthermore, tertiary sources are joined together as summarizations of both primary and secondary sources and are presented into forms of factual information. Therefore, tertiary sources do not contain reviews, instead, are filtered amongst many reviewers to contain reliable and accurate information – broadly explaining over a range of topics. Tertiary sources are recommended to be used when conducting initial background research to grasp an idea of the overall topic.
Examples of tertiary sources are encyclopedias, directories, dictionaries, handbooks, guides, classification, news articles, social media news, etc.
A tertiary source related to applied plant ecology in example is, checking twitter for updates on climate change – specifically keeping up with those social media accounts for the news they release.
References
S.Livelya, J., & J.Carpenter, E. (2004, November 19). Phytoplankton ecology of a barrier island estuary: Great South Bay, New York.https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/1051-0761%282002%29012%5B0335%3ACEOEAT%5D2.0.CO%3B2
Balmford, A., & Rodrigues, A. (2008, May). REVIEW ON THE ECONOMICS OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS: SCOPING THE SCIENCE.http://uknea.unep-wcmc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Balmford%20et%20al%2008_Economics%20of%20biodiversity_Scoping%20science%20report.pdf
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 