Gaining information about a topic can be found in many different forms, through interviews, magazines, textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and many more. These types of sources can be broken down into three types of sources called primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. These different types of sources provide different levels of information and validity.
A primary literature source can be considered as the original material. It is the immediate results of research. Primary sources include the analysis of the data collected and are often written as journal articles in science. These papers often include an introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, and References.
Below is an example of a Primary source of literature that focuses on the topic of applied plant ecology.
Spontaneous succession in limestone quarries as an effective restoration tool for endangered arthropods and plants
Secondary sources are ones that analyze, summarize, and interpret the information from primary sources. They tend to be much broader than primary literature. Secondary sources are usually seen as books, biographies, and literature review articles.
An example of a secondary literature about applied plant ecology is linked below.
Land use changes and associated environmental impacts on the Mediterranean shallow Lake Stymfalia, Greece
https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-6399-2_32
Lastly, tertiary sources are shorter and summarized versions of multiple primary and secondary sources. In science, they are often textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks.
Usually, tertiary sources are used to find initial information about a topic.
An example of a Tertiary source is Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_ecology
References
“Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources: Madonna Library.” Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources | Madonna Library, https://library.madonna.edu/research/primary-secondary-and-tertiary-sources#:~:text=What%20are%20primary%2C%20secondary%2C%20and,organize%2C%20or%20compile%20other%20sources.
“Libguides: Pharmacy – Research Resources: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Literature in the Sciences.” Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Literature in the Sciences – Pharmacy – Research Resources – LibGuides at Ohio Northern University, https://library.onu.edu/c.php?g=357773&p=2720217.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 