Anything you want to know is just a simple Google search away, but how do we know what we are reading is reliable? The answer is peer-reviewed literature. Peer-reviewed literature means quite literally that peers, those being masters of the same discipline, have reviewed it and confirmed its dependability. Thus, Wikipedia is not a peer-reviewed resource as non-experts are allowed to edit and add what they wish. Peer-reviewed literature is subdivided into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary. These divisions indicate how far from the original source the literature is.
Primary literature is raw material directly for the original source, such as a scholarly article of an experiment whereby the author preformed the experiment. For example, Gregor Mendel’s paper of his pea plant experiment, entitled “Versuche Über Pflanzen-Hybriden” and published in 1866.
Secondary literature is one step away from the original source, it interprets, summarizes and/or analyzes primary literature. An example is William Bateson’s book “Mendel’s Principles of Heredity.” Bateson translated Mendel’s paper and added his own defense to the book. Translations are a grey area between primary and secondary literature, as mistakes in translation can alter what the primary source author was trying to convey – but because Bateson offered his own commentary for a more in depth look at Mendel’s work, it is definitely secondary.
Tertiary literature is one step away from secondary literature, and two steps away from primary. Tertiary literature interprets, summarizes and/or analyzes secondary literature. An example of this is Ronald Fisher’s response to Mendel’s pea plant experiment. His paper was entitled “Has Mendel’s Work Been Rediscovered?” and was published in the Annals of Science in 1936. In this paper he summarized both Mendel and Bateson’s work and provided his own commentary. Other common examples of tertiary sources are textbooks and encyclopedias.
It’s always important to know if the information you are learning from is of a reliable source – especially when citing sources for schoolwork. If you’re looking for more clarification, take a look at the University of Minnesota’s website.
References
Bateson, W., & Mendel, G. (2009). Mendel’s Principles of Heredity: A Defence, with a Translation of Mendel’s Original Papers on Hybridisation. Cambridge Library Collection – Darwin, Evolution and Genetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fisher, R. A. (1936). Has Mendel’s work been rediscovered? Annals of Science, 1(2), 115–137.
Mendel, G. (1866). Versuche Über Pflanzen-Hybriden. Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines zu Brünn: 3–47.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 