How Research Materials
are Organized
When we talk about research literature, we make a distinction
between primary and secondary sources.
- Primary sources publish the details of research studies.
Research journals are the main primary sources, although
dissertations also fall into this category.
- Secondary sources publish integrative reviews of broad areas
of research. Some journals specialize in such review articles.
Other secondary sources include books and chapters in edited
books.
We will describe each of these sources of information in the next
section.