Biology 210A Subject Guide: Finding Primary Literature

Reading Primary Literature is on reserve in the library.

What is primary source material, primary research, or primary literature? It is different for each discipline.

In science, it is original research, scholarly communication, or the review of that research. It usually has an abstract (summary), an introduction, and a section of Discussion and/or Methodology, as well as References.

The following sites have more information on primary research in biology:

Humboldt College: the literature of biology

Xavier University: Primary vs. Secondary Sources, Biology

Cal State Fullerton: Biology Articles, Primary Research

Where is primary literature found? In journals, conference reports, testimony. Almost all research articles are now available online. Many can be accessed for no charge.

What is a peer reviewed article? Peer review represents a high level of scholarship. Peer reviewed articles have been evaluated by several researchers or subject specialists in the academic community prior to being accepted for publication. This makes them a good source for quality information.

Eurekalert : has a list of peer-reviewed journals. You can check it to see titles of journals, and can also find new

Using EBSCOhost

Finding the best keywords is the first thing to consider when using any online source. Check your text and any scholarly article you already have for the words and phrases that best cover your topic. Try different keywords if you aren’t getting good results.

MasterFile Premier is the default database in EBSCO. Check the full-text and peer review boxes before selecting Search. Once you have a list of articles, you can hold the cursor arrow over the magnifying glass icon to quickly read the article summary.

Academic Search Elite is the only EBSCO database that has “primary source document” as a choice from the basic search page.

You can also choose Research, Case Study, or other type from Publication Type list. Check abstract and references available to further narrow your search.

Internet resources for scholarly full text articles:

Learn buzzwords used by search engines:

“biology open access journals” or “full text biology articles.”

National Center for Biotechnology Information main page:

Public Library of Science main page

Highwire: from Stanford

Directory of Open Access Journals : a huge database of thousands of journals in all disciplines

Go to Genetics Journal or Journal of Biology for full text on some articles from the journals. Many science journals now have some articles online.

Citing sources

CSE (Council of Science Editors): online help page.

The citation guide for scientific writing is available in the Reference section of the SLO campus library. It is:

Scientific style and format: the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. Style Manual Committee, Council of Science Editors. 7^th edition (T11 S386 2006).

Use Cal Poly for a larger selection of science articles. Use their databases in the Kennedy library to print or email articles. Also, you can check books out with Cuesta current registration or picture ASCC card.

01/19/2011 LA