Primary sources in the natural sciences are publications which provide a full description of the methods and results of original research. The most common example of a primary source in the sciences is a peer-reviewed article published in a scholarly journal. Find pimary and secondary articles in the library search or a science database. 

Clues that an article is a primary source: 

• Analyzes data collected by the authors. 

• Often very narrow in scope.

• Abstract may include phrases like "we observed," "sampling was conducted," etc. 

• Usually includes a methods section. 

• Will cite past work by others to provide context for original data collection and analysis.

Primary source examples: 

Peer-reviewed scholarly article, conference poster or paper, thesis or dissertation, lab notebook, correspondence, patents.

Clues that an article is a secondary source: 

• Describes the work of other scientists: synthesizes several articles to draw broader conclusions.

• Surveys the state of research within a narrow field of study. 

• Title or abstract includes the terms "review," "systematic review," "or meta-analysis". 

• Any methods section would describe how a search for articles was conducted, not how original data was collected.

• Newspaper or popular magazine articles that summarize original research are included in this category. 

Secondary Source Examples: 

Review articles, articles that summarize primary scientific articles in everyday language, laws and government policies.