Primary Literature: Research Articles
Research articles are a key way scientists make the results of their work available. These articles are published in scholarly journals where they have undergone peer-review. Research articles are a great place to learn about new discoveries and advancements in a field. Research articles are typically not a good place to find the answer to a basic question, a general introduction to a field, or background information on a topic - for these types of information consult secondary literature.
To identify a research article, there are features and sections that are typically included:
What does peer reviewed mean?
Peer reviewed, sometimes called refereed, articles are research articles that have been through a vetting process where experts in the field evaluate the research for quality, validity, and originality of the research. When an article is submitted to a journal for peer review, the journal editors send the article to other scholarly experts in the field (the peer reviewers). The reviewers provide anonymous opinion and comments back to the editors and article author(s), the author(s) use these comments to make revisions and the editors use the comments and revisions to decided if the paper should be accepted and published or rejected. Using peer reviewed articles is a good way to know that the information you are reading is reliable.
Primary Literature: Conference Papers
Conference papers are original research papers presented at conferences, symposiums, and workshops. It is common for papers presented at one of these settings to be published as a volume after the conference, these volumes are called proceedings or transactions. Subject specific databases often include conference papers in the same way they include research articles.
Primary Literature: Technical Reports
Government agencies frequently publish their research as technical reports, the research can be done by the agency itself or by contract with a university or private industry. Technical reports can typically be found online from the government agency's website, Science.gov includes technical reports from 14 government agencies.
Primary Literature: Theses & Dissertations
As part of completing graduate studies at a university, students often write a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. Theses and dissertations can be found in subject specific library databases and in institutional repositories hosted by Universities.