Library staff is available to help with your questions big or small. You can find research assistance in the Learning and Research Center of the Forrer Learning Commons or you can schedule a Research Consultation!
Virtual Assistance is available via
Phone: 540-828-5642
Email: research@bridgewater.edu
Text: 540-318-1962
In the sciences primary and secondary sources refer to how close an article is to the research that is being described. For example, if the author completed the research study herself, then an article is a primary source. However, if the author is writing about research done by others, then it is a secondary source.
Popular articles (those written for the general public) are most often secondary sources. Scholarly and Peer-reviewed articles can be both primary and secondary.
Look for clues in the databases, such as the article type of "review article" (for a secondary article), or "original research" or "research article" for primary sources.
Once you find a database, here are some tips for searching it as efficiently as possible:
Look for ways to limit your results: