ENVS 328 - Politics of the Global Environment

Types of Sources

Primary Source

• Reports original research
• Results of experiments
• Reports on new discovery
• Results of clinical trials

Secondary Source

• Reports and analyzes previous results without adding new data
• Editorializes on information from previously published paper
• Interprets previous study

Tertiary Source

• Compiles secondary sources
• Creates a synopsis about a topic

Examples

Primary Source

• Published results of an experiment or clinical trial
• Published results of a research study or natural observation
• Proceedings of a Conference or Meeting

Secondary Source

• News article reporting on an experiment
• Review of a series of articles on a given topic
• Editorial article

Tertiary Source

• Encyclopedia articles
• Textbooks

Search CONSORT and OhioLINK for books and other materials containing information about your topic. Items requested from other libraries will be delivered to the Circulation desk in 3-5 days. If you cannot find what you need in those catalogs, try WorldCat (but remember that you will need to fill an Interlibrary Loan form when requesting from WorldCat).