|
| |
Biology: Articles: Primary: Examples: Tip 3
Snow, A. A.;
Moran-Palma, Pedro; Riesenberg, L. H.; Wszelaki, A.; Seiler, G. J.
Fecundity, phylogeny, and seed
dormancy of F(sub1) wild-crop hybrids
in sunflower (Helianthus annuus,
Asteraceae). Am. J. Bot.
1998 Jun; 85(6):794-802.
Although it is often impossible to know for sure until
you are looking at the article, you can get some information from just the basic
citation as given above. Looking at it carefully can save you the work of
tracking down an article that may not suit your particular needs.
If you are using a database that gives you abstracts, or
summaries, of the articles, you will have a better chance of categorizing the
article.
 | Scientific
terminology: The use of specialized, scientific vocabulary can
often signal an article written for a professional audience rather than the
general public.
 | This could be primary. |
|
| Genus/species
or place name: The use of specific classification names (or
specific city/state names or field locations) may indicate that the
article is describing one particular series of experiments or observations.
| This could be primary. |
|
| Action words
or descriptive nouns: Analysis of verbs and nouns in the title can
give you an idea whether the article is likely to describe one particular
set of experiments or take a broader look at work others have done.
| Inconclusive: no action words. |
|
| Journal
titles: Although these are often abbreviated, words like
"Review", "Annual", or "Letters" in the
journal title may indicate that mostly review articles or short
communications are published.
| Journal title: American Journal of
Botany. Has the word "journal" in the title, so may
contain primary articles. Possibly primary. |
|
| Authors:
The more authors an article has, the less
likely it is to be a magazine article or a review article.
| Be careful with this-- but the 5
authors here make it more likely to be a description of the research
they all participated in, therefore primary. |
|
| CONCLUSION: THIS
IS PROBABLY A PRIMARY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
ARTICLE, CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH. |
|
