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ENV 150 - Intro to Environmental Science: Source Evaluation

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

	Primary Source	Secondary Source
Definition	Original materials that have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation by a second party.	Sources that contain commentary on or a discussion about a primary source.
Example	Article in scholarly journal reporting research and methodology.	Articles or books analyzing and commenting on the results of original research.
Timeline	Published first	Published second
Format	Peer-reviewed (scholarly) journals	Newspapers, magazines, books

Example of Primary Source

Example of Secondary Source

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

	Peer-Reviewed (Scholarly) Source	Popular Source
Author	Experts/Scholars/Affiliated Researchers	Journalist/Reporter/Writer
Audience	Experts/Scholars/Affiliated Researchers	General Public
Pictures	Graphs, Charts	Colorful, Photographs, Decorative
Language	Complex, Advanced Terms	Easy to Follow
Article Length	10+ Pages	1-5 Pages
Article Titles	Long & Descriptive	Short & Catchy
Citations	Many	None
Abstract	Yes	No

Test Yourself: What type of source is this?

Levels of Scientific Evidence

Beware Media Bias