Science literature: Primary vs. secondary publications

The scientific literature comprises all that has been written on science subjects in the last several hundred years. All this writing can be divided into two general types:

A. Primary publications

These describe the original observations of an experiment. These appear in periodical or serial publications or "journals"

B. Secondary publications

These summarize, describe, or discuss these first reports. This type of literature is more variable than primary publications.

C. Laboratory Records

This is the part of science literature that is not generally accessible and includes original laboratory records and notebooks. These notes are an obligation by the experimenter to keep records of what has been done and what has happened. The form of the records are of personal preference but regardless of the form of the original laboratory records, they represent the most important part of the permanent records because it is upon these that the rest of the literature is built.

D. Technical Papers

Once a piece of experimental work has reached a reasonable conclusion the work is described in a "technical paper". Generally, this is a brief report describing the work in as much detail as will ever appear in the public literature. The organization of the report varies but the paper usually includes:

• a statement of the problem
• a description of the experimental results
• a summary of the results
• a section on the interpretations or discussion of the results
• a list of reference to the cited literature

E. Review Articles

So many papers appear each year that no one can hope to follow the entire literature. A valuable aid is the review article, which attempts to summarize and evaluate some small segment of the literature. For example, any one year you might see the publication of several hundred papers on muscle contraction. The author of a review article examines all available papers on the subject in great depth and prepares a summary of current thinking in the field as he sees it. The review helps pull literature together but is subject to opinions and judgement of the author. The review paper typically contains no new data. Instead, selected tables, or graphs from the previously published reports may be reproduced. To summarize the review paper:

• covers a brief period of time (as the previous year)
• writings and publications in this review may take time to review so that the review will be one to three years behind the time
• includes a large number of references to enable the reader to consult primary publications
• the review paper may be at any level of technicality (general public or educated public)
• Examples - Physiological Reviews - written for physiologists
  Scientific America - written for the educated public

F. Monographs and Symposia

A monograph describes the work on one individual on one subject. Any monograph today is usually a long review. For example, taxonomic biologists produce monographs describing one genius or family of organisms.

A recent innovation in the scientific literature is the symposia. This is a meeting which can be highly formal or loosely organized but generally contributors summarize the work of the their lab, or comment on length on their research. The "minutes" of such meetings whether formal or transcriptions of formal discussions can be exceedingly valuable.

F. Abstracts

No one can hope to read every issue of every periodical. Most primary publications have abstracts proceeding each article. An abstract is a one or two paragraph summary of a technical paper.