What is "primary literature?"
- Primary literature are ideas that are revealed in a public forum for the first time. Much of the primary literature appears in journal articles. Conference papers, reports, abstracts, and preprints are additional sources of primary literature.
- Staying current with the primary literature in a specialty enables researchers to fully understand the scope of developments in their field and to avoid duplication of work.
What is the "journal literature?"
- Journals are publications that appear cyclically - monthly, quarterly, etc., in contrast to books, which have a set publication date.
- Journals that publish primary literature are scholarly journals, in which authors undergo a rigorous referee process before their articles are accepted.
What scholarly journals are available at Salem State?
- Salem State owns both electronic and print journals in physics. The Periodicals Directory provides a complete list of all physics titles. Ask your professor or Science Librarian Nancy Dennis to clarify which titles qualify as "scholarly" if you are unsure.
- Click here to search the Directory.Select "Physical Sciences & Mathematics" in the "Browse e-resources by subject" search box. Scan the list of titles that appears.
Is primary research available on the web?
- Many government agencies are sources of highly reputable scholarly research reports and journal articles. Conference papers, reports, abstracts, and preprints are additional sources of primary literature.
