Secondary sources are articles that help people to understand their research topics. When students get assignments to research specific issues or topics, they may not understand their themes at all. It is because of the lack of information on primary studies. However, if people begin to research their topics, secondary articles expand their knowledge. Moreover, credible secondary articles can be used for research papers to make valid conclusions. Therefore, a secondary source covers primary studies to expand the understanding of the research topic.
General Aspects of a Secondary Source
The secondary source is the work based on primary data or information used in different types of papers. In turn, people should know what is a primary source since it contains original information derived from research, observations, or experience. Along these lines, a secondary study provides a summary, interpretation, analysis, or reviews of primary evidence. In this case, secondary studies are useful when writing an article. Unfortunately, some secondary articles contain vague information. However, a peer-reviewed secondary study covers helpful information for writing a scholarly article since it includes valid interpretation of crucial evidence.
Definition
Secondary sources contain research findings and purpose of studies already done by other people on some subjects. For example, a secondary source interprets, summarizes, and analyzes primary data. In this case, primary resources contain opinions of the author on data from research. Besides, secondary studies give additional meaning to specific concepts. Therefore, secondary articles include findings and their purpose based on primary studies.
How to Identify Secondary Sources?
It is possible to identify secondary sources since they contain conclusions and discussion of findings. For example, experts use secondary studies to make conclusions about specific topics. In this case, they look at explanations created by other people. Besides, people give their opinions regarding the statements. Basically, the authors of secondary studies provide their thoughts and feelings about other people’s interpretations or explanations from the primary articles. Hence, a secondary source would analyze data collected from research to give it meaning. Thus, secondary works contain an analysis of primary data.
Secondary Sources and Research
Secondary sources are useful when writing scholarly works since they contain valuable interpretations of data and ideas. For example, encyclopedia articles provide a short and up-to-date summary of a topic. Reading through such articles helps a researcher to understand the subject. In this case, the secondary work provides a glimpse of the intended topic of the journal article. Basically, a newspaper article can give a good summary of a subject. Hence, secondary works are useful in improving the quality of research. They help researchers to interpret essential and complex ideas in a specific research topic. Thus, some secondary articles are valuable sources of information for writing a research paper.
What Is Credible Information?
People must use reliable sources when writing a research article. For example, some secondary works contain vague information concerning a specific topic. Using such sources in papers can result in misleading results. In this case, only peer-reviewed articles contain credible information for use in writing scholarly works. Basically, peer-reviewed articles contain information verified by specialists in a particular area of knowledge. Experts help to correct erroneous information in a secondary source. Thus, people can use secondary articles for research papers when they are peer-reviewed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, secondary sources are essential in interpreting primary data. Peer-reviewed information contains accurate evidence concerning a research topic. Hence, they are useful for preparing research articles. On the other hand, people should consider using peer-reviewed secondary works when writing scholarly articles. It would help them to understand complex ideas. Besides, secondary articles like encyclopedia would provide concise meaning and up-to-date summary of essential topics. Thus, reliable secondary articles have vital information for preparing a scholarly article.