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Scientific literature is divided into two basic categories - "primary" and "secondary".
| Primary Source | Secondary Source | |
| DEFINITIONS | 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. |
| TIMING OF PUBLICATION CYCLE | Primary sources tend to come first in the publication cycle. | Secondary sources tend to come second in the publication cycle. |
| FORMATS--depends on the kind of analysis being conducted. | Studies reported in scientific journals, clinical trials, conference papers, dissertations, interviews, laboratory notebooks, patents, randomized controlled trials, surveys reported in journal articles, technical reports, etc. | Review articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, magazine articles, and books |
| EXAMPLE: Scientists studying Genetically Modified Foods. | Article in scholarly journal reporting results of original study on effects of genetically modified corn on butterflies. | Article surveying several studies of genetically modified corn and butterflies and synthesizing current state of research on topic. |
Source: The Evolution of Scientific Information (from Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 26). Adapted from The University of Albany