Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able:

• recognise different forms of secondary literature.
• distinguish between peer-reviewed and other forms of secondary literature.

Secondary literature is the mass of published materials that interpret, evaluate, or analyze the evidence derived from primary sources.

As such, such materials are at least one step removed from their subject. These sources take a wide range of forms:

• academic books.
• journal articles.
• documentaries.
• biographies.
• annotations or commentaries on primary sources.
• textbooks.
• magazine articles.

Secondary sources provide a factual context or interpretative framework for your analysis. Their limitations are that any fresh account introduces a degree of interpretation. When we read secondary sources, we are viewing events through an additional series of filters. The account is shaped by the author's interpretations, bias and preconceptions.

Peer-review

Peer-reviewed journal articles are an important form of secondary source.

When a researcher intends to publish in an academic journal, he or she will send an article to the journal editor. If the editor thinks that the article, the submission will be sent to two or more expert reviewers. These reviewers will read the article to assess its quality in terms of methodology, originality, significance and clarity. The reviewers' comments then go back to the researcher, who is usually required to make improvements before the article is published. The same process occurs when a paper is submitted to an editorial board before it is read to an academic audience at a conference.

An article or paper that passes peer-review is not necessarily correct. The process of checking doesn't end with publication. Instead, publication is the beginning of the process of replication and review through which promising research is exposed to the critical attention of the wider academic community.

This PDF provides advice on distinguishing academic from non-academic journals.

Why do researchers prefer peer-reviewed research?

Peer-review ensures minimum standards. It gives authors the benefit of expert advice and is intended to weed out poor research or obvious attempts at academic fraud. Another benefit is indirect. Because authors know that their article will receive critical review, they will make every effort to anticipate objections and to produce the best possible research. Where an article or a conference paper is not subject to peer-review, these checks are absent.

Summary

This module dealt with the following:

• different types of secondary literature.
• the distinction between peer-reviewed and other forms of secondary literature.