Reference resources are a great place to start your research! Entries in reference resources - including encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and handbooks - tend to be short and can help you gather background information and define unfamiliar terms from your readings.
For this course the recommended reference resource is the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, available as an eBook through Snowden Library.
Primary Sources: also known as empirical research, primary sources are based on observation or experimentation. This means that data and/or knowledge are derived from experience rather than theory or belief. Look for language in the article that indicates the authors are the ones that conducted the original research. You can also check for:
Secondary Sources: these are sources that analyze, interpret, or evaluate a phenomenon using previously published primary sources. In the sciences, one common example of a secondary source is a review article. This is a publication where the author(s) survey many primary research articles to reach a consensus or recommendation. Examples of secondary review articles include:
Tertiary Sources: these sources that summarize primary and secondary sources to provide an overview and background on a topic. Tertiary sources are intended to inform the general public rather than a professional audience. Examples include but are not limited to:
