A key component of your epidemiology coursework hinges on your understanding of primary and secondary research material. For this class, the definitions are:

• Primary source: A source in which the author(s) discuss the results and analysis from data generated by the author(s). The author(s) conducted the study and report the results through peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, which you can access through the library. For this class, look for information in the results and discussion sections of these articles to cite in your paper.
  • Example article: Prevention of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Through Behavioral Intervention: Results of a Two-Year Controlled Randomized Trial in Minority Women
• Secondary source: A source in which primary research is interpreted and analyzed by an author(s) other than the original researcher. These may include scholarly articles like systematic reviews and meta-analyses. For this class, textbooks and scholarly books are considered secondary sources. 
  • Example article: Gonorrhea Control, United States, 1972-2015, A Narrative Review

No matter what type of source you are using, take care to cite information from the article itself rather than information taken from another source.

In other words, if you find a piece of helpful piece of information in Article A that has an in-text citation or footnote for Article B, check the references list and search for Article B using the library search or Google Scholar. Read Article B yourself to pull the information you need and cite Article B in your paper, not Article A in case it has misrepresented the information in Article B. 

Learn more about primary, secondary, and tertiary sources by clicking the link below: