Exercise: Tracing a Primary Research Article From Secondary Publications (5 Questions)

Learning Goal: I’m working on a english exercise and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

Please use proper spelling and grammar.

Browse through a recent issue of one of the popular scientific publications such as the science section of the New York Times or Scientific American. Find a short article that looks interesting and is easy to understand.

Look for the following:

• an article that is reporting about a recent study that has been published in a scholarly journal;
• the title of the scholarly journal;
• the name of the study author(s); and
• an indication of when the original study appeared: sometimes the secondary source will say that the research was published in a latest issue of Science or Nature.

With this information, can you find the original study? How would you go about your search? Is it available? Describe your search, from identifying the study in the popular publication to locating it (or not). (If you’re not able to locate the original study, what happened?)

Tip: Don’t describe the popular article or the scientific study. I want to know how you identified the study the popular article referenced and how you went about finding it. If you couldn’t find the study, tell me what you think went wrong.

1. Provide a bibliographic citation for the popular science article, such as the New York Times or Nature.

2. What is the title of the scholarly journal or article mentioned in the popular publication?

3. Is the original study author(s) listed? What is their name(s)?

4. Were you able to find the original study mentioned in the popular article?

5. 5. Describe your search, from identifying the study in the popular publication to locating it (or not). (If you’re not able to locate the original study, what happened?)