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BIOL 354 - Principles of Ecology (Taniguchi)

This guide will help you find the resources you need for your BIOL 354: Ecology Lab Research Paper

Peer-Reviewed Articles: Primary or Review?

For your assignment, you are required to find and use a minimum of five (5) peer-reviewed, primary literature articles related to your experiment examining intra-specific competition in plants. Within your paper, most of your citations will occur in the Introduction and Discussion sections, as well as possibly the Methods section. 

What is the difference between primary and review articles? The main difference is the degree of separation the authors have from an actual experiment and/or study taking place. In a primary article, the authors are the same people who conducted the research and are writing about what they learned firsthand. In a review article, the authors are asking a question and answering it by reading primary articles written on this topic - they report on the results of experiments/studies secondhand, which is why review articles are sometimes called secondary sources. 

  Primary (sometimes also called "Empirical") Review (sometimes also called "Secondary")
Audience other scholars/researchers other scholars/researchers
Purpose the authors are reporting on an experiment/study that they themselves have conducted the authors are asking a question and answering it by consulting other published research on the topic
Structure very structured, typically with an IMRAD format (introduction, methods, results, analysis & discussion) very structured, but sections may be labeled by theme and not necessarily with a methods/results/discussion section
Methods the methods section will describe how the experiment was conducted the methods section will describe the types of articles the authors consulted and where they found these articles
Review blind reviewed by other scholars  blind reviewed by other scholars
Examples Zhai, L.C., Xie, R.Z., Ming, B., & Li, S.K., Ma, D.L. 2018. Evaluation and analysis of intraspecific competition in maize: A case study on plant density experiment. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 17(10), 2235-2244. doi:10.1016/S2095-3119(18)61917-3 Ehlers, B.K., Damgaard, C.F., & Laroch, F. 2016. Intraspecific genetic variation and species coexistence in plant communities. Biology Letters, 12(1), 20150853. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0853