Skip to Main Content
Douglas College Home

Nursing

Definitions

In nursing research "a primary source...reports on a study, experiment, trial or research project....(and) are usually written by the person(s) who did the research, conducted the study, or ran the experiment, and include hypothesis, methodology, and results" (W Library. Nursing & Health: Primary & Secondary Sources).

 

By contrast a secondary source provides some form of synthesis, analysis or summation of a primary source or set of primary sources.  The purpose here is to add to the body of knowledge on a topic by highlighting what is generally known, identifying gaps in the research and/or critiquing poorly conducted or biased research.

Primary Sources: Examples

Primary Sources include:

 

  • studies / original research projects
  • participant surveys (e.g., not surveys of the literature)
  • clinical trials
  • randomized controlled trials
  • dissertations
  • research datasets

 

Potential Sources - scholarly/academic article databases such as:
 

Secondary Sources: Examples

Secondary Sources include:
 

  • Reviews of existing literature, e.g., scoping reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses
  • Newsletters and professional news sources
  • Practice guidelines & standards
  • Clinical care notes
  • Patient education Information
  • Government & legal Information
  • Textbooks
  • Entries in nursing or medical encyclopedias

 

Potential Sources

 

For scholarly resources such as systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews etc - see the scholarly databases listed in the Primary Sources box above AND
 

 

For non-scholarly sources, see the Grey Literature page in this guide.
 

  • Note, CINAHL is not exclusively for scholarly research - it also provides "evidence-based care sheets, research instruments, continuing education modules, and quick lessons in diseases and conditions."
     
  • Use OneSearch on the library homepage to find nursing textbooks, handbooks and encyclopedias.
Subjects: Nursing