Q. I need primary papers/articles for a physiotherapy assignment? How can I identify primary papers?

Here are a few things to look for:

• Article describes a study / intervention (e.g. case study, cohort study, randomised controlled trial).
• Includes sections such as methodology, results, discussion.
• Can be quantitative (looking at numbers) or qualitative (looking at themes).

NOT primary research if:

• Article talks about study but author did not conduct it (e.g. news report, editorial, opinion).
• Authors collect and describe other authors’ work ( e.g. review, systematic review, meta-analysis, meta-synthesis, clinical practice guideline).

Tips for evaluating a source

Once you find a research-based source, read the abstract and/or methodology section and ask yourself who conducted the actual research process to gather the data?

• If the author(s) indicate they gathered the data first-hand by surveying a specific population, creating and running a trial or experiment, conducting a focus group, observing a specific population/task, introducing a specific intervention, etc. they are conducting primary research.

• If the author(s) indicate that they used only data gathered from other people's research studies by reviewing the literature or research, they are conducting secondary research.