Typically, Primary journal articles will have a common structure that includes:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methods/Methods & Materials
- Resultts
- Discussion
- Conclusion.
Secondary/Review articles frequently contain many of the same sections but frequently will not have a Methods or Methods & Materials section. If they do, they will discuss how the articles to be reviewed were found and selected.
Look for a Methods or Methods and Materials Section as a quick check to see if an article may be primary. Read this section to see if the researchers are talking about their new research.