ABSTRACT
This chapter teaches people how to be an informed consumer of the scientific literature in exercise science. Typically, scientific literature undergoes a peer-review process, whereas nonscientific literature is usually not reviewed. Primary references are the basic and applied research articles that present the purpose, methods, results, and conclusions of a scientific research study. In contrast, secondary references include review articles and academic book or textbook chapters. Popular magazines, newspapers, Internet websites, and many social media posts are published sources of nonscientific literature in exercise science. As stated previously, a primary reference is a research study that is designed to answer a specific research questions. In many cases, these studies are referred to as original investigations. Although there are exceptions to this general format, most primary references have seven sections: Abstract; Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; and References.
