The term is widely used in health research, legal research and market research. The principal methodology in health secondary research is the systematic review, commonly using meta-analytic statistical techniques, but other methods of synthesis, like realist reviews and meta-narrative reviews, have been developed in recent years. Such secondary research uses the primary research of others typically in the form of research publications and reports.

In a market research context, secondary research is taken to include the reuse, by a second party, of any data collected by a first party, such as telephone interviews or surveys.

In archaeology and landscape history, secondary research is the reinterpretation of observations from fieldwork

Secondary research involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research. Secondary research is contrasted with primary research in that primary research involves the generation of data, whereas secondary research uses primary research sources as a source of data for analysis.

 A notable marker of primary research is the inclusion of a "methods" section, where the authors describe how the data was generated.

Common examples of secondary research include textbooks, encyclopedias, news articles, review articles, and meta-analyses.

When conducting secondary research, authors may draw data from published academic papers, government documents, statistical databases, and historical records.