these are examples of primary sources of research literature

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What Is a Primary Source?

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In research and academics, a primary source refers to information collected from sources that witnessed or experienced an event firsthand. These can be historical documents , literary texts, artistic works, experiments, journal entries, surveys, and interviews. A primary source, which is very different from a secondary source , is also called primary data.

The Library of Congress defines primary sources as "the raw materials of history—original documents and objects which were created at the time under study," in contrast to secondary sources , which are "accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience," ("Using Primary Sources").

Secondary sources are often meant to describe or analyze a primary source and do not give firsthand accounts; primary sources tend to provide more accurate depictions of history but are much harder to come by.

Characteristics of Primary Sources

There are a couple of factors that can qualify an artifact as a primary source. The chief characteristics of a primary source, according to Natalie Sproull, are: "(1) [B]eing present during the experience, event or time and (2) consequently being close in time with the data. This does not mean that data from primary sources are always the best data."

Sproull then goes on to remind readers that primary sources are not always more reliable than secondary sources. "Data from human sources are subject to many types of distortion because of such factors as selective recall, selective perceptions, and purposeful or nonpurposeful omission or addition of information. Thus data from primary sources are not necessarily accurate data even though they come from firsthand sources," (Sproull 1988).

Original Sources

Primary sources are often called original sources, but this is not the most accurate description because you're not always going to be dealing with original copies of primary artifacts. For this reason, "primary sources" and "original sources" should be considered separate. Here's what the authors of "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy," from Handbook of Reading Research , have to say about this:

"The distinction also needs to be made between primary and original sources . It is by no means always necessary, and all too often it is not possible, to deal only with original sources. Printed copies of original sources, provided they have been undertaken with scrupulous care (such as the published letters of the Founding Fathers), are usually an acceptable substitute for their handwritten originals." (E. J. Monaghan and D. K. Hartman, "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy," in Handbook of Reading Research , ed. by P. D. Pearson et al. Erlbaum, 2000)

When to Use Primary Sources

Primary sources tend to be most useful toward the beginning of your research into a topic and at the end of a claim as evidence, as Wayne Booth et al. explain in the following passage. "[Primary sources] provide the 'raw data' that you use first to test the working hypothesis and then as evidence to support your claim . In history, for example, primary sources include documents from the period or person you are studying, objects, maps, even clothing; in literature or philosophy, your main primary source is usually the text you are studying, and your data are the words on the page. In such fields, you can rarely write a research paper  without using primary sources," (Booth et al. 2008).

When to Use Secondary Sources

There is certainly a time and place for secondary sources and many situations in which these point to relevant primary sources. Secondary sources are an excellent place to start. Alison Hoagland and Gray Fitzsimmons write: "By identifying basic facts, such as year of construction, secondary sources can point the researcher to the best primary sources , such as the right tax books. In addition, a careful reading of the bibliography in a secondary source can reveal important sources the researcher might otherwise have missed," (Hoagland and Fitzsimmons 2004).

Finding and Accessing Primary Sources

As you might expect, primary sources can prove difficult to find. To find the best ones, take advantage of resources such as libraries and historical societies. "This one is entirely dependent on the assignment given and your local resources; but when included, always emphasize quality. ... Keep in mind that there are many institutions such as the Library of Congress that make primary source material freely available on the Web," (Kitchens 2012).

Methods of Collecting Primary Data

Sometimes in your research, you'll run into the problem of not being able to track down primary sources at all. When this happens, you'll want to know how to collect your own primary data; Dan O'Hair et all tell you how: "If the information you need is unavailable or hasn't yet been gathered, you'll have to gather it yourself. Four basic methods of collecting primary data are field research, content analysis, survey research, and experiments. Other methods of gathering primary data include historical research, analysis of existing statistics, ... and various forms of direct observation," (O'Hair et al. 2001).

• Booth, Wayne C., et al. The Craft of Research . 3rd ed., University of Chicago Press, 2008.
• Hoagland, Alison, and Gray Fitzsimmons. "History."  Recording Historic Structures. 2nd. ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
• Kitchens, Joel D. Librarians, Historians, and New Opportunities for Discourse: A Guide for Clio's Helpers . ABC-CLIO, 2012.
• Monaghan, E. Jennifer, and Douglas K. Hartman. "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy." Handbook of Reading Research. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
• O'Hair, Dan, et al. Business Communication: A Framework for Success . South-Western College Pub., 2001.
• Sproull, Natalie L. Handbook of Research Methods: A Guide for Practitioners and Students in the Social Sciences. 2nd ed. Scarecrow Press, 1988.
• "Using Primary Sources." Library of Congress .
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Primary Sources: What They Are and Where to Find Them

What is a primary source.

• Finding Primary Sources in the UWRF Library
• Citing Primary Resources

A primary source is an original object or document created during the time under study.   Primary sources vary by discipline and can include historical and legal documents, diaries, letters, family records, speeches, interviews, autobiographies, film, government documents, eye witness accounts, results of an experiment, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, and art objects. In the natural and social sciences, the results of an experiment or study are typically found in scholarly articles or papers delivered at conferences, so those articles and papers that present the original results are considered primary sources.  

A secondary source is something written about a primary source. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material. You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondard source. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that evaluate or criticize someone else's original research.

Research versus Review

Scientific and other peer reviewed journals are excellent sources for primary research sources. However, not every article in those journals will be an article with original research. Some will include book reviews and other materials that are more obviously secondary sources . More difficult to differentiate from original research articles are review articles . Both types of articles will end with a list of References (or Works Cited). Review articles are often as lengthy or even longer that original research articles. What the authors of review articles are doing is analysing and evaluating current research or investigations related to a specific topic, field, or problem. They are not primary sources since they review previously published material. They can be helpful for identifying potentially good primary sources, but they aren't primary themselves. Primary research articles can be identified by a commonly used format. If an article contains the following elements, you can count on it being a primary research article. Look for sections entitled Methods (sometimes with variations, such as Materials and Methods), Results (usually followed with charts and statistical tables), and Discussion . You can also read the abstract to get a good sense of the kind of article that is being presented. If it is a review article instead of a research article, the abstract should make that clear. If there is no abstract at all, that in itself may be a sign that it is not a primary resource. Short research articles, such as those found in Science and similar scientific publications that mix news, editorials, and forums with research reports, may not include any of those elements. In those cases look at the words the authors use, phrases such as "we tested," "we used," and "in our study, we measured" will tell you that the article is reporting on original research.

Primary or Secondary: You Decide

The distinction between types of sources can get tricky, because a secondary source may also be a primary source. DoVeanna Fulton's book on slave narratives, for example, can be looked at as both a secondary and a primary source. The distinction may depend on how you are using the source and the nature of your research. If you are researching slave narratives, the book would be a secondary source because Fulton is commenting on the narratives. If your assignment is to write a book review of Speaking Power , the book becomes a primary source, because you are commenting, evaluating, and discussing DoVeanna Fulton's ideas.

You can't always determine if something is primary or secondary just because of the source it is found in. Articles in newspapers and magazines are usually considered secondary sources. However, if a story in a newspaper about the Iraq war is an eyewitness account, that would be a primary source. If the reporter, however, includes additional materials he or she has gathered through interviews or other investigations, the article would be a secondary source. An interview in the Rolling Stone with Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes would be a primary source, but a review of the latest Black Crowes album would be a secondary source. In contrast, scholarly journals include research articles with primary materials, but they also have review articles that are not, or in some disciplines include articles where scholars are looking at primary source materials and coming to new conclusions.

For your thinking and not just to confuse you even further, some experts include tertiary sources as an additional distinction to make. These are sources that compile or, especially, digest other sources. Some reference materials and textbooks are considered tertiary sources when their chief purpose is to list or briefly summarize or, from an even further removed distance, repackage ideas. This is the reason that you may be advised not to include an encyclopedia article in a final bibliography.

The above material was adapted from the excellent explanation written by John Henderson found on Ithaca College's library website http://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/primary and is used with permission.

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Primary Sources Definition

What are primary sources .

Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to the truth of what actually happened during an historical event or time period. Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied.  A primary source (also called original source ) is a document, recording, artifact, or other source of information that was created at the time under study, usually by a source with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic.

Similar definitions are used in library science , and other areas of scholarship. In journalism, a primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation, or a document created by such a person. Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources , which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources, though the distinction is not a sharp one.

Newspaper Research

• Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window Includes the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Christian Science Monitor, and more. Newspapers are in PDF format and provide a visual representation of the newspaper.
• ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window Includes both newspapers and scholarly journals
• Historical Newspapers The Guardian and The Observer Search The Guardian (1821-2003) and its sister paper, The Observer (1791-2003)
• New York Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window Access New York Newspaper Archives and discover stories of the past with NewspaperArchive.com. The archive covers New York history from 1753-2023, with lots of content from smaller, local newspapers. Articles have been scanned as PDFs and include images and advertisements, and are full text searchable.
• America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window America's Historical Newspapers includes articles from local and regional American and Hispanic American newspapers from all 50 states. Coverage dates from 1690 to the early 20th century. Articles have been scanned as PDFs and include images and advertisements, and are full text searchable.
• American Periodicals Series Online This link opens in a new window includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century, 1740-1940.
• Times Digital Archive (London) This link opens in a new window Provides full-text access to back issues of The Times newspaper. Dates of coverage: 1785 to 2006.
• Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 This link opens in a new window Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 provides access to searchable digitized copies of newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries for a Hispanic readership. It features hundreds of monolingual and bilingual newspapers in Spanish and English, including many obscure titles from the 19th century.
• Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window Full text of 300+ U.S. and international news sources. Includes coverage of 150+ major U.S. and international newspapers such as The New York Times and the Times of London, plus hundreds of other news sources and news wires.
• Access World News This link opens in a new window Access World News provides the html full text and, for some titles, the pdf "as printed" visual representation, of articles from a variety of national and international news sources, including newspapers, digital-native news websites, television and radio transcripts, blogs, college and university newspapers, journals, magazines, and some audio and video. Most international titles are English language. Dates of coverage vary from title to title, but primarily span the late 20th century to present.

The Billy Rose Theatre Collection

TITLE: [Scene from Othello with Paul Robeson as Othello and Uta Hagen as Desdemona, Theatre Guild Production, Broadway, 1943-44]   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robeson_Hagen_Othello.jpg SOURCE:Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540

The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts. This image is a work of an employee of the United States Farm Security Administration or Office of War Information domestic photographic units, created during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

• Billy Rose Collection NYPL The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts.
• New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts On this site, you can search The New York Public Library's vast holdings, initiate a research visit, submit a query to an archivist, and access digitized material. Most Broadway shows can be viewed in the special collections. You will need a NYPL library card to view them.
• ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window Thousands of libraries, museums, and archives have contributed nearly a million collection descriptions to ArchiveGrid.
• WorldCat - FirstSearch (OCLC) This link opens in a new window Search for books and more in libraries in the U.S. and around the world. Indicates when NYU Libraries holds a copy of a book and shows you nearby libraries with holdings.
• Internet Archive Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 456 billion archived web pages.
• Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window NYU is currently subscribing 14 collections:African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress; Federal Response to Radicalism; Federal Surveillance of African Americans; Feminism in Cuba - 19th through 20th century archival document; Global Missions and Theology; India from Crown Rule to Republic; Testaments to the Holocaust (Documents and Rare Printed Materials from the Wiener Library, London); The Hindu Conspiracy Cases (Activities of the Indian Independence Movement in the U.S., 1908-1933); The Indian Army and Colonial Warfare on the Frontiers of India; The International Women’s Movement (The Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women’s Association of the USA, 1950-1985); The Middle East Online - Arab-Israeli Relations; The Middle East Online - Iraq; U.S. and Iraqi Relations: U.S. Technical Aid; and, Witchcraft in Europe.

Historical Databases

An advert for P.T. Barnum's "Feejee Mermaid" in 1842 or thereabout. Author: P. T. Barnum or an employee, Source: Newspaper advert commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File:Barnum_mermai... This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

• America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window ndexes literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. The database indexes 1,700 journals and also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. Strong English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages. Publication dates of coverage: 1964 to present.
• Historical Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. Indexes more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages. Publication dates of coverage: 1955 to present.
• Theatre in Context Collection This link opens in a new window O’Dell’s Annals of the New York Stage, the Oxford University Press Companion series, and Greenwood’s American Theatre Companies series are just a few of the many in-copyright sources included in the Theatre in Context Collection. Placed alongside thousands of playbills, posters, photographs, and related theatrical ephemera, users will be able to paint a more comprehensive picture of the life and evolution of dramatic works.
• Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window Contains 1297 sources with 1100 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African-Americans. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters and other fugitive material.
• Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window Provides full-text and full-image access to hundreds of journals published in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and areas of general popular interest. Each periodical is covered back to its first issue, regardless of when it began publication. International in scope, PAO covers periodicals in a number of Western languages.
• Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window Includes the following collections: African American Newspapers, The Civil War Part I. A Newspaper Perspective, The Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalog, Pennsylvania Newspaper Record, South Carolina Newspapers, and The Liberator. ** Within these collections are papers such as The Charleston Mercury, The Christian Recorder, The Colored American, Douglass Monthly, Frederick, Douglass Paper, Freedom's Journal, Godey's Lady's Book, The Liberator, The National Era, The New York Herald, The North Star, The Pennsylvania Gazette, The Pennsylvania Packet, The Maryland Gazette, Provincial Freeman, Richmond Enquirer, The South Carolina Gazette, The Gazette of the State of South Carolina, The South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, The South Carolina and American General Gazette, Weekly Advocate.
• Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. Searchable full text is also available for a subset of the collection.
• Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window Eighteenth Century Journals brings together rare journals printed between 1685 and 1835, primarily in the British Isles (with some publications from India, the Caribbean, and Europe). Users can view and download page images and search transcribed full text for all journals in the collection.
• C19: The 19th Century Index This link opens in a new window C19: The 19th Century Index provides bibliographic coverage of nineteenth-century books, periodicals, official documents, newspapers and archives from the English-speaking world. This database includes the Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals (1824-1900), Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, Palmer's Index to The Times, the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, and more.
• Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 - 1974 This link opens in a new window This resource consists of diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary. With 150,000 pages of material at completion, this searchable collection is a resource for students and scholars researching this period in American history, culture, and politics.
• African American Archives (via Fold3) This link opens in a new window This full text resource offers access to original documents that reveal a side of the African American story that few have seen before.
• African American Experience This link opens in a new window Full-text digital resource exploring the history and culture of African Americans, as well as the greater Black Diaspora. Features access to full-text content from more than 400 titles, 3,000 slave narratives, over 2000 images, 5,000 primary sources, and 250 vetted Web sites.

Letters & Diaries /Oral Histories

• Oral History Online This link opens in a new window Provides in-depth indexing to more than 2,700 collections of Oral History in English from around the world. The collection provides keyword searching of almost 281,000 pages of full-text by close to 10,000 individuals from all walks of life.
• American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window This database contains 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs. Includes 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts such as the letters of Amos Wood and his wife and the diary of Maryland Planter William Claytor. The collection also includes biographies, an extensive bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long.
• British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window Includes 10,000 pages of diaries and letters revealing the experiences of approximately 500 women. The collection now includes primary materials spanning more than 300 years. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
• North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories includes 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information, so providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Contains contemporaneous letters, diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives.
• North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window North American Women's Letters and Diaries includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters.

Gale Primary Sources

• Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window Gale Artemis is a groundbreaking research environment that integrates formerly disparate digital collections to enable innovative research. Gale Artemis provides an unprecedented, seamless research experience that helps students find a starting point, search across a wide array of materials and points in time, and discover new ways to analyze information.

Victorian Popular Culture

• Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window An essential resource for the study of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This innovative portal invites users into the darkened halls, small backrooms and travelling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to the world of magic and spiritualist séances. ** The resource is divided into four self-contained sections: Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema; Music Hall, Theatre and Popular Entertainment; Circuses, Sideshows and Freaks; Spiritualism, Sensation and Magic

Historical Image Collections

commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File:Cushman_in_Ha... , The American actress Charlotte Cushman advertised in William Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Washington Theater in 1861.  Author:Washington Theater, SOURCE:Public Library of Congress. this image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

• American Broadsides and Ephemera This link opens in a new window American Broadsides and Ephemera offers fully searchable images of approximately 15,000 broadsides printed between 1820 and 1900 and 15,000 pieces of ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900. The remarkably diverse subjects of these broadsides range from contemporary accounts of the Civil War, unusual occurrences and natural disasters to official government proclamations, tax bills and town meeting reports. Featuring many rare items, the pieces of ephemera include clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, bill heads, theater and music programs, stock certificates, menus and invitations documenting civic, political and private celebrations.
• Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans, 1639-1800 This link opens in a new window Search or browse the books, pamphlets, broadsides and other imprints listed in the renowned bibliography by Charles Evans.
• Early American Imprints, Series II. Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819 This link opens in a new window Search or browse the books, pamphlets, broadsides and other imprints listed in the distinguished bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker. 1801-1819
• American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Provide digital access to the most comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1691 and 1877. Included digitized images of American magazines and journals never before available outside the walls of the American Antiquarian Society. The collection is available in five series: Series 1 (1691-1820) - Series 2 (1821-1837) - Series 3 (1838-1852) - Series 4 (1853-1865) - Series 5 (1866-1877)

Link to Bobst Special Collections

• NYU Special Collections Bobst Library's Special Collections department houses significant archival resources including materials from the Downtown Collection, which documents New York City's downtown arts scene from the 1970s through the early 1990s. Maria Irene Fornés and Richard Foreman are among the many artists whose materials are housed in the Downtown Collection.
• Fales It is especially strong in English literature from the middle of the 18th century to the present, documenting developments in the novel. The Downtown Collection documents the downtown New York art, performance, and literary scenes from 1975 to the present and is extremely rich in archival holdings, including extensive film and video objects.
• Tamiment One of the finest research collections in the country documenting the history of radical politics: socialism, communism, anarchism, utopian experiments, the cultural left, the New Left, and the struggle for civil rights and civil liberties.

Guide to International Collections

• SIBMAS International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions

Books Containing Primary Source Documents

• The mediaeval stage by Chambers, E. K. (Edmund Kerchever), 1866-1954 Call Number: Online versions avail.
• The Elizabethan stage by Chambers, E. K. (Edmund Kerchever), 1866-1954 Call Number: PN2589 .C4 1965 4 vol. plus online version avail
• The diary of Samuel Pepys by Pepys, Samuel, 1633-1703 Call Number: Avail. online
• A history of theatrical art in ancient and modern times. by Mantzius, Karl, 1860-1921 Call Number: PN2106 .M313 1970 4 vol. also internet access
• Ben Jonson by Ben Jonson Call Number: online access
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Primary Sources Research Guide

• What Are Primary Sources?
• What Are Secondary Sources?
• Examples of Primary & Secondary Sources
• Where to Look for Primary Sources

Get Primary Sources by Subject

Many library subject guides contain sections on primary sources for those subjects. BELOW you can also see a list of research guides that have been tagged "primary sources."

Still have questions? Please get in touch with the librarian for your subject area for more information about specific primary sources in your field.

Defining Primary Sources

• Primary sources are original materials that provide direct evidence or first-hand testimony concerning a topic or event -- firsthand records created by people who actually participated in or remembered an event and reported on the event and their reactions to it.
• Primary sources can be contemporary sources created at the time when the event occurred (e.g., letters and newspaper articles) or later (such as, memoirs and oral history interviews).
• Primary sources may be published or unpublished. Unpublished sources include unique materials (e.g., family papers) often referred to as archives and manuscripts.
• What constitutes a primary source varies by discipline -- see Primary Sources by Discipline below . How the researcher uses the source generally determines whether it is a primary source or not.

*This material is used with permission from the University of Pittsburgh Library's research guide on Primary Sources

Primary Sources by Discipline

The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.

1. In the humanities , a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.

Examples from the humanities:  

Art: painting, photograph, print, sculpture, film or other work of art, sketch book, architectural model or drawing, building or structure, letter,  organizational records, personal account by artist History: artifact, diary, government report, interview, letter, map, news report, oral history, organizational records, photograph, speech, work of art Literature: interview, letter, manuscript, personal account by writer, poem, work of fiction or drama, contemporary review Music: score, sound recording, contemporary review, letter, personal account by composer or musician

2. In the social sciences , the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.  

Examples from the social sciences: 

Anthropology: artifact, field notes, fossil, photograph Business: market research or surveys, anything that documents a corporation's activities, such as annual reports, meeting minutes, legal documents, marketing materials, and financial records. Communication: websites, blogs, broadcast recordings and transcripts, advertisements and commercials, public opinion polls, and magazines (e.g., Rolling Stone ). Economics: company statistics, consumer survey, data series Geography: field notes, census data, maps, satellite images, and aerial photographs. Law: code, statute, court opinion, legislative report Psychology: case study, clinical case report, experimental replication, follow-up study, longitudinal study, treatment outcome study Sociology: cultural artifact, interview, oral history, organizational records, statistical data, survey

3. In the natural sciences , a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results.

Examples in the natural sciences:

Biology, Chemistry, etc: research or lab notes, genetic evidence, plant specimens, technical reports, and other reports of original research or discoveries (e.g., conference papers and proceedings, dissertations, scholarly articles).

*This material is used with permission from the Lafayette College Library research guide on primary sources . Image 1: "Massachusetts Bay Colony 1776"  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Tom Woodward: Flickr Image 2: "data"  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 CyberHades: Flickr Image 3: "Katydid 50x Magnification Wing, Coventry, CT"  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Macroscopic Solutions: Flickr

Examples of Primary Sources

Primary sources typically include such items as:

• manuscripts, letters, first-person diaries, memoirs, personal journals, interviews, speeches, oral histories, and other materials individuals used to describe events in which they were participants or observers. Many of these materials frequently are referred to as " papers ";
• records of government agencies and other organizations, including such documents as parliamentary debates, proceedings of organization meetings, conferences, etc. Many of these materials frequently are referred to as " archives ";
• original documents such as birth certificates, marriage and baptismal registers, wills, trial transcripts, etc.;
• published materials written at the time of the event, including newspapers, news magazines, advertising, cartoons, and other ephemeral publications such as pamplets and flyers;
• contemporary creative works of literature, art, and music, such as novels, paintings, compositions, poems, etc.;
• contemporary photographs, maps, audio recordings, television and radio broadcasts, and moving pictures;
• Internet communications including email, listservs, and blogs;
• statistical and numeric data collected by various government and private agencies, including census data, opinion polls, and other surveys;
• research reports and case studies in the sciences or social sciences;
• artifacts of all kinds such as coins, clothing, fossils, furniture, and musical instruments from the time period under study

Primary sources sometimes can be ambiguous and contradictory, relecting a specific person's opinions and contemporary cultural influences on them. For that very reason such sources are invaluable tools for developing your own interpretations and reaching your own conclusions about what is going on at a point in time.

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• Last Updated: Mar 1, 2024 9:31 AM
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Primary sources.

• What is a Primary Source
• Locating Primary Source Materials
• Using Primary Sources
• Digital Primary Sources
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What is a Primary Source?

Definition of Primary Sources:  

A primary source is a piece of evidence created during the time you are studying. These sources offer an eye-witness view of a particular event. They can be any type of format, as long as you as the researcher are looking for the source's context: Who made this, and what was their perspective? What other sources describe the same events? Whose perspective isn't represented, and where can you find it? What was the world like when this thing was made? With primary sources, you will ask a lot of questions!

Some common types of records used as primary sources include:

• Original Documents , including eyewitness accounts or the first record of events such as diaries, speeches, letters, manuscripts, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, or official records
• Creative Works such as literature, music, art, film, etc.
• Relics or Artifacts such as pottery, furniture, clothing, and buildings
• Data from original research whether statistical or scientific

Remember: you have to find context for your primary sources.

What is a Secondary Source?

Definition of a secondary source:.

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them. Some common types of secondary sources include:

• A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings 
• A history textbook 
• A book about the effects of WWI 
• Biographies
• Encyclopedia articles

Remember: a secondary source is making an argument based on research from other primary and secondary sources.

Primary Sources by Discipline

Different academic disciplines have different definitions of what constitutes a primary source:.

In the Humanities (history, literature, religion), primary sources focus on original documents or accounts contemporary to a specific event or an individual’s life. Terms such as “eyewitness” or “firsthand” are also commonly used to describe these sources. Autobiographical accounts written at a later date are also considered primary sources. Letters, diaries, journal entries, public records as well as contemporaneous newspapers articles offer solid examples of this type of primary source. Fictional works such as short stories or novels written during that specific time period constitute primary documents, too.

In the Arts (art, dance, music, theatre), primary sources are as diverse as the various disciplines in the category. They may include paintings, sculpture, prints, performances, video or audio recordings, scripts, or musical scores. Social Sciences (psychology, sociology, education) place a heavy emphasis on unanalyzed data sets as primary sources. Numerical data sets such as census figures, opinion polls, surveys or interview transcripts constitute this type of raw, uninterpreted data. A researcher’s field notes are also primary sources in the social sciences. In the Sciences (biology, ecology, chemistry), primary source documents focus on original research, ideas, or findings published in academic journals. These articles mark the first publication of such research; and they detail the researcher’s methodology and results. Plant or mineral samples and other artifacts are primary sources as well.

In STEM fields , primary sources may include papers or proceedings from scientific conferences; journal articles sharing original research, technical reports, patents, lab notes, and researcher correspondence or diaries.

Portions borrowed from Berea College Hutchins Library

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Is it a primary source?

Are you using a primary source?

It depends on the questions you're asking!

Primary Resources Presentation Slides

Primary vs. secondary sources, differentiating primary and secondary sources in each discipline.

While primary sources offer a firsthand account, secondary sources are written after the fact. Secondary sources analyze, interpret, explain, or analyze a primary source, event or individual. These resources represent a second publication cycle, tasked with presenting an argument or to persuade the reader.

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What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources for humanities and social sciences : what are primary sources.

• Finding and Using Primary Sources
• Online Primary Sources
• Journals and Magazines
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Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs or oral histories. They enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period to help them understand and interpret the past. (See  definition  from the American Library Association's Reference & User Services Association's History Section.)

Examples of primary sources include diaries, speeches, letters, memos, manuscripts, and other papers; memoirs and autobiographies; records of information collected by government agencies and organizations; published materials (books, magazine and journal articles, newspaper articles) written at the time; photographs, audio recordings, and moving pictures or video recordings; research data; and objects or artifacts. 

Primary sources vary by discipline. In history, primary sources are original records that provide firsthand evidence to understand a historical event or period. In literature, primary sources are the original texts (e.g., novels, short stories, plays, etc.). In the arts, primary sources are original works of art or music. In the natural or social sciences, the results of an experiment or study are typically found in scholarly articles or conference papers; these articles and papers that present original results are considered primary sources.

Primary sources are found in a variety of formats: original documents in archives and libraries; materials reprinted in published sources, such as collections of letters, diaries, or autobiographies; microforms; digitized on the Web, or recordings. This guide emphasizes primary sources available online through library subscription databases and free Web sites.

Some examples of types and formats for primary sources include:

• Books such as personal narratives, memoirs, and autobiographies, collected works, and collections of documents (these may be edited and published after the historical event or time period)
• Journal and magazine articles  
• Newspaper articles  
• Government documents
• Archival sources  such as diaries, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts, and other papers and records of organizations
• Multimedia sources such as photographs, audio recordings, and motion pictures or video recording

Use the above tabs to locate primary sources of these different types and formats. The Online Primary Sources tab/page lists primary sources found in library subscription databases and on free Web sites that are varied in type and do not fit one of the above tab categories.

Secondary sources are any published or unpublished works that are a step removed from original sources, usually describing, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, derived from, or based on primary sources. Some examples of secondary sources are: histories about a topic, works of criticism and interpretation, monographs, textbooks, biographies, dictionaries and encyclopedias, handbooks and manuals, bibliographies, and directories. (See definition from ABC-CLIO Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science.)

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• Last Updated: Mar 4, 2024 12:48 PM
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Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources: A Quick Guide: Primary Sources

• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources

What is a Primary Source?

Here are two definitions that try to capture the elusive nature of primary documents.

A definition from Cornell University:

A definition from Yale University:

"What are primary sources? Primary sources provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic or question under investigation.

They are usually created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later." [ Primary Sources at Yale . Yale University.] Also on this site: Primary Sources come in all shapes and sizes.

A Photograph Can be a Primary Source

Antietam, Md. President Lincoln with Gen. George B. McClellan and group of officers. [October 3, 1862] Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882, photographer. Source : Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Online Collections of Primary Sources: Examples

• Library of Congress. Digital Collections. Washington: Library of Congress, National Digital Library Program, 1994- .
• History: Primary Sources Databases. Cornell University Library.
• Making of America: The Cornell University Library MOA collection Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, 1996- .
• Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War

Permissions Information

If you wish to use or adapt any or all of the content of this Guide go to Cornell Library's Research Guides Use Conditions to review our use permissions and our Creative Commons license.

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• Last Updated: Oct 16, 2024 3:43 PM
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Archives contain primary sources such as letters, records, and other documents, organized into collections, that can be navigated by finding aids. You may need to first figure out which archive may have collections relevant to your search.

• Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research
• Archives of American Art
• CU Boulder Rare & Distinctive Collections
• DPL Western History Archives

Featured Digital Archives

• The William Blake Archive "A free site on the World Wide Web since 1996, the Blake Archive was conceived as an international public resource that would provide unified access to major works of visual and literary art that are highly disparate, widely dispersed, and more and more often severely restricted as a result of their value, rarity, and extreme fragility."
• W.B. Yeats Collection (C19) Contains the major work of W.B. Yeats in all genres, including poetry, plays, criticism and fiction, collected in 22 volumes.
• The Stainforth Library of Women's Writing "Francis John Stainforth (1797-1866), an Anglican clergyman, owned the largest private library of Anglophone women’s writing collected during the mid-nineteenth century. His library catalog lists 7,122 editions (over 8,000 volumes) authored and edited by more than 3,500 writers, nearly all of whom are women who have been left out of literary and book histories."

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are original artifacts or documents. They are usually defined as first hand information that are communicated by witnesses or participants in past events. They also include original creative works such as poetry, fiction, and plays. Primary sources are characterized not by their format but rather by the information they convey and their relationship to your research question.

Examples of primary sources include, but are not limited to:

About our collections

The first CU Boulder Archive was founded by the History Department in 1918 to collect material related to Western American history. In the 100+ years since, our archival holdings have grown to include around 1700 unique collection, housed within Norlin Library and overseen by the Libraries' Rare and Distinctive Collections team.

These collections comprise:

         - Around 50,000 linear feet of material

        - Over 1,000,000 photographs , slides, and negatives

        - Nearly 5,000 film reels

        - Roughly 12,000 sound and video recordings

....plus maps, posters, published books and periodicals, and many other types of material. 

Our collecting areas have also expanded, often according to the research interests of CU faculty and departments. Our specialty areas now include: 

* Though we hold robust collections of material in these areas, we are not actively collecting new material on these subjects.

In addition, the CU Boulder Libraries holds the Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections , in partnership with the CU Boulder Program in Jewish Studies, which focus on religious, cultural, and social movements of American Judaism since the late 1940s.

In collaboration with the College of Music, we hold the archival collections of the American Music Research Center , with collections related to music of the American West, American popular song, music of the silent film era, swing-era jazz, and New England Colonial tunebooks. 

• CU Boulder Libraries' Rare and Distinctive Collections
• American Music Research Center (AMRC)
• Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections

Digital Primary Sources by Genre

• Multi-Genre
• Essays and Non-Fiction
• Graphic Novels and Comics
• HathiTrust Partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of public domain titles digitized from libraries around the world.
• Early English Books Online (ProQuest) Books, pamphlets, and broadsides printed in Britain and its possessions or in the English language 1473-1700.
• Women Writers Online Collection of works written in English by women and published between 1526 and 1850.
• Adam Matthew Explorer (Adam Matthew) Interdisciplinary sources in social sciences and the humanities, including collections featuring American Indian Histories and Cultures, Africa, Popular Culture in Britain and America 1950-1975, and much more.
• Literary Reference Source (EBSCO) Full-text literary database covering all genres and time periods. Includes synopses, critical essays, book reviews, literary journals and author biographies, plus full-text classic novels, short stories and poems.
• Poetry and Short Story Reference Source (EBSCO) Full-text database containing classic and contemporary poems, short stories, biographies, essays, lesson plans and learning guides. Includes high-quality videos and audio recordings from the Academy of American Poets.

Digitized issues of The New Yorker from 1925-Present.

• English Poetry 2nd Edition (ProQuest) 183,000 poems from the British Isles and the British Empire from the 8th century to the early 20th.
• Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period (ProQuest) Database of work by and about Irish women poets writing between 1768 and 1842.
• Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period (ProQuest) Collection of work by and about Scottish women poets writing in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Literature Online Core (ProQuest) Collection of English and American poetry, drama, and literature, with criticism. From Old English to current literary works.
• PennSound PennSound is an ongoing project, committed to producing new audio recordings and preserving existing audio archives. Strong focus in contemporary American poetry.
• Naropa University: Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics Audio Archive Audio archive of classes and events held at Naropa University, with a strong focus in contemporary experimental poetics.
• Early English Prose Fiction (ProQuest) Collection of fictional prose works from the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Black Short Fiction and Folklore (ProQuest) Works of short fiction produced by Black writers and African writers from the African Diaspora from the earliest times to the present.
• Black Women Writers (ProQuest) Literature and essays on feminist issues, written by authors from Africa and the African diaspora.
• Defining Gender, 1450-1910 (Adam Matthew) Original source material from British and European archives from 1450-1910, organized into thematic areas
• Black Thought and Culture (Alexander Street) Includes the works of Black American leaders in a wide range of disciplines.
• Drama Online (Bloomsbury) Drama Online introduces new writers alongside iconic names in playwriting history, providing contextual and critical background through scholarly works, practical guides, audio and visual material.
• Digital Theatre+ Videos of live theatre performances as well as insights from behind the scenes. Also included are educational resources from leading practitioners and academics.
• Twentieth-Century Drama (ProQuest) Collection of English-language drama covering theatrical performance from the 1890s to the present.
• Twentieth Century North American Drama (Alexander Street) Collection of North American drama covering theatrical performance from the late 1800s to the present, including many rare and previously unpublished works.
• Black Drama Third Edition (Alexander Street) More than 1200 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.
• North American Indian Drama (Alexander Street) Collection of plays representing the stories and creative energies of American Indian and First Nation playwrights of the twentieth century.
• American Drama (ProQuest) American dramatic works from 1714 to 1915.
• English Drama (ProQuest) Collection of plays in verse and prose tracing the development of drama in English, from the medieval mystery cycles to Oscar Wilde.
• World Shakespeare Bibliography Online Database of Shakespeare-related scholarship and theatrical productions published or produced worldwide since 1960
• Shakespeare in Performance (Adam Matthew) Shakespeare in Performance showcases rare and unique prompt books from the world-famous Folger Shakespeare Library. These prompt books tell the story of Shakespeares plays as they were performed in theatres throughout Great Britain, the United States and internationally, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
• Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare (C19) Complete text of 11 major editions of Shakespeare's works, from the First Folio to the Cambridge edition of 1863-66. The collection also includes 24 separate contemporary printings of individual plays, selected apocrypha and related works, and more than 100 adaptations, sequels, and burlesques from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
• North American Women's Drama (Alexander Street) This collection includes full text of 1,500 plays, both published and unpublished, written from Colonial times to the present by more than 100 women from the United States and Canada.
• Audio Drama: The L.A. Theatre Works Collection (Alexander Street) More than 300 works from the L.A. Theatre Works radio theatre company.
• Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels (Alexander Street) Collection of thousands of adult comic books and graphic novels. 200,000 pages of original material alongside interviews, commentary, criticism, and other supporting materials.

Digital Primary Sources by Time Period

• Multi-Period
• Old English
• Middle English
• Early Modern
• 19th Century
• Modern and Contemporary
• Adam Matthew Explorer (Adam Matthew) Searches content across Adam Matthew primary source collections.
• Project Gutenberg Free public domain ebooks, mostly older literary works.
• Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice (Adam Matthew) Primary source documents relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice.
• Indigenous Peoples of North America (Gale) Primary sources from significant collections of Indigenous and American Indian materials.
• Periodicals Archive Online (ProQuest) Archive of articles published around the world, from 1790 forward.
• British And Irish Women's Letters And Diaries (Alexander Street) More than 400 years of personal writings of women from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
• Digital Public Library of America Brings together digital materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States.
• North American Women's Letters and Diaries (Alexander Street) Includes materials from women of diverse ages, ethnicities, and geographical regions, from Colonial times to 1950.
• Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus Database containing at least one copy of every surviving Old English text. In Old English, Middle English, and Latin.
• TEAMS Middle English Texts The TEAMS Middle English Texts are published for TEAMS (The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) in association with the University of Rochester by Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan... The focus is upon literature adjacent to that normally in print, which teachers need in compiling the syllabi they wish to teach.
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (Gale) Books, pamphlets, and broadsides printed in Britain and its possessions or in the English language 1701-1800.
• Eighteenth Century Journals (Adam Matthew) 18th-century newspapers and periodicals.
• Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 Covers every aspect of in 17th- and 18th-century American life.
• Victorian Popular Culture (Adam Matthew) Victorian Popular Culture contains a wide range of source material relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930.
• Nineteenth Century Collections Online (Gale) Sources related to the 19th century aiming to provide an in-depth, global view of the period.
• Everyday Life and Women in America Online, c.1820-1900 (Adam Matthew) Collection of primary sources offering insights into the daily lives of American women from 1800 to 1920.
• Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819 Covers every aspect of early 19th-century American life.
• Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals (C19) Provides author information for each article in 45 major Victorian periodicals, 1824-1900.
• Victorian Women Writer's Project "The Victorian Women Writers Project (VWWP) began in 1995 at Indiana University and is primarily concerned with the exposure of lesser-known British women writers of the 19th century. The collection represents an array of genres - poetry, novels, children's books, political pamphlets, religious tracts, histories, and more."
• 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (Gale) Content from numerous 19th-century American urban and regional newspapers.

Collection containing African American newspapers published during the 19th century.

• London Low Life: Street Culture, Social Reform and the Victorian Underworld (Adam Matthew) This collection will be of interest to 19th century scholars researching working-class culture, street literature, popular music, urban topography, slumming, prostitution, the Contagious Diseases Act, the Temperance Movement, social reform, Toynbee Hall, police and criminality.
• Literary Manuscripts Berg: Victorian Manuscripts from the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection, New York Public Library (Adam Matthew) The Berg Collection contains unpublished poems, working notebooks, holograph manuscripts and drawings of the period.
• Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain (Adam Matthew) This collection documents what life was like for the poorest communities in Victorian Britain, and explores the social reform and philanthropic efforts of charitable institutions that sought to alleviate poverty.
• Caribbean Literature (ProQuest) Poems, drama, novels, stories, and related material from authors from many Caribbean islands.
• Popular Culture in Britain and America, Modules I & II, 19501975 (Adam Matthew) Provides images of manuscripts and rare printed material, photographs, ephemera and memorabilia from the dynamic period of social, political and cultural change between 1950 and 1975.

Historic Newspaper Databases

• ProQuest Historical Newspapers Major U.S. newspapers covering 1764-2016, depending on the paper. Includes New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and dozens more.

Comprehensive source for local, regional and national newspapers in the United States, plus some international sources. Strong source for legal, company (including private), and country research.

• Alternative Press Index Archive (EBSCO) A guide to articles from alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines. Coverage spans1969 through 1990.
• America's Historical Newspapers (Readex) Digital archive of historical American newspapers from 1690 to the early 20th century.
• Times Digital Archive 1785-2019 (Gale) Articles from the Times of London, widely considered to be the world's "newspaper of record." Access content from 1785-2019.
• Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection Historical newspapers from Colorado published from 1859 to 1923.

The New York Times online.  Access note: Log in required. Register for a free account with your colorado.edu email address. Students will have access until graduation date; staff and faculty must renew account every 364 days.

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Primary Sources: What are Primary Sources?

• Primary Sources Online
• How to Find Primary Sources
• How to Work w/ Primary Sources
• What are Primary Sources?

What are primary sources?

What constitutes a primary source varies by discipline.

In the social sciences the terms primary literature and primary data are preferred over primary source . The former imply the results of original research or experimentation, usually gathered in the field and later reported in the peer-reviewed journal literature. Disciplinary examples are too numerous to list but include anthropologists who undertake dirt archaeology and ethnographic fieldwork; education researchers who gather data in the classroom; linguists who record communication patterns in a particular language community; and political scientists who conduct voter polls and surveys. In many social sciences disciplines a fine-grained distinction is made between the primary literature (i.e., the scholarly articles and presentations that report on original research) and the primary data (i.e., the "raw" data collected by researchers through interviews, observations, and survey instruments).

In the arts and humanities primary sources are original, creative works. These include photographs, paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics, textiles and other studio works; original literary creations such as novels, plays, short stories, and poems; musical compositions and performances; and in architecture buildings, complexes, and even whole cities. Art historians greatly prefer, when possible, to study original artworks yet often make do with re-productions. An art historian studying Olmec sculpture, for instance, might work with high-quality illustrations published in an exhibition catalog or found in library databases such as ARTstor. Preferred would be to study Olmec sculptures at the museum. Best of all might be the opportunity to study the sculptures in situ . The latter could be logistically difficult or even impossible if the original archaeological context has been lost.

In history primary sources are "original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data [social scientists' primary data, described above], and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past..." ( Primary Sources on the Web , a website of the History Section of RUSA, American Library Association). Primary sources are available in archives or as re-productions of originals published online or in books widely held by academic libraries.

What are secondary sources?

What constitutes a secondary source is dependent on the discipline but the difference is largely semantic.

In the social sciences a secondary source is based on or written about the primary literature . A secondary source analyzes, editorializes, reports on, or summarizes the primary literature. While secondary sources in the social sciences are sometimes scholarly (e.g., a scholarly book that summarizes a body of primary literature or a review article published in an academic journal), more typically secondary sources in the social sciences appear in credible but popular publications. Examples include general-interest magazines such as Newsweek and Time , highbrow publications such as The Atlantic and New Yorker , newspapers such as The New York Times , and books and websites aimed at non-specialized audiences. The "conversation" social scientists have with one another occurs not in these popular publications but rather within the primary literature .

In the arts , humanities , and history a secondary source is also based on or written about primary sources . A secondary source in the humanities, however, is typically if not always scholarly (e.g., a book aimed at other scholars or an article published in a peer-reviewed journal). Historians, for instance, explore the significance of Thomas Jefferson's writings (i.e., the primary sources) in scholarly books and peer-reviewed journal articles written by and for other scholars .

Scholars in all disciplines work to address unresolved disciplinary problems and questions. At the same time, scholars strive to complicate what is already known. In all cases such "conversations" nearly always occur within the pages of scholarly books (i.e., monographs and edited volumes), and in peer-reviewed journal articles. Students will typically cite these sources in research papers.

What are tertiary sources?

You might encounter a tertiary source, more commonly called a reference work. Two layers removed from the primary evidence, tertiary sources are based on secondary sources. They contextualize or summarize secondary sources or list, index, or in some other way promote their efficient discovery. Reference works provide researchers with the information needed to conduct further research. Types of reference works include bibliographies, biographies, catalogs, chronologies, companions, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, handbooks, and indexes.

Scholars do more than present what is already known. Academics from undergraduates to senior scholars develop cogent arguments in support of their theses. The baseline information contained in encyclopedia articles cannot substitute for original scholarship. This is one reason why reference works are not generally cited in scholars' own bibliographies or reference lists. And yet each type or class of information—primary, secondary, and tertiary—fulfills a critical function in the research process.

Questions about what constitutes or how to find primary sources for your project? Please contact me for help!  

David C. Murray Humanities Librarian [email protected] 609-771-3217

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