Primary vs. Secondary vs. Tertiary Sources
- · An information source can be categorized by the type of information it contains.
- · Sources are usually classified as primary, secondary or tertiary.
Primary Sources
- Provide direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art
- In fields such as literatures studies, the arts, and history, primary sources are original works:
- In the natural and social sciences, primary sources are often empirical studies - research where an experiment was performed or a direct observation was made. The results of empirical studies are typically found in:
- Scholarly articles (that contain original research
Secondary Sources
- Describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources
- Use secondary sources to:
- Keep up with the current research
- Find other points of views
- Find models for your own research and analysis
- Examples:
- Journal articles (that discuss or evaluate someone else’s original research
- Book or movie reviews
- Specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries
Tertiary Sources
- Contain information that has been compiled from primary and secondary sources
- Examples
- Almanacs
- General encyclopedias and dictionaries
- Guidebooks and manuals
- Abstracts and indexes
Scholarly vs Popular Sources
- “Scholarly” or “popular” are terms used to describe a source’s author, purpose, content, audience, citations, and more.
- Scholarly Sources
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Written by experts for experts
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Generally, but not always peer-reviewed prior to publication
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Based on or contain original research or intellectual inquiry
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Use more scholarly or technical language
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Include comprehensive citations and references
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Useful for supporting research arguments
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Usually are longer, about 10-30 pages
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Examples:
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Popular Sources
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Written by the general public
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Not peer-reviewed
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Contain general interest stories which may refer to research but do not contain original research
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Use simple, everyday language
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Rarely include citations
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Useful for getting ideas for a topic or for background and anecdotal information
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Tend to be shorter, about 200 words to a few pages
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Examples:
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Other kinds of sources:
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Grey Literature refers to “reports, conference proceedings, preprints, working papers, theses, dissertations, personal communications, technical reports” and other ephemeral scientific sources, often published by government, business or academic organizations. This kind of literature can be key for emerging research and alternative perspectives.
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Government Publications can be “important sources for state, federal, and international perspectives on official government proceedings of all kinds.”
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Tertiary Sources refer to encyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks and other reference materials that provide broad overviews of particular topics.
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Trade Literature refers to journals, websites, newsletters and other sources aimed at professionals in a particular field.
Glossary of Formats of Published Materials
Adapted from Graduate Guide to LPC Library – Types of Sources by Life Pacific College (2017)
Case Study – A case study may be published as a journal article or as an entire monograph. A case study is the detailed report and evaluation of some event or organization.
Conference Report or Proceedings – A conference report or proceeding is a written form of a presentation or all the presentations given at a conference. These are often edited versions of the oral presentation. It is not uncommon to see a journal article that is nearly the same as a conference report from a year or two earlier.
Journal (trade or scholarly) – A journal is a periodical that is meant for a specific audience and is typically for educational purposes. A trade journal is intended for people that work in that industry. A scholarly journal is one that is intended for academics (students, professors, and independent scholars).
Literature Review – A literature review is an extended writing that focuses on summarizing the state of research in one area. The review itself is often a summary of as many of the articles and books written over a certain timeframe. This is a great way to create a bibliography of works on a subject.
Magazine – A magazine is a periodical that is meant for a general audience and is typically for entertainment or hobby.
Monograph – A monograph is a writing (graphe) on one (monos) subject. A detailed book about one subject is a monograph.
Periodical – A periodical is a written source that is issued/published periodically. Newspapers are published daily, journals and magazines may be published monthly or quarterly, and some reports or government papers are issued annually.
Reference – Reference are books that are used for quick introductory research, not in-depth. Reference materials include dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, atlases, and such. They are often produced by many people under the direction of one general editor.
Serial – A serial publication is one that is meant to be viewed as one work that is published in many parts. The time between publications may vary, but all the parts are meant to be taken as a whole. The word “series” may appear in the subtitle if it is a book series.
Theses and Dissertations – Theses are papers written at the end of either a Masters degree or doctorate. A dissertation is typically the name for the paper at the end of a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) program. These papers are very detailed, have great depth of research and typically are very current in their research.
White Paper – A white paper is a document which intends to persuade the reader to the point of view of the author. Typically a white paper is a proposal about a change and it includes the logic and evidence to support that idea. White papers can be government documents or business proposals from other organizations.
Working Paper – A working paper is an early version of a future publication. It is not uncommon for a researcher to “publish” a working paper announcing their research ideas in hopes of receiving critical responses. Those responses will be taken into consideration and answered in the final published journal article. Often similar to a paper delivered at a conference.