Some definitions:
Original materials on which other research is based.
Usually the first formal appearance of results in the print or electronic literature.
Present information in its original form, neither interpreted nor condensed nor evaluated by other writers.
Are from the time period (for example, something written close to when what it is recording happened is likely to be a primary source.)
Present original thinking, report on discoveries, or share new information.
Some examples:
Scientific journal articles reporting experimental research results
Proceedings of Meetings, Conferences and Symposia.
Technical reports
Dissertations or theses (may also be secondary)
Internet communications on email, listservs, and newsgroups
In science, secondary sources are those which simplify the process of finding and evaluating the primary literature. They tend to be works which repackage, reorganize, reinterpret, summarise, index or otherwise "add value" to the new information reported in the primary literature.
Some Definitions:
Describe, interpret, analyze and evaluate the primary sources.
Comment on and discuss the evidence provided by primary sources.
Are works which are one or more steps removed from the event or information they refer to, being written after the fact with the benefit of hindsight.
Some examples:
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
Handbooks and data compilations
Journal articles, particularly in disciplines other than science (may also be primary)
Monographs (other than fiction and autobiography)
Newspaper and popular magazine articles (may also be primary)
Review articles and literature reviews
Textbooks
Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources
Written by Ward Saylor & Helen Hooper for Information and Research Support, within the Information Services program of the Academic Support Division at James Cook University, July, 2000.
It can be difficult to tell the difference between original research articles and review articles. You can use this chart to help you.
You can also read the article abstract for clues. If you see phrases such as "we tested" and "in our study, we measured", it will tell you that the article is reporting on original research.
What are primary sources?
Primary sources are the “raw data of scholarship” and vary widely depending upon the academic discipline). In the Social Sciences and Humanities, primary sources are usually original materials or testimonies created contemporaneous to the event or individual being researched. Primary sources are created by persons or organizations who witness an event as it unfolds. Therefore, these sources contain first-hand accounts from those with direct knowledge and experience of a particular historical event, figure, or original experiments.
Examples of primary sources might include records, unpublished reports, letters, memorandums, photographs and images, video footage, diaries and journals, speeches, maps, statistics, information found in newspapers, and artifacts. Primary sources can also take shape well after an event occurred in the form of autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories.
Evaluating Primary Sources
Scholars and students turn to primary sources for evidence that supports their hypotheses. Primary sources help answer questions about what happened and why. When researching primary sources, think about what you already know and how primary sources relate to, support, or refute that information. Pose the following questions to help make sense of primary sources:
A primary source contains first-hand reporting of an historical event. The individual witnessed the event and records it at that time or somewhat later. When searching the online catalog try one of these keywords: autobiographies, correspondence, diaries, letters, memoirs, or personal narratives. Remember to add the research topic to the search, for example "suffrage."
Primary sources may include:
A secondary source is removed in time from the historical event and is not a first-hand report of it. It might be a commentary on the event, an analysis, research, or a review of it.
Secondary sources may include: