1.4 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources

Types of Scholarly Sources

Now that we know the difference between scholarly and non scholarly sources, it is important to know the different types of scholarly sources.

Scholarly sources can be primary, secondary or tertiary sources.

Primary Sources

Primary sources present original findings or research. Authors describe their research and their conclusions

– Journal articles describing original research

– Theses and dissertations

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources analyze, summarize or synthesize original research. They comment on information presented in primary sources

– Review articles (often have review in the title)

– Books (including textbooks)

Note: Biotech companies often have review articles on their websites. Though they are designed to sell products, they can contain useful information and figures. This type of review article is also considered to be grey literature (see end of page for more information).

Tertiary Sources

Tertiary sources index, abstract, organize, compile, or digest other sources

– Dictionaries and encyclopedias

– Handbooks and guidebooks

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What Source Should You Use?

It is important to know when to use each type of scholarly source:

Primary Sources – Use primary sources to provide credible evidence for your arguments and to back up specific claims. As primary sources provide authoritative, first-hand research information, they are important to use in your work.

Secondary Sources – Use secondary sources to gain an overview of your topic. As secondary resources summarize or synthesize a number of primary resources, they are useful to understand the various aspects of your research topic.

Tertiary Sources – Tertiary sources are used to provide technical information or general background information. Refer to tertiary sources when need definitions or basic information about a topic.