Primary sources are original materials, including firsthand accounts of events, such as:
Primary sources also include creative works of art and literature, such as the following:
In the Humanities, primary sources include creative works of literature and the visual arts. Examples of primary sources in the Social Sciences include autobiographies, case studies, diaries, and journals of persons living in a specific time period.
Primary sources are located in libraries and archives (both print and digital), journals, newspapers, and recordings. As a student working with primary sources, you will be providing commentary, analysis, and evaluation of primary source materials.
Secondary sources discuss, analyze, comment upon, interpret, evaluate, and/or summarize primary sources. Secondary sources:
Examples of secondary sources include:
When you use secondary sources in your research, you need to provide citations for them.
