Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary sources are the basic materials for conducting original research in a given discipline. For the historian, they include documents such as letters, diaries, autobiographies, newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, eyewitness accounts, photographs and sketches, and census data. For the scientist, primary sources might be notes on an experiment or a sheet of calculations. For the literary critic, the primary source is the text of the poem, play, or story. In the art of argument—the business of the critical essay—fair and compelling evidence is needed in order to substantiate any claim, whether it be the interpretation of a poem or a judgment on a historical figure. Primary sources constitute the best evidence. Original research is only made possible by collection, discovery, and recovery of primary documents and materials.

Secondary sources are books and articles and documentaries that draw on primary sources and interpret them. When you are first researching a topic of interest, the fastest way to come to an understanding of your subject is to read secondary sources. Critical reading of these materials will also give you a sense of how other researchers have approached your research topic, which may give direction to your own argument—either toward or away from established perspectives or conclusions. Academic writing will require you to consult secondary sources to support and direct your own analysis. Most important to the student researcher, good secondary sources will lead you to the primary documents and resources noted in a bibliography or footnote.