Download Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources
There are three types of sources used for writing research papers: primary, secondary, and
tertiary. Knowing how to distinguish among them is an indispensable skill in academic writing.
Primary Sources
Primary sources offer firsthand information about the subject under discussion.
Examples of primary sources include novels, films, visual art, musical scores, diaries, letters,
artifacts, legal documents, eyewitness accounts, and the first published reports of data derived
from empirical research.
Consult primary sources to explore your topic. Interpret and analyze them to formulate your
main argument and to gather direct evidence for your claim.
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources provide analyses of primary sources. They help you understand and evaluate
primary source material. Use secondary sources to situate your research within a larger context,
keep up with current theory, find models for your research, and discover other viewpoints and
alternative theories. Most importantly, use secondary sources to support your interpretation of
primary texts or to refute those who disagree with your opinion.
Examples of secondary sources include scholarly books and articles written for research
purposes as well as specialized reference works.
Because the authors of scholarly secondary sources assume that you have studied your subject
already, their analyses are often complex. If you have only an elementary understanding of your
topic, begin your research with tertiary sources.
Tertiary Sources
Tertiary sources furnish summaries of or commentaries on secondary sources. Use tertiary
sources to gain a general overview and better understanding of your topic and to weed through
large amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Consult them for research purposes only
and not for evidence to support your analysis.
Examples of tertiary sources include textbooks, magazines, and reference books written for the
general public. Dictionaries and encyclopedias are considered tertiary sources unless they
provide scholarly analyses. Only then can they be relied on as secondary sources.
The University of Texas at Dallas Writing Center
In compiling your research, consult both primary and secondary sources. If you were to rely only
on secondary sources, your argument would be redundant. It would seem as though you had
nothing new to say and were only capable of repeating the views and opinions of others.





Examples of Primary Sources
William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”
An interview with a World War II
veteran
Three Essays on the Theory of
Sexuality by Sigmund Freud
A letter written by Marilyn Monroe to
Joe DiMaggio
An 18th century quilt

Examples of Secondary Sources
An analysis of “Sonnet 18” written by
Michael Pacholski
¡Mèxico, la patria! by Monica Rankin

Anti-Oedipus by Deleuze and Guattari

Norma Jean: The Life of Marilyn
Monroe by Fred Guiles
A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial
America by Ivor Noel Hume


An interview with a veteran of World War II is a primary source because it provides a firsthand
account of someone who experienced the war, whereas Professor Monica Rankin’s ¡Mèxico, la
patria! is a secondary source because it offers her interpretation of the role that World War II
propaganda played in shaping Mexican culture. The same concept applies to the other examples.
The secondary source provides analysis or context for the primary source.
Source as both Primary and Secondary
In some cases, a source can be both primary and secondary, depending on your topic, your
purpose, and how you will use the source. Take for example an 1850 review of a book published
in 1849. The review is a secondary source because it presents an analysis of a primary source
(the book). Yet the review is also a primary source because it expresses the cultural perspective
of someone living during the same historical period in which the book first appeared.
A more complex example is Sigmund Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, which
drew in part from his analysis of Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex. In an analytic paper on
Oedipus Rex, Freud’s book could serve as a secondary source. In an analysis that considers
Freudian theory, however, his book could serve as a primary source because it produced a new
theory important to his development of psychoanalysis, an entirely new discipline of study.
2
The University of Texas at Dallas Writing Center
Contact
Want to work on using your sources well? Come work with a tutor at the Writing Center! Drop
by or use the information below to contact us and set up an appointment.
(972) 883-6736 [email protected]
www.UTDallas.edu/StudentSuccess/Writing
3
The University of Texas at Dallas Writing Center