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{{selfref|For the use of this term in Wikipedia's policies, see [[Wikipedia:No original research#Primary, secondary, and tertiary sources|Wikipedia:No original research]].}}
{{short description|Document that discusses information originally presented elsewhere}}
{{selfref|For Wikipedia's policy on the use of secondary sources, see [[Wikipedia:No original research#Secondary]].}}
{{Distinguish|Second source|Secondary sector of the economy}}
[[File:HasekuraBookItalian.jpg|thumb|250px|Scipione Amati's ''History of the Kingdom of Woxu'' (1615), an example of a secondary source]]


Primary source
In [[Scholarly method|scholarship]], a '''secondary source'''<ref name=UMD>"[http://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=327327&p=2195975 Primary, secondary and tertiary sources]". University Libraries, University of Maryland.</ref><ref name=JCU_2>"[http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/secondary Secondary sources] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106172448/http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/secondary |date=2014-11-06 }}". James Cook University.</ref> is a [[document]] or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a [[primary source|''primary'', or ''original'', source]] of the information being discussed. A primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation or it may be a document created by such a person.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This wall painting found in the Roman city of Pompeii is an example of a primary source


Primary source[1][2] is a term used in a number of disciplines. In historiography, a primary source (also called original source) is a document, recording or other source of information (paper, picture,....etc) that was created at the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.[3]
A secondary source is one that gives information about a primary source. In a secondary source, the original information is selected, modified and arranged in a suitable format. Secondary sources involve [[generalization]], [[analysis]], interpretation, or [[evaluation]] of the original information.  
 
The Danish historian Olden-Jørgensen (2001, p. 74) writes:
 
    Another of Kristian Erslev's rules of thumb is to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. This differentiation should not be mixed up with the English expression "primary sources" and "secondary sources", which designates (printed and non-printed) sources, respective (secondary) literature. Neither should it be mixed up with the classification into firsthand and second hand witnesses, i.e. eye- and ear-witnesses on the one hand and on the other hand others, which have their knowledge from firsthand witnesses, from other secondhand witnesses or who have copied others writings.
    A primary source is a source which are not based on any other existing or kept source (but perhaps on lost sources). (Translated from Danish by BH)
 
Similar (but not identical) definitions are used in library science, and other areas of scholarship. A primary source could be a first-handed source from the past including diaries or artifacts. Primary sources have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.[4][5] Primary sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study."[6] They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere.[7] They serve as an original source of information or new ideas about the topic. Primary and secondary, however, are relative terms, and a given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.[8]
Contents
[hide]
 
    * 1 Source classification
    * 2 The significance of source classification in various disciplines
          o 2.1 History and historiography
          o 2.2 Other fields
    * 3 Finding primary sources
    * 4 Using primary sources
    * 5 Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
    * 6 Forgeries
    * 7 See also
    * 8 Notes
    * 9 References
    * 10 External links
 
[edit] Source classification
 
Many sources can be considered either primary and secondary, depending on the context in which they are used.[9] Moreover, the distinction between primary and secondary sources is subjective and contextual,[10] so that precise definitions are difficult to make.[11] For example, if a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion, but a secondary source of information found in the old documents.[citation needed] Other examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary[12] or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic.[13]
 
Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field.[14] For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source, but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary".[15]
 
For some authors, the primary nature of a source may also derive from the fact that no copy of an original source material exists, and it is the oldest extant source for the information cited.
 
Another use is: In the cases in which a printed version of a document is made from an electronic version the electronic version may be termed the primary document.
 
[16]
 
[edit] The significance of source classification in various disciplines
 
[edit] History and historiography
 
The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.[citation needed] In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[17] In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[18] Many historians believe that primary sources have the most objective connection to the past, and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources.[19]
 
Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher Hayden White has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.[citation needed]
 
As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.[citation needed]
 
[edit] Other fields
 
In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[20] Though the terms primary source and secondary source originated in historiography[citation needed] as a way to trace the history of historical ideas, it has been applied to many other fields. For example, this idea may be used to trace the history of scientific theories, literary elements, and other information that is passes from one author to another.
 
In scientific literature, a primary source is the original publication of a scientist's new data, results, and theories. In political history, primary sources reflect documents such as official reports, speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns, and eyewitness accounts. In the history of ideas or intellectual history, the main primary sources are books, essays and letters written by intellectuals.
 
A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In a broader sense primary sources also include physical objects like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three main types.[21]
 
    * Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes), but include diaries, films, biographies, leading philosophical works, scientific works, and so on.
    * Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
    * Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births, tax records, and so on.
 
In the study of historiography, when the study of history is itself subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For a biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources.[22]
 
The Lafayette College Library, for example, provides the following synopsis of primary sources in several basic areas of study:
 
    "The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.
 
        * In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
        * In the social sciences, the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.
        * In the natural sciences, a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results."[23]
 
[edit] Finding primary sources
 
Although many documents that are primary sources remain in private hands, the usual location for them is an archive. These can be public or private. Documents relating to one area are usually spread over a large number of different archives. These can be distant from the original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses a large number of documents from the United Kingdom.
 
In the US, digital primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several online Digital Collections where they can be retrieved. Examples of these are American Memory and the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). The National Archives and Records Administration also has such a tool, called Access to Archival Databases (AAD).
 
In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalogue and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of the available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland. Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own on-line catalogues. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents.
 
In the Republic of Ireland, available digital documents include the censuses of 1901 and 1911 which are available from the National Archives of Ireland.
 
In Australia, the National Archives of Australia has digitised a number of classes of records and will produce digitised copies of suitable documents on demand.
 
[edit] Using primary sources
 
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history.".[24] Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources created by the people involved, at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only documents relating to an event or person in the distant past were written decades or centuries later. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
 
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.[25]
 
However, primary sources - particularly those from before the 20th century - may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous and very difficult to analyse and interpret."[26] Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among the traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, The interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, however advanced self-study or informal training is also possible.
 
The following questions are asked about primary sources:
 
    * What is the tone?
    * Who is the intended audience?
    * What is the purpose of the publication?
    * What assumptions does the author make?
    * What are the bases of the author's conclusions?
    * Does the author agree or disagree with other authors of the subject?
    * Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the issue?
    * Where was the source made? (questions of systemic bias)
 
In education, these are sometimes known as the five W's - who, what, when, where and why
 
[edit] Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
 
In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[27] In addition, primary sources avoid the problem inherent in secondary sources, where each new author may distort and put their own spin on the findings of prior cited authors.[28] However, A primary source is not necessarily more authoritative or accurate than a secondary source. There can be bias and simplification of events.
 
    "Original material may be ... prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be."
    —David Iredale[29]
 
These errors may be corrected in secondary sources, which are often subjected to peer review, can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy is important to the future of the author's career and reputation. Historians consider the accuracy and objectiveness of the primary sources they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry (or the online version, a blog), at best, may only reflects one individual's opinion on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete. Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports (deliberately or unconsciously) to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create a narrative that may not be accurate.[30] For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias.[31] As an example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it can be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. The facts can be distorted to present the opposing sides in a negative light. Barristers are taught that evidence in a court case may be truthful, but it may be distorted to support (or oppose) the position of one of the parties.
[edit] Forgeries
 
Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents, purporting to be primary sources. These forgeries have been constructed with the intention of promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity is diplomatics.
 
For centuries the Popes used the forged Donation of Constantine to bolster the secular power of the Papacy. Among the earliest forgeries are Anglo-Saxon Charters. There are a number of 11th and 12th century forgeries produced by monasteries and abbeys to support a claim to land where the original document had been lost (or never existed). One particularly unusual forgery of a primary source was perpetrated by Sir Edward Dering who placed false monumental brasses in a local church.[32] In 1986, Hugh Trevor-Roper "authenticated" the Hitler diaries which proved to be forgeries. Recently, forged documents have been placed within the UK National Archives in the hope of establishing a false provenance. [33] However, historians dealing with recent centuries rarely encounter forgeries of any importance.[34]
 
[edit] See also
 
    * Historiography
    * Source criticism
    * Source literature
    * Source text
    * Historical document
    * Secondary source
    * Tertiary source
    * Original research
    * UNISIST model
 
[edit] Notes
 
  1. ^ Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries
  2. ^ JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources
  3. ^ Handlin (1954) 118-246
  4. ^ "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  5. ^ "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  6. ^ Dalton, Margaret Steig; Charnigo, Laurie (2004), "Historians and Their Information Sources", College & Research Libraries September: 400–25, at 416 n.3, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/crl2004/crlseptember/dalton.pdf , citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003), Occupational Outlook Handbook; Lorenz, C. (2001), "History: Theories and Methods", International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences, 10, Amsterdam: Elsevier, p. 6871 .
  7. ^ Duff, Alistair (1996), "The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction", Library Review 45(4): 14–18, doi:10.1108/00242539610115263  ("A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere.").
  8. ^ Kragh, Helge (1989), An Introduction to the Historiography of Science, Cambridge University Press, p. 121, ISBN 0521389216, http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4  ("[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); Delgadillo, Roberto; Lynch, Beverly (1999), "Future Historians: Their Quest for Information", College & Research Libraries: 245–259, at 253, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf  ("[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); Monagahn, E.J.; Hartman, D.K. (2001), "Historical research in literacy", Reading Online 4(11), http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html  ("[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").
  9. ^ Kragh 1989, p. 121.
  10. ^ Dalton & Charnigo 2004, p. 419 n.18.
  11. ^ Delgadillo & Lynch 1999, p. 253.
  12. ^ Duffin, Jacalyn (1999), History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, University of Toronto Press, p. 366, ISBN 0802079121, http://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&sig=MqWo5GYrCqprFLY9ZZNVJ06CHcs .
  13. ^ Id. at 366.
  14. ^ Henige, David (1986), "Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation", Ethnohistory 33(3): 292–312, at 292, doi:10.2307/481816  ("[T]he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process in the present state of our knowledge. Indeed, in most instances the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.…[H]istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.").
  15. ^ Henige 1986, p. 292.
  16. ^ Kofoed, Jens Bruun (2005), Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, p. 42 ; Ambraseys, Nicholas; Melville, Charles Peter; Adams, Robin Dartrey (1994), The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia, and the Red Sea, Cambridge University Press, p. 7, ISBN 0521391202, http://books.google.com/books?id=dtVqdSKnBq4C&pg=PA7&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=x4m-T2havCkpLwBPOnQdE0Komkg  ("The same chronicle can be a primary source for the period contemporary with the author, a secondary source for earlier material derived from previous works, but also a primary source when these earlier works have not survived.").
  17. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  18. ^ Template:Citationjkjk.
  19. ^ Sreedharan, E. (2004), A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000, Orient Longman, p. 302 }, ISBN 8125026576, http://books.google.com/books?id=AIGq85RVvdoC&pg=PA302&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=eI85xf66d1Lm6gGx6WY5gmFEvYU  ("it is through the primary sources that the past indisputably imposes its reality on the historian. That this imposition is basic in any understanding of the past is clear from the rules that documents should not be altered, or that any material damaging to a historian's argument or purpose should not be left out or suppressed. These rules mean that the sources or the texts of the past have an integrity and that they do indeed 'speak for themselves', and that they are necessary constraints through which past reality imposes itself on the historian.").
  20. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  21. ^ Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier, From Reliable Sources, pp. 20-22.
  22. ^ Cripps (1995)
  23. ^ "Primary Sources: what are they?", Lafayette College Library
  24. ^ Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan ( 1997)
  25. ^ Handlin (1954)
  26. ^ Marwick, Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan (1997)
  27. ^ Cipolla, Carlo M. (1992), Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History, W.W. Norton & Co., p. 27, http://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cipolla&sig=JzRVCCjEZperMP0D1yyRewHRMUU#PPA27,M1 .
  28. ^ Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2004), "Taking Stock of Research Methods and Analysis on Oppositional Political Terrorism", The American Sociologist 35(2): 26–37, doi:10.1007/BF02692395  ("The analysis of secondary source information is problematic. The further an investigator is from the primary source, the more distorted the information may be. Again, each new person may put his or her spin on the findings.").
  29. ^ David Iredale, Enjoying Archives
  30. ^ Sommer and Quinlan (2002)
  31. ^ Library of Congress (2007)
  32. ^ Everyone has Roots: An Introduction to English Genealogy by Anthony J. Camp, published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1978
  33. ^ News | Update on document authenticity
  34. ^ Handlin et al, Harvard Guide to American History (1954) p 22-25
 
[edit] References
 
    * Benjamin, Jules R (2004). A Student's Guide to History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-40356-9.
    * Craver, Kathleen W (1999). Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30749-0.
    * Cripps, Thomas (1995). "Historical Truth: An Interview with Ken Burns". American Historical Review 100 (3): 741–764. doi:10.2307/2168603.
    * Michael Drake and Ruth Finnegan (Eds), Sources and Methods for Family and Community Historians: A Handbook, (Cambridge University Press in conjunction with the Open University, 1997)
    * Wood Gray, Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history (Houghton Mifflin, 1964).
    * Oscar Handlin et al., Harvard Guide to American History (1954)
    * Martha C. Howell and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods (2001)
    * Library of Congress, " Analysis of Primary Sources" online 2007
    * Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page. A Short Guide to Writing About History (5th Edition) (2004)
    * Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual (2002)
 
    * Olden-Jørgensen, Sebastian (2001). Til kilderne! Introduktion til historisk kildekritik. København: Gads Forlag. ("To the sources: Introduction to historical source criticism").
 
[edit] External links
 
    - to primary sources repositories
 
    * EAD Central - search engine designed to locate U.S. history and international primary source documents. Includes specialized searches for finding aids, photographs, genealogical data, presidential papers, manuscripts, artifacts, diaries, letters, science/technology/medicine documents, historiography, museums, exhibits, multicultural items, women, library and archival products, as well as theses and dissertations.
    * Primary Sources from World War One and Two Database of mailed letters to and from soldiers during major world conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two.
    * A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources
    * Find primary sources in the collections of major research libraries using ArchiveGrid
    * Primary Sources - Online news publication featuring articles about primary sources making headlines. Covers major media outlets, local newspapers, and blogs. Includes public polls on issues like presidential records and the sale of the Magna Carta. Discusses trends in technology like digitization, data archiving, and digital preservation.
 
    - to all sources repositories
 
    * Wikisource – The Free Library – is the Wikimedia project that collects, edits, and catalogs all source texts.
 
    - to essays and descriptions of primary, secondary and other sources
 
    * Ithaca College Library - Primary and secondary sources
    * "How to distinguish between primary and secondary sources" from the University of California, Santa Cruz Library
    * "Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources" from James Cook University Library
    * Joan of Arc: Primary Sources Series -- Example of a publication focusing on primary source documents.
    * Finding primary sources from the University of California, Berkeley library
    * "Primary versus secondary sources" from the Bowling Green State University library
    * Finding primary sources in world history
    * Guide to Terminology used when describing archival and other primary source materials.
 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_source"
Categories: Historiography | Information science | Library and information science | Research | Primary sources
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Primary source
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This wall painting found in the Roman city of Pompeii is an example of a primary source
 
Primary source[1][2] is a term used in a number of disciplines. In historiography, a primary source (also called original source) is a document, recording or other source of information (paper, picture,....etc) that was created at the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.[3]
 
The Danish historian Olden-Jørgensen (2001, p. 74) writes:
 
    Another of Kristian Erslev's rules of thumb is to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. This differentiation should not be mixed up with the English expression "primary sources" and "secondary sources", which designates (printed and non-printed) sources, respective (secondary) literature. Neither should it be mixed up with the classification into firsthand and second hand witnesses, i.e. eye- and ear-witnesses on the one hand and on the other hand others, which have their knowledge from firsthand witnesses, from other secondhand witnesses or who have copied others writings.
    A primary source is a source which are not based on any other existing or kept source (but perhaps on lost sources). (Translated from Danish by BH)
 
Similar (but not identical) definitions are used in library science, and other areas of scholarship. A primary source could be a first-handed source from the past including diaries or artifacts. Primary sources have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.[4][5] Primary sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study."[6] They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere.[7] They serve as an original source of information or new ideas about the topic. Primary and secondary, however, are relative terms, and a given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.[8]
Contents
[hide]
 
    * 1 Source classification
    * 2 The significance of source classification in various disciplines
          o 2.1 History and historiography
          o 2.2 Other fields
    * 3 Finding primary sources
    * 4 Using primary sources
    * 5 Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
    * 6 Forgeries
    * 7 See also
    * 8 Notes
    * 9 References
    * 10 External links
 
[edit] Source classification
 
Many sources can be considered either primary and secondary, depending on the context in which they are used.[9] Moreover, the distinction between primary and secondary sources is subjective and contextual,[10] so that precise definitions are difficult to make.[11] For example, if a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion, but a secondary source of information found in the old documents.[citation needed] Other examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary[12] or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic.[13]
 
Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field.[14] For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source, but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary".[15]
 
For some authors, the primary nature of a source may also derive from the fact that no copy of an original source material exists, and it is the oldest extant source for the information cited.
 
Another use is: In the cases in which a printed version of a document is made from an electronic version the electronic version may be termed the primary document.
 
[16]
 
[edit] The significance of source classification in various disciplines
 
[edit] History and historiography
 
The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.[citation needed] In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[17] In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[18] Many historians believe that primary sources have the most objective connection to the past, and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources.[19]
 
Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher Hayden White has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.[citation needed]
 
As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.[citation needed]
 
[edit] Other fields
 
In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[20] Though the terms primary source and secondary source originated in historiography[citation needed] as a way to trace the history of historical ideas, it has been applied to many other fields. For example, this idea may be used to trace the history of scientific theories, literary elements, and other information that is passes from one author to another.
 
In scientific literature, a primary source is the original publication of a scientist's new data, results, and theories. In political history, primary sources reflect documents such as official reports, speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns, and eyewitness accounts. In the history of ideas or intellectual history, the main primary sources are books, essays and letters written by intellectuals.
 
A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In a broader sense primary sources also include physical objects like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three main types.[21]
 
    * Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes), but include diaries, films, biographies, leading philosophical works, scientific works, and so on.
    * Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
    * Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births, tax records, and so on.
 
In the study of historiography, when the study of history is itself subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For a biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources.[22]
 
The Lafayette College Library, for example, provides the following synopsis of primary sources in several basic areas of study:
 
    "The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.
 
        * In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
        * In the social sciences, the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.
        * In the natural sciences, a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results."[23]
 
[edit] Finding primary sources
 
Although many documents that are primary sources remain in private hands, the usual location for them is an archive. These can be public or private. Documents relating to one area are usually spread over a large number of different archives. These can be distant from the original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses a large number of documents from the United Kingdom.
 
In the US, digital primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several online Digital Collections where they can be retrieved. Examples of these are American Memory and the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). The National Archives and Records Administration also has such a tool, called Access to Archival Databases (AAD).
 
In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalogue and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of the available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland. Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own on-line catalogues. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents.
 
In the Republic of Ireland, available digital documents include the censuses of 1901 and 1911 which are available from the National Archives of Ireland.
 
In Australia, the National Archives of Australia has digitised a number of classes of records and will produce digitised copies of suitable documents on demand.
 
[edit] Using primary sources
 
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history.".[24] Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources created by the people involved, at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only documents relating to an event or person in the distant past were written decades or centuries later. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
 
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.[25]
 
However, primary sources - particularly those from before the 20th century - may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous and very difficult to analyse and interpret."[26] Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among the traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, The interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, however advanced self-study or informal training is also possible.
 
The following questions are asked about primary sources:
 
    * What is the tone?
    * Who is the intended audience?
    * What is the purpose of the publication?
    * What assumptions does the author make?
    * What are the bases of the author's conclusions?
    * Does the author agree or disagree with other authors of the subject?
    * Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the issue?
    * Where was the source made? (questions of systemic bias)
 
In education, these are sometimes known as the five W's - who, what, when, where and why
 
[edit] Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
 
In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[27] In addition, primary sources avoid the problem inherent in secondary sources, where each new author may distort and put their own spin on the findings of prior cited authors.[28] However, A primary source is not necessarily more authoritative or accurate than a secondary source. There can be bias and simplification of events.
 
    "Original material may be ... prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be."
    —David Iredale[29]
 
These errors may be corrected in secondary sources, which are often subjected to peer review, can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy is important to the future of the author's career and reputation. Historians consider the accuracy and objectiveness of the primary sources they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry (or the online version, a blog), at best, may only reflects one individual's opinion on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete. Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports (deliberately or unconsciously) to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create a narrative that may not be accurate.[30] For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias.[31] As an example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it can be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. The facts can be distorted to present the opposing sides in a negative light. Barristers are taught that evidence in a court case may be truthful, but it may be distorted to support (or oppose) the position of one of the parties.
[edit] Forgeries
 
Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents, purporting to be primary sources. These forgeries have been constructed with the intention of promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity is diplomatics.
 
For centuries the Popes used the forged Donation of Constantine to bolster the secular power of the Papacy. Among the earliest forgeries are Anglo-Saxon Charters. There are a number of 11th and 12th century forgeries produced by monasteries and abbeys to support a claim to land where the original document had been lost (or never existed). One particularly unusual forgery of a primary source was perpetrated by Sir Edward Dering who placed false monumental brasses in a local church.[32] In 1986, Hugh Trevor-Roper "authenticated" the Hitler diaries which proved to be forgeries. Recently, forged documents have been placed within the UK National Archives in the hope of establishing a false provenance. [33] However, historians dealing with recent centuries rarely encounter forgeries of any importance.[34]
 
[edit] See also
 
    * Historiography
    * Source criticism
    * Source literature
    * Source text
    * Historical document
    * Secondary source
    * Tertiary source
    * Original research
    * UNISIST model
 
[edit] Notes
 
  1. ^ Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries
  2. ^ JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources
  3. ^ Handlin (1954) 118-246
  4. ^ "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  5. ^ "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  6. ^ Dalton, Margaret Steig; Charnigo, Laurie (2004), "Historians and Their Information Sources", College & Research Libraries September: 400–25, at 416 n.3, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/crl2004/crlseptember/dalton.pdf , citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003), Occupational Outlook Handbook; Lorenz, C. (2001), "History: Theories and Methods", International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences, 10, Amsterdam: Elsevier, p. 6871 .
  7. ^ Duff, Alistair (1996), "The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction", Library Review 45(4): 14–18, doi:10.1108/00242539610115263  ("A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere.").
  8. ^ Kragh, Helge (1989), An Introduction to the Historiography of Science, Cambridge University Press, p. 121, ISBN 0521389216, http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4  ("[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); Delgadillo, Roberto; Lynch, Beverly (1999), "Future Historians: Their Quest for Information", College & Research Libraries: 245–259, at 253, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf  ("[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); Monagahn, E.J.; Hartman, D.K. (2001), "Historical research in literacy", Reading Online 4(11), http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html  ("[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").
  9. ^ Kragh 1989, p. 121.
  10. ^ Dalton & Charnigo 2004, p. 419 n.18.
  11. ^ Delgadillo & Lynch 1999, p. 253.
  12. ^ Duffin, Jacalyn (1999), History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, University of Toronto Press, p. 366, ISBN 0802079121, http://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&sig=MqWo5GYrCqprFLY9ZZNVJ06CHcs .
  13. ^ Id. at 366.
  14. ^ Henige, David (1986), "Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation", Ethnohistory 33(3): 292–312, at 292, doi:10.2307/481816  ("[T]he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process in the present state of our knowledge. Indeed, in most instances the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.…[H]istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.").
  15. ^ Henige 1986, p. 292.
  16. ^ Kofoed, Jens Bruun (2005), Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, p. 42 ; Ambraseys, Nicholas; Melville, Charles Peter; Adams, Robin Dartrey (1994), The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia, and the Red Sea, Cambridge University Press, p. 7, ISBN 0521391202, http://books.google.com/books?id=dtVqdSKnBq4C&pg=PA7&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=x4m-T2havCkpLwBPOnQdE0Komkg  ("The same chronicle can be a primary source for the period contemporary with the author, a secondary source for earlier material derived from previous works, but also a primary source when these earlier works have not survived.").
  17. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  18. ^ Template:Citationjkjk.
  19. ^ Sreedharan, E. (2004), A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000, Orient Longman, p. 302 }, ISBN 8125026576, http://books.google.com/books?id=AIGq85RVvdoC&pg=PA302&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=eI85xf66d1Lm6gGx6WY5gmFEvYU  ("it is through the primary sources that the past indisputably imposes its reality on the historian. That this imposition is basic in any understanding of the past is clear from the rules that documents should not be altered, or that any material damaging to a historian's argument or purpose should not be left out or suppressed. These rules mean that the sources or the texts of the past have an integrity and that they do indeed 'speak for themselves', and that they are necessary constraints through which past reality imposes itself on the historian.").
  20. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  21. ^ Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier, From Reliable Sources, pp. 20-22.
  22. ^ Cripps (1995)
  23. ^ "Primary Sources: what are they?", Lafayette College Library
  24. ^ Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan ( 1997)
  25. ^ Handlin (1954)
  26. ^ Marwick, Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan (1997)
  27. ^ Cipolla, Carlo M. (1992), Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History, W.W. Norton & Co., p. 27, http://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cipolla&sig=JzRVCCjEZperMP0D1yyRewHRMUU#PPA27,M1 .
  28. ^ Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2004), "Taking Stock of Research Methods and Analysis on Oppositional Political Terrorism", The American Sociologist 35(2): 26–37, doi:10.1007/BF02692395  ("The analysis of secondary source information is problematic. The further an investigator is from the primary source, the more distorted the information may be. Again, each new person may put his or her spin on the findings.").
  29. ^ David Iredale, Enjoying Archives
  30. ^ Sommer and Quinlan (2002)
  31. ^ Library of Congress (2007)
  32. ^ Everyone has Roots: An Introduction to English Genealogy by Anthony J. Camp, published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1978
  33. ^ News | Update on document authenticity
  34. ^ Handlin et al, Harvard Guide to American History (1954) p 22-25
 
[edit] References
 
    * Benjamin, Jules R (2004). A Student's Guide to History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-40356-9.
    * Craver, Kathleen W (1999). Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30749-0.
    * Cripps, Thomas (1995). "Historical Truth: An Interview with Ken Burns". American Historical Review 100 (3): 741–764. doi:10.2307/2168603.
    * Michael Drake and Ruth Finnegan (Eds), Sources and Methods for Family and Community Historians: A Handbook, (Cambridge University Press in conjunction with the Open University, 1997)
    * Wood Gray, Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history (Houghton Mifflin, 1964).
    * Oscar Handlin et al., Harvard Guide to American History (1954)
    * Martha C. Howell and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods (2001)
    * Library of Congress, " Analysis of Primary Sources" online 2007
    * Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page. A Short Guide to Writing About History (5th Edition) (2004)
    * Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual (2002)
 
    * Olden-Jørgensen, Sebastian (2001). Til kilderne! Introduktion til historisk kildekritik. København: Gads Forlag. ("To the sources: Introduction to historical source criticism").
 
[edit] External links
 
    - to primary sources repositories
 
    * EAD Central - search engine designed to locate U.S. history and international primary source documents. Includes specialized searches for finding aids, photographs, genealogical data, presidential papers, manuscripts, artifacts, diaries, letters, science/technology/medicine documents, historiography, museums, exhibits, multicultural items, women, library and archival products, as well as theses and dissertations.
    * Primary Sources from World War One and Two Database of mailed letters to and from soldiers during major world conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two.
    * A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources
    * Find primary sources in the collections of major research libraries using ArchiveGrid
    * Primary Sources - Online news publication featuring articles about primary sources making headlines. Covers major media outlets, local newspapers, and blogs. Includes public polls on issues like presidential records and the sale of the Magna Carta. Discusses trends in technology like digitization, data archiving, and digital preservation.
 
    - to all sources repositories
 
    * Wikisource – The Free Library – is the Wikimedia project that collects, edits, and catalogs all source texts.
 
    - to essays and descriptions of primary, secondary and other sources
 
    * Ithaca College Library - Primary and secondary sources
    * "How to distinguish between primary and secondary sources" from the University of California, Santa Cruz Library
    * "Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources" from James Cook University Library
    * Joan of Arc: Primary Sources Series -- Example of a publication focusing on primary source documents.
    * Finding primary sources from the University of California, Berkeley library
    * "Primary versus secondary sources" from the Bowling Green State University library
    * Finding primary sources in world history
    * Guide to Terminology used when describing archival and other primary source materials.
 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_source"
Categories: Historiography | Information science | Library and information science | Research | Primary sources
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Primary source
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This wall painting found in the Roman city of Pompeii is an example of a primary source
 
Primary source[1][2] is a term used in a number of disciplines. In historiography, a primary source (also called original source) is a document, recording or other source of information (paper, picture,....etc) that was created at the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.[3]
 
The Danish historian Olden-Jørgensen (2001, p. 74) writes:
 
    Another of Kristian Erslev's rules of thumb is to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. This differentiation should not be mixed up with the English expression "primary sources" and "secondary sources", which designates (printed and non-printed) sources, respective (secondary) literature. Neither should it be mixed up with the classification into firsthand and second hand witnesses, i.e. eye- and ear-witnesses on the one hand and on the other hand others, which have their knowledge from firsthand witnesses, from other secondhand witnesses or who have copied others writings.
    A primary source is a source which are not based on any other existing or kept source (but perhaps on lost sources). (Translated from Danish by BH)
 
Similar (but not identical) definitions are used in library science, and other areas of scholarship. A primary source could be a first-handed source from the past including diaries or artifacts. Primary sources have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.[4][5] Primary sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study."[6] They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere.[7] They serve as an original source of information or new ideas about the topic. Primary and secondary, however, are relative terms, and a given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.[8]
Contents
[hide]
 
    * 1 Source classification
    * 2 The significance of source classification in various disciplines
          o 2.1 History and historiography
          o 2.2 Other fields
    * 3 Finding primary sources
    * 4 Using primary sources
    * 5 Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
    * 6 Forgeries
    * 7 See also
    * 8 Notes
    * 9 References
    * 10 External links
 
[edit] Source classification
 
Many sources can be considered either primary and secondary, depending on the context in which they are used.[9] Moreover, the distinction between primary and secondary sources is subjective and contextual,[10] so that precise definitions are difficult to make.[11] For example, if a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion, but a secondary source of information found in the old documents.[citation needed] Other examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary[12] or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic.[13]
 
Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field.[14] For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source, but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary".[15]
 
For some authors, the primary nature of a source may also derive from the fact that no copy of an original source material exists, and it is the oldest extant source for the information cited.
 
Another use is: In the cases in which a printed version of a document is made from an electronic version the electronic version may be termed the primary document.
 
[16]
 
[edit] The significance of source classification in various disciplines
 
[edit] History and historiography
 
The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.[citation needed] In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[17] In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[18] Many historians believe that primary sources have the most objective connection to the past, and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources.[19]
 
Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher Hayden White has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.[citation needed]
 
As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.[citation needed]
 
[edit] Other fields
 
In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[20] Though the terms primary source and secondary source originated in historiography[citation needed] as a way to trace the history of historical ideas, it has been applied to many other fields. For example, this idea may be used to trace the history of scientific theories, literary elements, and other information that is passes from one author to another.
 
In scientific literature, a primary source is the original publication of a scientist's new data, results, and theories. In political history, primary sources reflect documents such as official reports, speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns, and eyewitness accounts. In the history of ideas or intellectual history, the main primary sources are books, essays and letters written by intellectuals.
 
A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In a broader sense primary sources also include physical objects like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three main types.[21]
 
    * Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes), but include diaries, films, biographies, leading philosophical works, scientific works, and so on.
    * Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
    * Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births, tax records, and so on.
 
In the study of historiography, when the study of history is itself subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For a biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources.[22]
 
The Lafayette College Library, for example, provides the following synopsis of primary sources in several basic areas of study:
 
    "The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.
 
        * In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
        * In the social sciences, the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.
        * In the natural sciences, a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results."[23]
 
[edit] Finding primary sources
 
Although many documents that are primary sources remain in private hands, the usual location for them is an archive. These can be public or private. Documents relating to one area are usually spread over a large number of different archives. These can be distant from the original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses a large number of documents from the United Kingdom.
 
In the US, digital primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several online Digital Collections where they can be retrieved. Examples of these are American Memory and the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). The National Archives and Records Administration also has such a tool, called Access to Archival Databases (AAD).
 
In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalogue and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of the available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland. Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own on-line catalogues. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents.
 
In the Republic of Ireland, available digital documents include the censuses of 1901 and 1911 which are available from the National Archives of Ireland.
 
In Australia, the National Archives of Australia has digitised a number of classes of records and will produce digitised copies of suitable documents on demand.
 
[edit] Using primary sources
 
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history.".[24] Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources created by the people involved, at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only documents relating to an event or person in the distant past were written decades or centuries later. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
 
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.[25]
 
However, primary sources - particularly those from before the 20th century - may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous and very difficult to analyse and interpret."[26] Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among the traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, The interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, however advanced self-study or informal training is also possible.
 
The following questions are asked about primary sources:
 
    * What is the tone?
    * Who is the intended audience?
    * What is the purpose of the publication?
    * What assumptions does the author make?
    * What are the bases of the author's conclusions?
    * Does the author agree or disagree with other authors of the subject?
    * Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the issue?
    * Where was the source made? (questions of systemic bias)
 
In education, these are sometimes known as the five W's - who, what, when, where and why
 
[edit] Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
 
In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[27] In addition, primary sources avoid the problem inherent in secondary sources, where each new author may distort and put their own spin on the findings of prior cited authors.[28] However, A primary source is not necessarily more authoritative or accurate than a secondary source. There can be bias and simplification of events.
 
    "Original material may be ... prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be."
    —David Iredale[29]
 
These errors may be corrected in secondary sources, which are often subjected to peer review, can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy is important to the future of the author's career and reputation. Historians consider the accuracy and objectiveness of the primary sources they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry (or the online version, a blog), at best, may only reflects one individual's opinion on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete. Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports (deliberately or unconsciously) to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create a narrative that may not be accurate.[30] For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias.[31] As an example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it can be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. The facts can be distorted to present the opposing sides in a negative light. Barristers are taught that evidence in a court case may be truthful, but it may be distorted to support (or oppose) the position of one of the parties.
[edit] Forgeries
 
Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents, purporting to be primary sources. These forgeries have been constructed with the intention of promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity is diplomatics.
 
For centuries the Popes used the forged Donation of Constantine to bolster the secular power of the Papacy. Among the earliest forgeries are Anglo-Saxon Charters. There are a number of 11th and 12th century forgeries produced by monasteries and abbeys to support a claim to land where the original document had been lost (or never existed). One particularly unusual forgery of a primary source was perpetrated by Sir Edward Dering who placed false monumental brasses in a local church.[32] In 1986, Hugh Trevor-Roper "authenticated" the Hitler diaries which proved to be forgeries. Recently, forged documents have been placed within the UK National Archives in the hope of establishing a false provenance. [33] However, historians dealing with recent centuries rarely encounter forgeries of any importance.[34]
 
[edit] See also
 
    * Historiography
    * Source criticism
    * Source literature
    * Source text
    * Historical document
    * Secondary source
    * Tertiary source
    * Original research
    * UNISIST model
 
[edit] Notes
 
  1. ^ Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries
  2. ^ JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources
  3. ^ Handlin (1954) 118-246
  4. ^ "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  5. ^ "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  6. ^ Dalton, Margaret Steig; Charnigo, Laurie (2004), "Historians and Their Information Sources", College & Research Libraries September: 400–25, at 416 n.3, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/crl2004/crlseptember/dalton.pdf , citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003), Occupational Outlook Handbook; Lorenz, C. (2001), "History: Theories and Methods", International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences, 10, Amsterdam: Elsevier, p. 6871 .
  7. ^ Duff, Alistair (1996), "The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction", Library Review 45(4): 14–18, doi:10.1108/00242539610115263  ("A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere.").
  8. ^ Kragh, Helge (1989), An Introduction to the Historiography of Science, Cambridge University Press, p. 121, ISBN 0521389216, http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4  ("[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); Delgadillo, Roberto; Lynch, Beverly (1999), "Future Historians: Their Quest for Information", College & Research Libraries: 245–259, at 253, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf  ("[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); Monagahn, E.J.; Hartman, D.K. (2001), "Historical research in literacy", Reading Online 4(11), http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html  ("[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").
  9. ^ Kragh 1989, p. 121.
  10. ^ Dalton & Charnigo 2004, p. 419 n.18.
  11. ^ Delgadillo & Lynch 1999, p. 253.
  12. ^ Duffin, Jacalyn (1999), History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, University of Toronto Press, p. 366, ISBN 0802079121, http://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&sig=MqWo5GYrCqprFLY9ZZNVJ06CHcs .
  13. ^ Id. at 366.
  14. ^ Henige, David (1986), "Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation", Ethnohistory 33(3): 292–312, at 292, doi:10.2307/481816  ("[T]he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process in the present state of our knowledge. Indeed, in most instances the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.…[H]istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.").
  15. ^ Henige 1986, p. 292.
  16. ^ Kofoed, Jens Bruun (2005), Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, p. 42 ; Ambraseys, Nicholas; Melville, Charles Peter; Adams, Robin Dartrey (1994), The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia, and the Red Sea, Cambridge University Press, p. 7, ISBN 0521391202, http://books.google.com/books?id=dtVqdSKnBq4C&pg=PA7&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=x4m-T2havCkpLwBPOnQdE0Komkg  ("The same chronicle can be a primary source for the period contemporary with the author, a secondary source for earlier material derived from previous works, but also a primary source when these earlier works have not survived.").
  17. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  18. ^ Template:Citationjkjk.
  19. ^ Sreedharan, E. (2004), A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000, Orient Longman, p. 302 }, ISBN 8125026576, http://books.google.com/books?id=AIGq85RVvdoC&pg=PA302&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=eI85xf66d1Lm6gGx6WY5gmFEvYU  ("it is through the primary sources that the past indisputably imposes its reality on the historian. That this imposition is basic in any understanding of the past is clear from the rules that documents should not be altered, or that any material damaging to a historian's argument or purpose should not be left out or suppressed. These rules mean that the sources or the texts of the past have an integrity and that they do indeed 'speak for themselves', and that they are necessary constraints through which past reality imposes itself on the historian.").
  20. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  21. ^ Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier, From Reliable Sources, pp. 20-22.
  22. ^ Cripps (1995)
  23. ^ "Primary Sources: what are they?", Lafayette College Library
  24. ^ Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan ( 1997)
  25. ^ Handlin (1954)
  26. ^ Marwick, Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan (1997)
  27. ^ Cipolla, Carlo M. (1992), Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History, W.W. Norton & Co., p. 27, http://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cipolla&sig=JzRVCCjEZperMP0D1yyRewHRMUU#PPA27,M1 .
  28. ^ Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2004), "Taking Stock of Research Methods and Analysis on Oppositional Political Terrorism", The American Sociologist 35(2): 26–37, doi:10.1007/BF02692395  ("The analysis of secondary source information is problematic. The further an investigator is from the primary source, the more distorted the information may be. Again, each new person may put his or her spin on the findings.").
  29. ^ David Iredale, Enjoying Archives
  30. ^ Sommer and Quinlan (2002)
  31. ^ Library of Congress (2007)
  32. ^ Everyone has Roots: An Introduction to English Genealogy by Anthony J. Camp, published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1978
  33. ^ News | Update on document authenticity
  34. ^ Handlin et al, Harvard Guide to American History (1954) p 22-25
 
[edit] References
 
    * Benjamin, Jules R (2004). A Student's Guide to History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-40356-9.
    * Craver, Kathleen W (1999). Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30749-0.
    * Cripps, Thomas (1995). "Historical Truth: An Interview with Ken Burns". American Historical Review 100 (3): 741–764. doi:10.2307/2168603.
    * Michael Drake and Ruth Finnegan (Eds), Sources and Methods for Family and Community Historians: A Handbook, (Cambridge University Press in conjunction with the Open University, 1997)
    * Wood Gray, Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history (Houghton Mifflin, 1964).
    * Oscar Handlin et al., Harvard Guide to American History (1954)
    * Martha C. Howell and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods (2001)
    * Library of Congress, " Analysis of Primary Sources" online 2007
    * Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page. A Short Guide to Writing About History (5th Edition) (2004)
    * Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual (2002)
 
    * Olden-Jørgensen, Sebastian (2001). Til kilderne! Introduktion til historisk kildekritik. København: Gads Forlag. ("To the sources: Introduction to historical source criticism").
 
[edit] External links
 
    - to primary sources repositories
 
    * EAD Central - search engine designed to locate U.S. history and international primary source documents. Includes specialized searches for finding aids, photographs, genealogical data, presidential papers, manuscripts, artifacts, diaries, letters, science/technology/medicine documents, historiography, museums, exhibits, multicultural items, women, library and archival products, as well as theses and dissertations.
    * Primary Sources from World War One and Two Database of mailed letters to and from soldiers during major world conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two.
    * A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources
    * Find primary sources in the collections of major research libraries using ArchiveGrid
    * Primary Sources - Online news publication featuring articles about primary sources making headlines. Covers major media outlets, local newspapers, and blogs. Includes public polls on issues like presidential records and the sale of the Magna Carta. Discusses trends in technology like digitization, data archiving, and digital preservation.
 
    - to all sources repositories
 
    * Wikisource – The Free Library – is the Wikimedia project that collects, edits, and catalogs all source texts.
 
    - to essays and descriptions of primary, secondary and other sources
 
    * Ithaca College Library - Primary and secondary sources
    * "How to distinguish between primary and secondary sources" from the University of California, Santa Cruz Library
    * "Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources" from James Cook University Library
    * Joan of Arc: Primary Sources Series -- Example of a publication focusing on primary source documents.
    * Finding primary sources from the University of California, Berkeley library
    * "Primary versus secondary sources" from the Bowling Green State University library
    * Finding primary sources in world history
    * Guide to Terminology used when describing archival and other primary source materials.
 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_source"
Categories: Historiography | Information science | Library and information science | Research | Primary sources
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Primary source
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This wall painting found in the Roman city of Pompeii is an example of a primary source
 
Primary source[1][2] is a term used in a number of disciplines. In historiography, a primary source (also called original source) is a document, recording or other source of information (paper, picture,....etc) that was created at the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.[3]
 
The Danish historian Olden-Jørgensen (2001, p. 74) writes:
 
    Another of Kristian Erslev's rules of thumb is to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. This differentiation should not be mixed up with the English expression "primary sources" and "secondary sources", which designates (printed and non-printed) sources, respective (secondary) literature. Neither should it be mixed up with the classification into firsthand and second hand witnesses, i.e. eye- and ear-witnesses on the one hand and on the other hand others, which have their knowledge from firsthand witnesses, from other secondhand witnesses or who have copied others writings.
    A primary source is a source which are not based on any other existing or kept source (but perhaps on lost sources). (Translated from Danish by BH)
 
Similar (but not identical) definitions are used in library science, and other areas of scholarship. A primary source could be a first-handed source from the past including diaries or artifacts. Primary sources have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.[4][5] Primary sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study."[6] They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere.[7] They serve as an original source of information or new ideas about the topic. Primary and secondary, however, are relative terms, and a given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.[8]
Contents
[hide]
 
    * 1 Source classification
    * 2 The significance of source classification in various disciplines
          o 2.1 History and historiography
          o 2.2 Other fields
    * 3 Finding primary sources
    * 4 Using primary sources
    * 5 Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
    * 6 Forgeries
    * 7 See also
    * 8 Notes
    * 9 References
    * 10 External links
 
[edit] Source classification
 
Many sources can be considered either primary and secondary, depending on the context in which they are used.[9] Moreover, the distinction between primary and secondary sources is subjective and contextual,[10] so that precise definitions are difficult to make.[11] For example, if a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion, but a secondary source of information found in the old documents.[citation needed] Other examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary[12] or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic.[13]
 
Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field.[14] For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source, but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary".[15]
 
For some authors, the primary nature of a source may also derive from the fact that no copy of an original source material exists, and it is the oldest extant source for the information cited.
 
Another use is: In the cases in which a printed version of a document is made from an electronic version the electronic version may be termed the primary document.
 
[16]
 
[edit] The significance of source classification in various disciplines
 
[edit] History and historiography
 
The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.[citation needed] In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[17] In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[18] Many historians believe that primary sources have the most objective connection to the past, and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources.[19]
 
Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher Hayden White has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.[citation needed]
 
As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.[citation needed]
 
[edit] Other fields
 
In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[20] Though the terms primary source and secondary source originated in historiography[citation needed] as a way to trace the history of historical ideas, it has been applied to many other fields. For example, this idea may be used to trace the history of scientific theories, literary elements, and other information that is passes from one author to another.
 
In scientific literature, a primary source is the original publication of a scientist's new data, results, and theories. In political history, primary sources reflect documents such as official reports, speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns, and eyewitness accounts. In the history of ideas or intellectual history, the main primary sources are books, essays and letters written by intellectuals.
 
A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In a broader sense primary sources also include physical objects like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three main types.[21]
 
    * Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes), but include diaries, films, biographies, leading philosophical works, scientific works, and so on.
    * Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
    * Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births, tax records, and so on.
 
In the study of historiography, when the study of history is itself subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For a biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources.[22]
 
The Lafayette College Library, for example, provides the following synopsis of primary sources in several basic areas of study:
 
    "The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.
 
        * In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
        * In the social sciences, the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.
        * In the natural sciences, a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results."[23]
 
[edit] Finding primary sources
 
Although many documents that are primary sources remain in private hands, the usual location for them is an archive. These can be public or private. Documents relating to one area are usually spread over a large number of different archives. These can be distant from the original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses a large number of documents from the United Kingdom.
 
In the US, digital primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several online Digital Collections where they can be retrieved. Examples of these are American Memory and the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). The National Archives and Records Administration also has such a tool, called Access to Archival Databases (AAD).
 
In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalogue and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of the available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland. Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own on-line catalogues. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents.
 
In the Republic of Ireland, available digital documents include the censuses of 1901 and 1911 which are available from the National Archives of Ireland.
 
In Australia, the National Archives of Australia has digitised a number of classes of records and will produce digitised copies of suitable documents on demand.
 
[edit] Using primary sources
 
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history.".[24] Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources created by the people involved, at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only documents relating to an event or person in the distant past were written decades or centuries later. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
 
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.[25]
 
However, primary sources - particularly those from before the 20th century - may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous and very difficult to analyse and interpret."[26] Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among the traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, The interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, however advanced self-study or informal training is also possible.
 
The following questions are asked about primary sources:
 
    * What is the tone?
    * Who is the intended audience?
    * What is the purpose of the publication?
    * What assumptions does the author make?
    * What are the bases of the author's conclusions?
    * Does the author agree or disagree with other authors of the subject?
    * Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the issue?
    * Where was the source made? (questions of systemic bias)
 
In education, these are sometimes known as the five W's - who, what, when, where and why
 
[edit] Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
 
In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."[27] In addition, primary sources avoid the problem inherent in secondary sources, where each new author may distort and put their own spin on the findings of prior cited authors.[28] However, A primary source is not necessarily more authoritative or accurate than a secondary source. There can be bias and simplification of events.
 
    "Original material may be ... prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be."
    —David Iredale[29]
 
These errors may be corrected in secondary sources, which are often subjected to peer review, can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy is important to the future of the author's career and reputation. Historians consider the accuracy and objectiveness of the primary sources they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry (or the online version, a blog), at best, may only reflects one individual's opinion on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete. Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports (deliberately or unconsciously) to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create a narrative that may not be accurate.[30] For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias.[31] As an example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it can be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. The facts can be distorted to present the opposing sides in a negative light. Barristers are taught that evidence in a court case may be truthful, but it may be distorted to support (or oppose) the position of one of the parties.
[edit] Forgeries
 
Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents, purporting to be primary sources. These forgeries have been constructed with the intention of promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity is diplomatics.
 
For centuries the Popes used the forged Donation of Constantine to bolster the secular power of the Papacy. Among the earliest forgeries are Anglo-Saxon Charters. There are a number of 11th and 12th century forgeries produced by monasteries and abbeys to support a claim to land where the original document had been lost (or never existed). One particularly unusual forgery of a primary source was perpetrated by Sir Edward Dering who placed false monumental brasses in a local church.[32] In 1986, Hugh Trevor-Roper "authenticated" the Hitler diaries which proved to be forgeries. Recently, forged documents have been placed within the UK National Archives in the hope of establishing a false provenance. [33] However, historians dealing with recent centuries rarely encounter forgeries of any importance.[34]
 
[edit] See also
 
    * Historiography
    * Source criticism
    * Source literature
    * Source text
    * Historical document
    * Secondary source
    * Tertiary source
    * Original research
    * UNISIST model
 
[edit] Notes
 
  1. ^ Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries
  2. ^ JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources
  3. ^ Handlin (1954) 118-246
  4. ^ "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  5. ^ "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"
  6. ^ Dalton, Margaret Steig; Charnigo, Laurie (2004), "Historians and Their Information Sources", College & Research Libraries September: 400–25, at 416 n.3, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/crl2004/crlseptember/dalton.pdf , citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003), Occupational Outlook Handbook; Lorenz, C. (2001), "History: Theories and Methods", International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences, 10, Amsterdam: Elsevier, p. 6871 .
  7. ^ Duff, Alistair (1996), "The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction", Library Review 45(4): 14–18, doi:10.1108/00242539610115263  ("A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere.").
  8. ^ Kragh, Helge (1989), An Introduction to the Historiography of Science, Cambridge University Press, p. 121, ISBN 0521389216, http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4  ("[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); Delgadillo, Roberto; Lynch, Beverly (1999), "Future Historians: Their Quest for Information", College & Research Libraries: 245–259, at 253, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf  ("[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); Monagahn, E.J.; Hartman, D.K. (2001), "Historical research in literacy", Reading Online 4(11), http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html  ("[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").
  9. ^ Kragh 1989, p. 121.
  10. ^ Dalton & Charnigo 2004, p. 419 n.18.
  11. ^ Delgadillo & Lynch 1999, p. 253.
  12. ^ Duffin, Jacalyn (1999), History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, University of Toronto Press, p. 366, ISBN 0802079121, http://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&sig=MqWo5GYrCqprFLY9ZZNVJ06CHcs .
  13. ^ Id. at 366.
  14. ^ Henige, David (1986), "Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation", Ethnohistory 33(3): 292–312, at 292, doi:10.2307/481816  ("[T]he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process in the present state of our knowledge. Indeed, in most instances the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.…[H]istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.").
  15. ^ Henige 1986, p. 292.
  16. ^ Kofoed, Jens Bruun (2005), Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, p. 42 ; Ambraseys, Nicholas; Melville, Charles Peter; Adams, Robin Dartrey (1994), The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia, and the Red Sea, Cambridge University Press, p. 7, ISBN 0521391202, http://books.google.com/books?id=dtVqdSKnBq4C&pg=PA7&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=x4m-T2havCkpLwBPOnQdE0Komkg  ("The same chronicle can be a primary source for the period contemporary with the author, a secondary source for earlier material derived from previous works, but also a primary source when these earlier works have not survived.").
  17. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  18. ^ Template:Citationjkjk.
  19. ^ Sreedharan, E. (2004), A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000, Orient Longman, p. 302 }, ISBN 8125026576, http://books.google.com/books?id=AIGq85RVvdoC&pg=PA302&dq=historiography+%22primary+source%22+%22secondary+source%22&as_brr=3&sig=eI85xf66d1Lm6gGx6WY5gmFEvYU  ("it is through the primary sources that the past indisputably imposes its reality on the historian. That this imposition is basic in any understanding of the past is clear from the rules that documents should not be altered, or that any material damaging to a historian's argument or purpose should not be left out or suppressed. These rules mean that the sources or the texts of the past have an integrity and that they do indeed 'speak for themselves', and that they are necessary constraints through which past reality imposes itself on the historian.").
  20. ^ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  21. ^ Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier, From Reliable Sources, pp. 20-22.
  22. ^ Cripps (1995)
  23. ^ "Primary Sources: what are they?", Lafayette College Library
  24. ^ Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan ( 1997)
  25. ^ Handlin (1954)
  26. ^ Marwick, Primary sources; handle with care in Drake and Finnegan (1997)
  27. ^ Cipolla, Carlo M. (1992), Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History, W.W. Norton & Co., p. 27, http://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cipolla&sig=JzRVCCjEZperMP0D1yyRewHRMUU#PPA27,M1 .
  28. ^ Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2004), "Taking Stock of Research Methods and Analysis on Oppositional Political Terrorism", The American Sociologist 35(2): 26–37, doi:10.1007/BF02692395  ("The analysis of secondary source information is problematic. The further an investigator is from the primary source, the more distorted the information may be. Again, each new person may put his or her spin on the findings.").
  29. ^ David Iredale, Enjoying Archives
  30. ^ Sommer and Quinlan (2002)
  31. ^ Library of Congress (2007)
  32. ^ Everyone has Roots: An Introduction to English Genealogy by Anthony J. Camp, published by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1978
  33. ^ News | Update on document authenticity
  34. ^ Handlin et al, Harvard Guide to American History (1954) p 22-25
 
[edit] References
 
    * Benjamin, Jules R (2004). A Student's Guide to History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-40356-9.
    * Craver, Kathleen W (1999). Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30749-0.
    * Cripps, Thomas (1995). "Historical Truth: An Interview with Ken Burns". American Historical Review 100 (3): 741–764. doi:10.2307/2168603.
    * Michael Drake and Ruth Finnegan (Eds), Sources and Methods for Family and Community Historians: A Handbook, (Cambridge University Press in conjunction with the Open University, 1997)
    * Wood Gray, Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history (Houghton Mifflin, 1964).
    * Oscar Handlin et al., Harvard Guide to American History (1954)
    * Martha C. Howell and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods (2001)
    * Library of Congress, " Analysis of Primary Sources" online 2007
    * Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page. A Short Guide to Writing About History (5th Edition) (2004)
    * Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual (2002)
 
    * Olden-Jørgensen, Sebastian (2001). Til kilderne! Introduktion til historisk kildekritik. København: Gads Forlag. ("To the sources: Introduction to historical source criticism").
 
[edit] External links
 
    - to primary sources repositories
 
    * EAD Central - search engine designed to locate U.S. history and international primary source documents. Includes specialized searches for finding aids, photographs, genealogical data, presidential papers, manuscripts, artifacts, diaries, letters, science/technology/medicine documents, historiography, museums, exhibits, multicultural items, women, library and archival products, as well as theses and dissertations.
    * Primary Sources from World War One and Two Database of mailed letters to and from soldiers during major world conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two.
    * A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources
    * Find primary sources in the collections of major research libraries using ArchiveGrid
    * Primary Sources - Online news publication featuring articles about primary sources making headlines. Covers major media outlets, local newspapers, and blogs. Includes public polls on issues like presidential records and the sale of the Magna Carta. Discusses trends in technology like digitization, data archiving, and digital preservation.
 
    - to all sources repositories
 
    * Wikisource – The Free Library – is the Wikimedia project that collects, edits, and catalogs all source texts.
 
    - to essays and descriptions of primary, secondary and other sources
 
    * Ithaca College Library - Primary and secondary sources
    * "How to distinguish between primary and secondary sources" from the University of California, Santa Cruz Library
    * "Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources" from James Cook University Library
    * Joan of Arc: Primary Sources Series -- Example of a publication focusing on primary source documents.
    * Finding primary sources from the University of California, Berkeley library
    * "Primary versus secondary sources" from the Bowling Green State University library
    * Finding primary sources in world history
    * Guide to Terminology used when describing archival and other primary source materials.
 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_source"
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The most accurate classification for any given source is not always obvious. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, and some sources may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how they are used.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20170708090540/http://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary Primary and secondary sources]". Ithaca College Library.</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Kragh |first=Helge |title=An Introduction to the Historiography of Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OX7d7u_2rF4C&pg=PA121 |page=121 |year=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-38921-6 |quote=[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Delgadillo|first1=Roberto|last2=Lynch|first2=Beverly|title=Future Historians: Their Quest for Information|url=http://crl.acrl.org/content/60/3/245.full.pdf+html|journal=College & Research Libraries|volume=60|issue=3|year=1999|pages=245–259, at 253|quote=[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing|doi=10.5860/crl.60.3.245|doi-access=free}},</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Monagahn|first1=E.J.|last2=Hartman|first2=D.K.|year=2001|title=Historical research in literacy|journal=Reading Online|volume=4|issue=11|url=http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html|quote=[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.|access-date=2022-01-21|archive-date=2012-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213164929/http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=%2Farticles%2Fhandbook%2Fmonaghan%2Findex.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
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    * This page was last modified on 4 November 2008, at 22:28.
A third level, the ''[[tertiary source]]'', such as an [[encyclopedia]] or [[dictionary]], resembles a secondary source in that it contains analysis, but a tertiary source has a different purpose: it aims to elaborate a broad introductory overview of the topic at hand.<ref name="UMD" /><ref>Richard Veit and Christopher Gould, ''Writing, Reading, and Research'' (8th ed. 2009) p 335</ref>
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==Classification of sources==
{{see also|Primary source#Classifying sources|Source text#Classification in levels}}


In [[library and information science]], [[historiography]] and other areas of [[scholarship]], a '''secondary source'''<ref>[http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries]</ref><ref>[http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources]</ref> is a [[document]] or [[recording]] that relates or discusses [[information]] originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a [[primary source]], which is an original source of the information being discussed. Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information. ''Primary'' and ''secondary'' are relative terms, and some sources may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.<!--
Making distinctions between ''primary'' and ''secondary'' [[symbolic source]]s (objects meant to communicate information) is both subjective and contextual,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dalton |first1=Margaret Steig |last2=Charnigo |first2=Laurie |title = Historians and Their Information Sources |url = https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/viewFile/15685/17131 |page=416 n.3, 419 n.18 |journal=College & Research Libraries |date=September 2004 }}</ref> such that precise definitions can sometimes be difficult to make.<ref>{{Harvnb|Delgadillo|Lynch|1999|p=253}}.</ref> And indeed many sources can be classified as either primary or secondary based upon the context in which they are being considered.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OX7d7u_2rF4C&pg=PA121|title=An Introduction to the Historiography of Science|last=Kragh|first=Helge|date=1989-11-24|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521389211|pages=121|language=en}}</ref> For example, if in careful study a historical text discusses certain old documents to the point of disclosing a new historical conclusion, then that historical text may now be considered a primary source for the new conclusion, but it is still a secondary source as regarding the old documents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historydiscussion.net/history/important-sources-of-history-primary-and-secondary-sources/626|title=Important Sources of History (Primary and Secondary Sources)|date=2013-09-23|website=History Discussion - Discuss Anything About History|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> Other examples for which a source can be assigned both primary and secondary roles would include an [[obituary]] or a survey of several volumes of a journal to count the frequency of articles on a certain topic.<ref name="Duffin">{{Citation |last=Duffin |first=Jacalyn |title=History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366 |page=366 |year=1999 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-7912-1}}</ref>


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
Further, whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change over time, depending upon the past and present states of knowledge within the field of study.<ref>{{Citation|last=Henige|first=David|author-link=David Henige|title=Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=33|issue=3|year=1986|pages=292–312, at 292|doi=10.2307/481816|jstor=481816|publisher=Duke University Press|pmid=11616953|quote=[T]he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process ''in the present state of our knowledge''. Indeed, in most instances, the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.…[H]istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.}}</ref> For example, if a certain document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", because it is the closest known thing to an original source{{mdash}}but if the missing letter is later found, that certain document may then be considered "secondary".<ref>{{Harvnb|Henige|1986|p=292}}.</ref>
| last=Kragh
| first=Helge
| title=An Introduction to the Historiography of Science
| year=1989
| publisher=Cambridge University Press
| isbn=0521389216
| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4
|page=121
}} ("[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); {{Citation
|last1=Delgadillo
|first1=Roberto
|last2=Lynch
|first2=Beverly
|title=Future Historians: Their Quest for Information
|url=http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf
|journal=College & Research Libraries
|year=1999
|pages=245–259, at 253
}} ("[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); {{Citation
|last1=Monagahn
|first1=E.J.
|last2=Hartman
|first2=D.K.
|year=2001
|title=Historical research in literacy
|journal=Reading Online
|volume=4
|issue=11
|url=http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html
}} ("[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").</ref> An even higher level, the [[tertiary source]], resembles a secondary source in that it contains analysis, but attempts to provide a broad overview of a topic that is accessible to newcomers.<!--


-->
Attempts to map or model scientific and scholarly communications need the concepts of primary, secondary and further "levels" of classification. One such model is provided by the United Nations as the [[UNISIST model]] of information dissemination. Within such a model, source classification concepts are defined in relation to each other, and acceptance of a particular way of defining the concepts for classification are connected to efficiently using the model. (Note: ''UNISIST'' is the United Nations International Scientific Information System; it is a model of a social system for communications between knowledge producers, knowledge users, and their intermediaries. The system also comprises institutions such as libraries, research institutes, and publishers.) <ref>"[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000648/064862eo.pdf UNISIST Study Report on the feasibility of a World Science Information System, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Council of Scientific Unions]". [[Unesco]], Paris, 1971.</ref>


==Source classification==
==Secondary literature==
Many sources can be considered either primary and secondary, depending on the context in which they are used.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kragh|1989|p=121}}.</ref> Moreover, the distinction between ''primary'' and ''secondary'' sources is subjective and contextual,<ref>{{Harvnb|Dalton|Charnigo|2004|p=419 n.18}}.</ref> so that precise definitions are difficult to make.<ref>{{Harvnb|Delgadillo|Lynch|1999|p=253}}.</ref> For example, if a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion, but a secondary source of information found in the old documents.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Other examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary<!--
Some [[modern language]]s use more than one word for the English word "source". For example, [[German language|German]] usually uses ''{{Lang|de|[[:de:Sekundärliteratur|Sekundärliteratur]]}}'' ("secondary literature") for secondary sources regarding historical facts, leaving ''{{Lang|de|[[:de:Sekundärquelle|Sekundärquelle]]}}'' ("secondary source") to [[historiography]]. For example, a [[treatise]] on [[Goethe's Faust|Goethe's ''Faust'']] (e.g., on characters or motifs of the play) is called ''{{Lang|de|Sekundärliteratur}}''.<ref name="Gantert">Klaus Gantert: ''Bibliothekarisches Grundwissen.'' 9. Auflage. de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-032145-6, {{doi|10.1515/9783110321500}}, S.&nbsp;76.</ref> A ''{{Lang|de|Sekundärquelle}}'' may be a source, perhaps a letter, that quotes from a lost ''{{Lang|de|[[:de:Primärquelle|Primärquelle]]}}'' ("primary source"){{mdash}}say a report of minutes that is not known to still exist{{mdash}}such that the report of minutes is unavailable to the researcher as the sought-after ''{{Lang|de|Primärquelle}}''.


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
==Science, technology, and medicine==
|last=Duffin
In general, secondary sources in a scientific context may be referred to as "secondary literature",<ref>Open University, "[https://www.open.edu/openlearn/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=64085&section=4.2 4.2 Secondary literature]", ''Succeeding in postgraduate study'', session 5, accessed 22 March 2023.</ref> and can be self-described as [[Review journal|review article]]s or [[meta-analysis]].
|first=Jacalyn
|title=History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&sig=MqWo5GYrCqprFLY9ZZNVJ06CHcs
|year=1999
|publisher=University of Toronto Press
|isbn=0802079121
|page=366
}}.</ref><!--


--> or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic.<ref>Id. at 366.</ref>
Primary source materials are typically defined as "original research papers written by the scientists who actually conducted the study." An example of primary source material is the Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusions sections of a research paper (in [[IMRAD]] style) in a scientific journal by the authors who conducted the study.<ref name=Garrand2010>{{cite book|author=Garrard, Judith |title=Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSbfIcjQUcsC&pg=PA30|access-date=16 September 2012|date= 2010|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers|isbn=978-1-4496-1868-1}}</ref> In some fields, a secondary source may include a summary of the literature in the introduction of a scientific paper, a description of what is known about a disease or treatment in a chapter in a reference book, or a synthesis written to review available literature.<ref name=Garrand2010/> A survey of previous work in the field in a primary peer-reviewed source is secondary source information. This allows secondary sourcing of recent findings in areas where full review articles have not yet been published.


Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field.<!--
A [[book review]] that contains the judgment of the reviewer about the book is a primary source for the reviewer's opinion, and a secondary source for the contents of the book.<ref name="Princeton">{{Cite web|url=http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=book%20review|title=Book reviews |access-date=September 22, 2011 |publisher=Princeton |year=2011 |author=Princeton|work=Scholarly definition document }}</ref><ref name="VirginiaTech">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/byformat/bookreviews.html |title=Book reviews |access-date=September 22, 2011 |publisher=Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |year=2011 |author=Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |work=Scholarly definition document |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910082750/http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/byformat/bookreviews.html |archive-date=September 10, 2011 }}</ref> A summary of the book within a review is a secondary source.
 
FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
|last=Henige
|first=David
|authorlink=David Henige
|title=Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation
|journal=Ethnohistory
|volume=33
|issue=3
|year=1986
|pages=292–312, at 292
|doi=10.2307/481816
}} ("[T]he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process ''in the present state of our knowledge''. Indeed, in most instances the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.…[H]istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.").</ref><!--
 
--> For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source, but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary".<ref>{{Harvnb|Henige|1986|p=292}}.</ref>
 
Attempts to map or model scientific and scholarly communication need the concepts of primary, secondary and further "levels". One such model is the [[UNISIST model]] of information dissemination. Within such a model these concepts are defined in relation to each other, and the acceptance of this way of defining the concepts are connected to the acceptance of the model.  
 
Other languages, like German, call the secondary sources ''Sekundärliteratur'', leaving ''Sekundärquelle'' to historiography. A ''Sekundärquelle'' is a source that can tell about a (lost) ''Primärquelle'', e.g. a letter is quoting from minutes that no longer exist and can not be consulted by the historian.
 
==Typical secondary sources in various fields==
===Historiography and historical scholarship===
The delineation of sources as [[primary sources|primary]] and secondary first arose in the field of [[historiography]], as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.<ref>Helge (1989), p. 121.</ref> In  contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."<!--ilbv;cbjn vc
 
 
FOOTNOTE--><ref>
{{Citation
|last=Cipolla
|first=Carlo M.
|title=Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History
|page=27
|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.
|year=1992
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cipolla&sig=JzRVCCjEZperMP0D1yyRewHRMUU#PPA27,M1
}}.</ref><!--
 
--> Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher [[Hayden White]] has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}
 
As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of [[archive]]s for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}


===Library and information science===
===Library and information science===
In [[library and information science]]s, secondary sources are generally regarded as those sources that summarize or add commentary to [[primary sources]] in the context of the particular information or idea under study.<ref>[http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"]</ref><ref>[http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"]</ref>


===Secondary sources in family history===
In [[library and information science]]s, secondary sources are generally regarded as those sources that summarize or add commentary to [[primary sources]] in the context of the particular information or idea under study.<ref name=UMD/><ref name=JCU_2/>
"A secondary source is a record or statement of an event or circumstance made by a non-eyewitness or by someone not closely connected with the event or circumstances, recorded or stated verbally either at or sometime after the event, or by an eye-witness at a time after the event when the fallibility of memory is an important factor."<ref>Harland</ref> Consequently, an autobiography written after the event is a secondary source, even though it may be the first published description of an event. For example, many first hand accounts of events in the 1st world war that were written in the post war years were influenced by the then prevailing perception of the war which was significantly different from contemporary opinion.<ref>Holmes, particularly the introduction</ref>


===Secondary legal sources===
=== Mathematics ===
In the legal field, source classification is important because the persuasiveness of a source usually depends upon its history. Primary sources may include cases, constitutions, statutes, administrative regulations, and other sources of binding legal authority, while secondary legal sources may include books, articles, and encyclopedias.<!--


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
An important use of secondary sources in the field of [[mathematics]] has been to make difficult mathematical ideas and proofs from primary sources more accessible to the public;<ref>{{Citation|last=Edwards|first=H.M.|author-link=Harold Edwards (mathematician)|title=Riemann's Zeta Function|year=2001|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|location=Mineola, New York|isbn=0-486-41740-9|page=xi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uLAoued_dIC&q=%22primary+sources%22&pg=PR9|quote=The purpose of a secondary source is to make the primary sources accessible to you. If you can read and understand the primary sources without reading this book, more power to you. If you read this book without reading the primary sources you are like a man who carries a sack lunch to a banquet}}</ref> in other sciences [[tertiary source]]s are expected to fulfill the introductory role.
|last=Bouchoux
|first=Deborah E.
|year=2000
|title=Cite Checker: A Hands-On Guide to Learning Citation Form
|page=45
|publisher=Thomson Delmar Learning
|isbn=0766818934
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RJ4vlBrWu0MC&pg=PA45&dq=%22primary+sources%22+%22science+citation%22&as_brr=3&sig=75RwFqQHgKs49LHcbhnE1M4RHw0
}}.</ref><!--


--> Legal writers usually prefer to cite primary sources because only primary sources are authoritative and [[precedent]]ial, while secondary sources are only persuasive at best.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bouchoux|2000|p=45}}.</ref>
===Humanities and history===
Secondary sources in history and humanities are usually [[books]] or [[academic journal|scholarly journals]], from the perspective of a later interpreter, especially by a later scholar. In the humanities, a [[peer review]]ed article is always a secondary source.
The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of [[historiography]], as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.  In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.<ref>Helge (1989), p. 121.</ref> In original scholarly writing, historians rely on primary sources, read in the context of the scholarly interpretations.<ref>{{Citation|last=Cipolla|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|title=Between Two Cultures: An Introduction to Economic History|year=1992|isbn=978-0-393-30816-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&q=cipolla}}</ref>


===Secondary sources of scientific and mathematical ideas and data===
Following the [[Leopold von Ranke|Rankean model]] established by German scholarship in the 19th century, historians use [[archive]]s of primary sources.<ref>{{cite book|author=Frederick C. Beiser|title=The German Historicist Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQ1k6w0dFIMC&pg=PA254|year=2011|publisher=Oxford U.P.|page=254|isbn=9780199691555}}</ref> Most undergraduate research projects rely on secondary source material, with perhaps snippets of primary sources.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Charles Camic|author2=Neil Gross|author3=Michele Lamont|title=Social Knowledge in the Making|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0l7iDZY-MSoC&pg=PA107|year=2011|publisher=U. of Chicago Press|page=107|isbn=9780226092096}}</ref>
Source classification is a useful tool for tracing the history of scientific and mathematical ideas, including who is credited as the primary source of the idea and how it has been propagated. A [[review article]] is an example of such a secondary source, and some scientific journals only publish review articles.


One important use of secondary sources in the field of [[mathematics]] has been to make difficult mathematical ideas and proofs from primary sources more accessible to the public.<!--
====Law====
In the legal field, source classification is important because the persuasiveness of a source usually depends upon its history. Primary sources may include cases, constitutions, [[statute]]s, administrative regulations, and other sources of binding legal authority, while secondary legal sources may include books, the [[headnote]]s of [[case reports]], [[Article (publishing)|articles]], and [[encyclopedias]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Bouchoux |first=Deborah E. |title=Cite Checker: A Hands-On Guide to Learning Citation Form |url=https://archive.org/details/citecheckerhands0000bouc |page=45 |year=2000 |publisher=Thomson Delmar Learning |isbn=0-7668-1893-4}}</ref> Legal writers usually prefer to cite primary sources because only primary sources are authoritative and [[precedent]]ial, while secondary sources are only [[persuasive]] at best.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bouchoux|2000|p=45}}.</ref>


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
====Family history====
|last=Edwards
"A secondary source is a record or statement of an event or circumstance made by a non-eyewitness or by someone not closely connected with the event or circumstances, recorded or stated verbally either at or sometime after the event, or by an [[eye-witness]] at a time after the event when the fallibility of memory is an important factor."<ref>Harland, p. 39</ref> Consequently, according to this definition, a first-hand account written long after the event "when the fallibility of memory is an important factor" is a secondary source, even though it may be the first published description of that event.
|first=H.M.
|title=Riemann's Zeta Function
|year=2001
|publisher=Courier Dover Publications
|publication-place=Mineola, New York
|isbn=0486417409
|page=xi
|url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5uLAoued_dIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=%22primary+sources%22&ots=7oa5CJbdM6&sig=BQUGAAJ7dwrZOinVOvYpzkkMjNo#PPR11,M1
}} ("The purpose of a secondary source is to make the primary sources accessible to you. If you can read and understand the primary sources without reading this book, more power to you. If you read this book without reading the primary sources you are like a man who carries a sack lunch to a banquet.").</ref><!--


-->
====Autobiographies====
An [[autobiography]] or a [[memoir]] can be a secondary source in history or the humanities when used for information about topics other than its subject.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wallach |first1=Jennifer J. |title=Building a bridge of words: the literary autobiography as historical source material |journal=Biography |date=2006 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=446–61 |doi=10.1353/bio.2006.0063 |jstor=23540526 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23540526 |access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref> For example, many first-hand accounts of events in [[World War I]] written in the post-war years were influenced by the then prevailing perception of the war, which was significantly different from contemporary opinion.<ref>Holmes, particularly the introduction</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Source text]]
*[[Original research]]
*[[Primary source]]
*[[Tertiary source]]


==References==
== References ==
* Jules R. Benjamin. ''A Student's Guide to History'' (2003)
{{Reflist|35em}}
* Edward H. Carr, ''What is History?'' (New York: Vintage Books, 1961).
* Wood Gray, ''Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1964).
*Derek Harland, ''A Basic Course in Genealogy: Volume two, Research Procedure and Evaluation of Evidence'', (Bookcraft Inc, 1958)
* Richard Holmes. ''Tommy'' (HarperCollins, 2004)
* Martha C. Howell and Walter Prevenier. ''From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods'' (2001)
* Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page. ''A Short Guide to Writing About History'' (5th Edition) (2004)
* Hayden White, ''Metahistory: the historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973).


==Notes==
==Further reading==
{{reflist}}
* Jules R. Benjamin, ''[[iarchive:studentsguidetoh00benj|A Student's Guide to History]]'' (2013) {{ISBN|9781457621444}}
* [[Edward H. Carr]], ''[[What is History?]]'' (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001) {{ISBN|9780333977019}}
* Wood Gray, ''[[iarchive:historianshandbo0000gray|Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history]]'' (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1991, ©1964) {{ISBN|9780881336269}}
* Derek Harland, ''A Basic Course in Genealogy: Volume two, Research Procedure and Evaluation of Evidence'' (Bookcraft Inc, 1958) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60197787 WorldCat record]
* [[Richard Holmes (military historian)|Richard Holmes]], ''[[iarchive:tommybritishsold0000holm_r2i1|Tommy]]'' (HarperCollins, 2004) {{ISBN|9780007137510}}
* [[Martha C. Howell]] and Walter Prevenier, ''[[iarchive:fromreliablesour0000howe|From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods]]'' (2001) {{ISBN|9780801435737}}
* Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page, ''[[iarchive:shortguidetowrit0000mari|A Short Guide to Writing About History]]'' (8th Edition) (2012) {{ISBN|9780205118601}}
* [[Hayden White]], ''[[iarchive:metahistoryhisto00whit|Metahistory: the historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe]]'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973) {{ISBN|9780801814693}}
 
{{Historiography}}
{{Libraries and library science}}


==Further reading==
==External links==
*[http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/primary.html Primary and secondary sources]
{{Commons category|Secondary Sources}}


[[Category:Historiography]]
[[Category:Historiography]]
[[Category:Library and information science]]
[[Category:History resources]]
 
[[Category:Information science]]
[[de:Sekundärliteratur]]
[[Category:Library science terminology]]
[[es:Fuente secundaria]]
[[Category:Sources| ]]
[[fr:Source secondaire]]
[[Category:Works about history| ]]
[[id:Sumber sekunder]]
[[hu:Másodlagos forrás]]
[[pt:Fonte secundária]]
[[zh:二次文献]]

Latest revision as of 20:43, 27 September 2025

Template:Short description Template:Selfref Template:Distinguish

Scipione Amati's History of the Kingdom of Woxu (1615), an example of a secondary source

In scholarship, a secondary source[1][2] is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a primary, or original, source of the information being discussed. A primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation or it may be a document created by such a person.

A secondary source is one that gives information about a primary source. In a secondary source, the original information is selected, modified and arranged in a suitable format. Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information.

The most accurate classification for any given source is not always obvious. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, and some sources may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how they are used.[3][4][5][6]

A third level, the tertiary source, such as an encyclopedia or dictionary, resembles a secondary source in that it contains analysis, but a tertiary source has a different purpose: it aims to elaborate a broad introductory overview of the topic at hand.[1][7]

Classification of sources

Template:See also

Making distinctions between primary and secondary symbolic sources (objects meant to communicate information) is both subjective and contextual,[8] such that precise definitions can sometimes be difficult to make.[9] And indeed many sources can be classified as either primary or secondary based upon the context in which they are being considered.[10] For example, if in careful study a historical text discusses certain old documents to the point of disclosing a new historical conclusion, then that historical text may now be considered a primary source for the new conclusion, but it is still a secondary source as regarding the old documents.[11] Other examples for which a source can be assigned both primary and secondary roles would include an obituary or a survey of several volumes of a journal to count the frequency of articles on a certain topic.[12]

Further, whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change over time, depending upon the past and present states of knowledge within the field of study.[13] For example, if a certain document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", because it is the closest known thing to an original sourceTemplate:Mdashbut if the missing letter is later found, that certain document may then be considered "secondary".[14]

Attempts to map or model scientific and scholarly communications need the concepts of primary, secondary and further "levels" of classification. One such model is provided by the United Nations as the UNISIST model of information dissemination. Within such a model, source classification concepts are defined in relation to each other, and acceptance of a particular way of defining the concepts for classification are connected to efficiently using the model. (Note: UNISIST is the United Nations International Scientific Information System; it is a model of a social system for communications between knowledge producers, knowledge users, and their intermediaries. The system also comprises institutions such as libraries, research institutes, and publishers.) [15]

Secondary literature

Some modern languages use more than one word for the English word "source". For example, German usually uses Template:Lang ("secondary literature") for secondary sources regarding historical facts, leaving Template:Lang ("secondary source") to historiography. For example, a treatise on Goethe's Faust (e.g., on characters or motifs of the play) is called Template:Lang.[16] A Template:Lang may be a source, perhaps a letter, that quotes from a lost Template:Lang ("primary source")Template:Mdashsay a report of minutes that is not known to still existTemplate:Mdashsuch that the report of minutes is unavailable to the researcher as the sought-after Template:Lang.

Science, technology, and medicine

In general, secondary sources in a scientific context may be referred to as "secondary literature",[17] and can be self-described as review articles or meta-analysis.

Primary source materials are typically defined as "original research papers written by the scientists who actually conducted the study." An example of primary source material is the Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusions sections of a research paper (in IMRAD style) in a scientific journal by the authors who conducted the study.[18] In some fields, a secondary source may include a summary of the literature in the introduction of a scientific paper, a description of what is known about a disease or treatment in a chapter in a reference book, or a synthesis written to review available literature.[18] A survey of previous work in the field in a primary peer-reviewed source is secondary source information. This allows secondary sourcing of recent findings in areas where full review articles have not yet been published.

A book review that contains the judgment of the reviewer about the book is a primary source for the reviewer's opinion, and a secondary source for the contents of the book.[19][20] A summary of the book within a review is a secondary source.

Library and information science

In library and information sciences, secondary sources are generally regarded as those sources that summarize or add commentary to primary sources in the context of the particular information or idea under study.[1][2]

Mathematics

An important use of secondary sources in the field of mathematics has been to make difficult mathematical ideas and proofs from primary sources more accessible to the public;[21] in other sciences tertiary sources are expected to fulfill the introductory role.

Humanities and history

Secondary sources in history and humanities are usually books or scholarly journals, from the perspective of a later interpreter, especially by a later scholar. In the humanities, a peer reviewed article is always a secondary source. The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing. In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.[22] In original scholarly writing, historians rely on primary sources, read in the context of the scholarly interpretations.[23]

Following the Rankean model established by German scholarship in the 19th century, historians use archives of primary sources.[24] Most undergraduate research projects rely on secondary source material, with perhaps snippets of primary sources.[25]

Law

In the legal field, source classification is important because the persuasiveness of a source usually depends upon its history. Primary sources may include cases, constitutions, statutes, administrative regulations, and other sources of binding legal authority, while secondary legal sources may include books, the headnotes of case reports, articles, and encyclopedias.[26] Legal writers usually prefer to cite primary sources because only primary sources are authoritative and precedential, while secondary sources are only persuasive at best.[27]

Family history

"A secondary source is a record or statement of an event or circumstance made by a non-eyewitness or by someone not closely connected with the event or circumstances, recorded or stated verbally either at or sometime after the event, or by an eye-witness at a time after the event when the fallibility of memory is an important factor."[28] Consequently, according to this definition, a first-hand account written long after the event "when the fallibility of memory is an important factor" is a secondary source, even though it may be the first published description of that event.

Autobiographies

An autobiography or a memoir can be a secondary source in history or the humanities when used for information about topics other than its subject.[29] For example, many first-hand accounts of events in World War I written in the post-war years were influenced by the then prevailing perception of the war, which was significantly different from contemporary opinion.[30]

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

Template:Historiography Template:Libraries and library science

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Secondary Sources.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources". University Libraries, University of Maryland.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Secondary sources Template:Webarchive". James Cook University.
  3. ↑ "Primary and secondary sources". Ithaca College Library.
  4. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[1] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[2] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[3][4]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[6][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[9]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[10][11][12] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[16] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[17]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[18] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[19]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[20]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  5. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[23] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[24] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[25][26]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[27][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[28]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[29][30][31] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[34] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[35]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[36] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[37]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[38]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用,

  6. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[39] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[40] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[41][42]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[43][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[44]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[45][46][47] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[50] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[51]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[52] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[53]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[54]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  7. ↑ Richard Veit and Christopher Gould, Writing, Reading, and Research (8th ed. 2009) p 335
  8. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ↑ Template:Harvnb.
  10. ↑ Template:Cite book
  11. ↑ Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[55] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[56] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[57][58]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[59][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[60]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[61][62][63] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[66] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[67]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[68] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[69]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[70]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  13. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[71] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[72] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[73][74]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[75][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[76]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[77][78][79] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[82] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[83]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[84] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[85]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[86]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  14. ↑ Template:Harvnb.
  15. ↑ "UNISIST Study Report on the feasibility of a World Science Information System, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Council of Scientific Unions". Unesco, Paris, 1971.
  16. ↑ Klaus Gantert: Bibliothekarisches Grundwissen. 9. Auflage. de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-032145-6, Template:Doi, S. 76.
  17. ↑ Open University, "4.2 Secondary literature", Succeeding in postgraduate study, session 5, accessed 22 March 2023.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Template:Cite book
  19. ↑ Template:Cite web
  20. ↑ Template:Cite web
  21. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[87] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[88] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[89][90]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[91][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[92]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[93][94][95] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[98] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[99]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[100] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[101]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[102]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  22. ↑ Helge (1989), p. 121.
  23. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[103] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[104] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[105][106]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[107][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[108]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[109][110][111] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[114] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[115]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[116] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[117]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[118]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  24. ↑ Template:Cite book
  25. ↑ Template:Cite book
  26. ↑ Template:About Template:Selfref Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).[119] More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression (e.g. [Newell84]) embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Generally the combination of both the in-body citation and the bibliographic entry constitutes what is commonly thought of as a citation (whereas bibliographic entries by themselves are not). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty; to attribute to other authors the ideas they have previously expressed, rather than give the appearance to the work's readers that the work's authors are the original wellsprings of those ideas. The forms of citations generally subscribe to one of the generally-accepted citations systems, such as the Harvard, APA, and other citations systems, as their syntactic conventions are widely-known and easily interpreted by readers. Each of these citation systems has its respective advantages and disadvantages relative to the tradeoffs of being informative (but not too disruptive) and thus should be chosen relative to the needs of the type of publication being crafted. Editors will often specify the citation system to use. Bibliographies, and other list-like compilations of references, are generally not considered citations because they do not fulfill the true spirit of the term: deliberate acknowledgement by other authors of the priority of one's ideas.

    Concepts

    • A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely.[120] Different citation systems and styles are used in scientific citation, legal citation, prior art, and the arts and the humanities.
    • A citation number, used in some citation systems, is a number or symbol added inline and usually in superscript, to refer readers to a footnote or endnote that cites the source. In other citation systems, an inline parenthetical reference is used rather than a citation number, with limited information such as the author's last name, year of publication, and page number referenced; a full identification of the source will then appear in an appended bibliography.

    Citation content

    Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include:

    • Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate.[121][122]
    • Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).
    • Newspaper: author(s), article title, name of newspaper, section title and page number(s) if desired, date of publication.
    • Web site: author(s), article and publication title where appropriate, as well as a URL, and a date when the site was accessed.
    • Play: inline citations offer part, scene, and line numbers, the latter separated by periods: 4.452 refers to scene 4, line 452. For example, "In Eugene Onegin, Onegin rejects Tanya when she is free to be his, and only decides he wants her when she is already married" (Pushkin 4.452-53).[5]
    • Poem: spaced slashes are normally used to indicate separate lines of a poem, and parenthetical citations usually include the line number(s). For example: "For I must love because I live / And life in me is what you give." (Brennan, lines 15–16).[5]

    Unique identifiers

    Along with information such as author(s), date of publication, title and page numbers, citations may also include unique identifiers depending on the type of work being referred to.

    Citation systems

    Broadly speaking, there are two citation systems:[123][7][8]

    Note systems

    Note systems involve the use of sequential numbers in the text which refer to either footnotes (notes at the end of the page) or endnotes (a note on a separate page at the end of the paper) which gives the source detail. The notes system may or may not require a full bibliography, depending on whether the writer has used a full note form or a shortened note form.

    For example, an excerpt from the text of a paper using a notes system without a full bibliography could look like this:

    "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."1

    The note, located either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote) would look like this:

    1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

    In a paper which contains a full bibliography, the shortened note could look like this:

    1. Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying 45–60.

    and the bibliography entry, which would be required with a shortened note, would look like this:

    Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

    In the humanities, many authors use footnotes or endnotes to supply anecdotal information. In this way, what looks like a citation is actually supplementary material, or suggestions for further reading.[124]

    Parenthetical referencing

    Parenthetical referencing is where full or partial, in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the paragraph, as opposed to the footnote style. Depending on the choice of style, fully cited parenthetical references may require no end section. Alternately a list of the citations with complete bibliographical references may be included in an end section sorted alphabetically by author's last name.

    This section may be known as:

    • References
    • Bibliography
    • Works cited
    • Works consulted

    Citation styles

    Template:Styles Template:Main

    Citation styles can be broadly divided into styles common to the Humanities and the Sciences, though there is considerable overlap. Some style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, are quite flexible and cover both parenthetical and note citation systems.[8] Others, such as MLA and APA styles, specify formats within the context of a single citation system.[7] These may be referred to as citation formats as well as citation styles.[125][126][127] The various guides thus specify order of appearance, for example, of publication date, title, and page numbers following the author name, in addition to conventions of punctuation, use of italics, emphasis, parenthesis, quotation marks, etc., particular to their style.

    A number of organizations have created styles to fit their needs; consequently, a number of different guides exist. Individual publishers often have their own in-house variations as well, and some works are so long-established as to have their own citation methods too: Stephanus pagination for Plato; Bekker numbers for Aristotle; citing the Bible by book, chapter and verse; or Shakespeare notation by play, act and scene.

    Some examples of style guides include:

    Humanities

    Law

    Template:Main

    • The Bluebook is a citation system traditionally used in American academic legal writing, and the Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) are used by many courts.[130] At present, academic legal articles are always footnoted, but motions submitted to courts and court opinions traditionally use inline citations which are either separate sentences or separate clauses.
    • The legal citation style used almost universally in Canada is based on the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (aka McGill Guide), published by McGill Law Journal.[131]

    Sciences, mathematics, engineering, physiology, and medicine

    Template:Main

    • The American Chemical Society style, or ACS style, is often used in chemistry and other physical sciences. In ACS style references are numbered in the text and in the reference list, and numbers are repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • In the style of the American Institute of Physics (AIP style), references are also numbered in the text and in the reference list, with numbers repeated throughout the text as needed.
    • Styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), or AMS styles, such as AMS-LaTeX, are typically implemented using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-line with alphabetic-label format, e.g. [AB90]. This type of style is also called a "Authorship trigraph."
    • The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), is used in medical and scientific papers and research.
      • In one major variant, that used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), citation numbers are included in the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
      • The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) is reportedly the original kernel of this biomedical style which evolved from the Vancouver 1978 editors' meeting.[132] The MEDLINE/PubMed database uses this citation style and the National Library of Medicine provides "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- Sample References".[133]
    • The style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or IEEE style, encloses citation numbers within square brackets and arranges the reference list by the order of citation, not by alphabetical order.
    • Pechenik Citation Style is a style described in A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed. (2007), by Jan A. Pechenik.[134]
    • In 2006, Eugene Garfield proposed a bibliographic system for scientific literature, to consolidate the integrity of scientific publications.[21]

    Social sciences

    See also

    Footnotes

    Template:Reflist

    References

    Template:Refbegin

    Template:Refend

    Guidelines
    Examples
    • Illustrated examples, generated using BibTeX, of several major styles, including more than those listed above.
    • PDF file bibstyles.pdf illustrates how several bibliographic styles appear with citations and reference entries, generated using BibTeX.
    Style guides
    Other online resources

    ar:استشهاد bs:Citati ca:Citació cs:Citace de:Zitation es:Referencia bibliográfica fa:نقل‌قول hr:Citiranje radova he:ציטוט ja:参考文献 pl:Cytat pt:Citação fi:Lähdeviittaus zh:引用

  27. ↑ Template:Harvnb.
  28. ↑ Harland, p. 39
  29. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  30. ↑ Holmes, particularly the introduction
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