Template:Tertiary source

In scholarship, a tertiary source is a term used to describe a work which is chiefly a selection or compilation of other primary and secondary sources. The distinction between a secondary and tertiary source is relative, whereas the difference between primary and secondary sources is more absolute in historiography. As a general rule, however, tertiary sources tend to be more focused on the identification of scholarly work than on the content itself. I am cool so thanks hahahaha. #edited

Depending on the context, tertiary sources might include bibliographies, library catalogs, directories, reading lists and survey articles. Encyclopedias and textbooks are examples of written materials that typically embrace both secondary and tertiary sources, presenting on the one hand commentary and analysis, while on the other attempting to provide a synoptic overview of the material available on the topic.

The classification of a given source is subjective and contextual. For example, a modern encyclopedia might be generally considered a tertiary source, but an ancient encyclopedia is generally considered a primary source. The difference is because the modern encyclopedia is used as a source for information about a topic, and the ancient encyclopedia is understood as a source of information about the state of knowledge in the time period when the encyclopedia was written. However, even a modern encyclopedia is a primary source for some facts, such as the name of its publisher.

A different definition is used by the UNISIST model in which secondary sources are understood as bibliographies, while tertiary sources are understood as synthesis of primary literature.

See also

• Research
• Historiography
• Source text
• Primary source
• Secondary source
• UNISIST model