Library Guides: History : Secondary Source Types

About Secondary Sources

Secondary sources describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources. They are generally one or more steps removed from a primary source, event, or time period. Produced after the fact, secondary sources are second-hand accounts which provide hindsight into the past. Often, secondary sources will contain fragments, quotes, pictures, or other forms of original primary source material. Examples of secondary sources include, but are not limited to, reference books, scholarly articles, books, commentaries, textbooks, and reviews (of books, films, art, etc.). Further descriptions of common source types are provided below.

Remember, whether a source is primary or secondary is often determined by how you intend to use it. Visit Primary & Secondary Sources for an overview of different sources types. If you need help locating secondary sources, visit Finding Secondary Sources.

Secondary Sources: Books

Work or Fight! by Gerald E. Shenk
ISBN: 1403980845

Publication Date: 2005

Most books are secondary sources with authors commenting on, analyzing, or summarizing primary source materials. Because of this, excerpts of the original primary source materials are often included in secondary source books.

For example, the book Work or Fight!: Race, Gender, and the Draft in World War One by Gerald E. Shenk, published in 2005, provides the author's second-hand analysis of World War I. Throughout the book, the author includes original quotes; while the quotes themselves are considered primary source material, Shenk's interpretation and use of them to support his claims makes the book itself a secondary source.

Secondary Sources: Journal Articles

Fighting on Two Fronts: World War One, Women’s Suffrage, and John Pershing’s “Hello Girls” by Elizabeth Cobbs
Publication Date: 2017

Journals are a serial publication that are published in regular intervals. If the articles are peer reviewed, an intensive review and revision process between experts and the author, the journal is considered scholarly or academic. Journal articles serve as secondary sources when the authors offer new insight into or a new interpretation of a particular time or event.

For example, the article Fighting on Two Fronts: World War One, Women’s Suffrage, and John Pershing’s “Hello Girls” by Elizabeth Cobbs, published in 2017 in the South Central Review, could serve as a secondary source analyzing women during World War I.

Secondary Sources: Newspaper Articles

See Beautiful Vietnam! by Scott Laderman
Publication Date: September 12, 2017

Newspapers, like journals, are serial publication that are published in regular intervals. Unlike scholarly journals, the articles in newspapers are not peer-reviewed. Rather they report events and opinions of writers affiliated with the newspaper. Often, newspapers serve as primary sources, however, they can also be used as a secondary source, such as in the following example.

The article See Beautiful Vietnam! by Scott Laderman, published on September 12, 2017 in the New York Times, provides a look back at tourism during the Vietnam War and could be used as a secondary source on the topic. A primary source for the same topic might be an advertisement from the time of the Vietnam War.

Websites

Websites
In addition to being able to find the above types of sources online, websites offer an infinite number of secondary source material. For instance, movie reviews (ex. Rotten Tomatoes), professional blogs (ex. AHA Today), popular blogs (ex. the History Blog ), and resource sites (ex. U.S Army Center of Military History) could all be used as secondary sources.

Finding secondary sources on the Internet, however, can be problematic and should be approached with caution. Anyone can create and curate a website, including Wikipedia. Therefore, it is important to be critical and evaluate any source you find before including it in your research.