Popular and Trade versus
Scholarly Sources
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Primary sources are original records created at the time (or well after) historical events occurred; they are
often in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries,
journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies
such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video
recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or archaeological finds. These
sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with interpretations
by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research. If you have any questions about
what your professor will accept as a primary sources, ask.
A secondary source is information about the primary (original) information, which usually has been modified,
selected, or rearranged for a specific purpose or audience. Examples include biographies, histories,
monographs, review articles, textbooks and any index or bibliography used to locate primary sources.
This information is a distillation and collection of primary and secondary sources. Twice removed from the
original, they include encyclopedias, fact books and almanacs, guides and handbooks. Some secondary
sources such as indexing and abstracting tools can also be considered tertiary sources.
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Primary Source |
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Secondary Source |
| Art |
Original artwork |
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Article critiquing the piece of art |
| Engineering |
Patent |
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Derwent Patents Index |
| History |
Explorer's diary |
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Book about exploration |
| Literature |
Poem |
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Treatise on a particular genre of poetry |
| Psychology |
Notes taken by a clinical psychologist |
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Dictionary of psychology |
| Science |
Original journal article |
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Report of experiment in New Scientist |
| Theatre |
Videotape of a performance |
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Biography of a playwright |
These are typically short articles (a paragraph to a few pages) written by freelance writers
or journalists; the articles do not contain a bibliography or references; the target audience is non-academic
or nonspecialized; the articles usually appear in publications that appear frequently (i.e, daily or weekly) and
such publications often contain numerous advertisements, color illustrations, and are printed on glossy paper.
Thesearticles are meant to inform, update, or entertain, and the vocabulary is therefore non-technical and simple.
There is no peer review process for these articles. An example of this type of publication is Newsweek.
These will also be relatively short articles by authors who are specialists in the
field. The authors may refer to their sources, but will rarely provide bibliographic information. The target readers
include individuals within or familiar with the industry and therefore the language is technical and jargon laden.
Publications mostly appear monthly and contain many trade-specific and general business advertisements.
Illustrations are usually charts and graphs or product photography. These articles may report on industry trends
and new products or techniques. There is no peer review process. An example of a trade publication
is Information Today.
Generally, these articles are lengthy compared to popular articles, often running from
10 to 50 or more pages. The authors are authorities in their field and their target audience are specialists
in the field; most of the articles are based on research, methodology, and theory. The vocabulary is likely to
reflect a particular discipline. These articles contain references or bibliographies. The journals they appear
in are not published as frequently as popular magazines, sometimes appearing only twice a year, at the most
once a month. There is less advertising and illustrations are more likely to be technical or scientific in nature.
An example of a scholarly publication is the New England Journal of Medicine.
Refereed articles are normally assumed to be substantial works of scholarship, which have gone through
a peer-reviewing process before being published in a scholarly journal for a scholarly audience. Peer
reviewing means that the paper is submitted to experts in the field for assessment (much like a thesis)
before being accepted for publication, or rejected. Remember that not all articles published in refereed
journals are themselves refereed.
Examples of peer-reviewed articles include:
- Commentaries on original research
- Critical scholarly texts
- Reviews of a field of research
Examples of articles unlikely to have been peer-reviewed include non-scholarly, non-research articles, brief
communications, editorials, letters to the editor, and reviews of the arts and books. Articles in newspapers
and popular magazines are rarely refereed.
There are a number of criteria for identifying refereed journals. The most useful are:
- Journal is listed in a scholarly library index by subscription such as PsycInfo.
- The journal is classified as refereed in a periodicals directory (ask at the Reference Desk).
- There is a statement (usually hard to find) in the journal (or on the website) that papers are refereed.
- Journal has a list of editorial board members.
- Article has a "Submitted" and "Accepted" date shown.
- Peer-Reviewed designation shows up on an Academic Search Premier citation.
For help identifying a refereed journal, ask at the Reference Desk or talk with your professor.
For further descriptions of the distinction between these types of sources, see the following links:
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