Are you writing an essay or a research paper? Then choosing appropriate credible types of sources may pose hurdles to you. It may be difficult to differentiate between secondary vs primary sources. However, if you follow these simple tips, you will be able to spot the difference easily.

1. Time Criterion in Secondary vs Primary Sources

Primary sources are written at the time when specific events discussed by the author happen. In other words, the author who wrote the work lived at the time when what they described took place.

Examples:

• Mémoires where the author describes their life and experiences of the time,
• Autobiography, which is a record of one’s life,
• Personal records like diaries, letters, poems,
• News articles written by reporters,
• Laws, legal documents, treaties, etc.,
• Audiovisual materials like photos and videos.
• Speeches,
• Personal reflection and opinion,
• Research based on the involvement of participants, experiments, interviews, observation (which requires the involvement of the researcher in field study),
• Memos,
• Official company reports,
• Maps, court reconds, cases,
• Case studies.

Determine whether the author has witnessed events they describe.

Secondary sources typically discuss events that the authors have not experienced firsthand, but about which they have read, heard, or researched based on other sources and materials.

Examples:

• Article and book reviews,
• Film reviews,
• Textbooks about different subject topics, course materials, etc.,
• Research based on the use of sources like systematic reviews without the researchers being directly involved in a field study or experiment,
• Studies and articles presenting analysis and interpretation of findings from other sources,
• Documentaries based on primary sources and raw materials,
• Dissertations,
• Encyclopedias,
• Biographies.

2. First vs Third Person in Secondary vs Primary Sources

Another criterion is detecting whether the work is a first-person narrative or is written in the third person singular.

Speeches, interviews, or mémoires typicall use the first person point of view.

Primary sources like laws, documents, news reports, and scholarly research studies based on field work are written in the third person.

However, secondary sources do not use the first person narrative. They present analysis rather than opinion.

3. Reference List

Secondary sources include lists of references since they rely on primary materials and other studies. Primary sources often do not require references as they present raw materials. They are based on a single source of evidence.