A tertiary source is an index or textual consolidation of already published

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

and

secondary source In scholarship, a secondary sourcePrimary, secondary and tertiary sources
. ...

sPrimary, secondary and tertiary sources.
". University Libraries, University of Maryland. Retrieve 07/26/2013 that does not provide additional interpretations or analysis of the sources.Tertiary sources
. James Cook University. Some tertiary sources can be used as an aid to find key (seminal) sources, key terms, general

common knowledge Common knowledge is knowledge that is publicly known by everyone or nearly everyone, usually with reference to the community in which the knowledge is referenced. Common knowledge can be about a broad range of subjects, such as science, literat ...

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Resources
. University of New Haven. and established

mainstream science The scientific community is a diverse network of interacting scientists. It includes many " sub-communities" working on particular scientific fields, and within particular institutions; interdisciplinary and cross-institutional activities are al ...

on a topic. The exact definition of ''tertiary'' varies by academic field.

Academic research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

standards generally do not accept tertiary sources such as

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

s as citations, although survey articles are frequently cited rather than the original publication.

Overlap with secondary sources

Depending on the topic of research, a scholar may use a

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologie ...

, or

as either a tertiary or a secondary source. This causes some difficulty in defining many sources as either one type or the other. In some academic disciplines, the differentiation between a secondary and tertiary source is relative. In the United Nations International Scientific Information System (UNISIST) model, a secondary source is a bibliography, whereas a tertiary source is a synthesis of primary sources.

Types of tertiary sources

As tertiary sources, encyclopedias, dictionaries, some

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

s, and

compendia A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...

attempt to summarize, collect, and consolidate the source materials into an overview without adding analysis and synthesis of new conclusions. Indexes, bibliographies, concordances, and

databases In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...

may not provide much textual information, but as aggregates of primary and secondary sources, they are often considered tertiary sources. However, they may also provide access to the full text or content of primary and secondary sources. Although tertiary sources are both primary and secondary, they are more towards a secondary source because of commentary and bias.

Almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...

s, travel guides,

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects e ...

s, and

timeline A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale represen ...

s are also examples of tertiary sources. Survey or overview articles are usually tertiary, though review articles in peer-reviewed

academic journals An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

are generally considered secondary (not be confused with

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

, etc. reviews, which are primary-source opinions). Some sources that are usually primary sources, such as user guides and manuals, are secondary or tertiary (depending on the nature of the material) when written by third parties.

References

{{Reflist History resources Information science de:Sekundärliteratur#Tertiärliteratur

Overlap with secondary sources

Types of tertiary sources

See also

References