A tertiary source is an index or textual consolidation of already published
primary and
secondary sources
[Primary, secondary and tertiary sources.](_blank)
". 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[Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Resources]
. University of New Haven. and established
mainstream science 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 t ...
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, or
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 ...
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 textboo ...
s,
and
compendia 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 guides, 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 are generally considered secondary (not be confused with
film,
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 phys ...
, 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.
See also
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Source text
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Third-party source
References
{{Reflist
History resources
Information science
de:Sekundärliteratur#Tertiärliteratur