tertiary source
{{short description|Index or textual consolidation of primary and secondary sources}}
{{Distinguish|Tertiary sector of the economy}}
{{For|Wikipedia's policy on the use of tertiary sources|Wikipedia:No original research#Tertiary}}
A tertiary source is an index or textual consolidation of already published primary and secondary sources[https://guides.lib.odu.edu/informationliteracytutorials Primary, secondary and tertiary sources.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703015116/http://www.lib.umd.edu/ues/guides/primary-sources |date=2013-07-03 }}". University Libraries, University of Maryland. Retrieve 07/26/2013 that does not provide additional interpretations or analysis of the sources.{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.odu.edu/genedinfolit/1infobasics/tertiary_information_sources.html|title=Tertiary Information Sources|date=September 2012|publisher=Old Dominion University -- ODU Libraries|access-date=20 June 2013}}"[http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/tertiary Tertiary sources] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106174742/http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/tertiary |date=2014-11-06 }}". James Cook University. Some tertiary sources can be used as an aid to find key (seminal) sources, key terms, general common knowledge"[http://libguides.newhaven.edu/content.php?pid=465151&sid=3809011 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 standards generally do not accept tertiary sources such as encyclopedias 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, dictionary, or encyclopedia 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.{{Cite journal | last1 = Søndergaard | first1 = T. F. | last2 = Andersen | first2 = J. | last3 = Hjørland | first3 = B. | doi = 10.1108/00220410310472509 | title = Documents and the communication of scientific and scholarly information: Revising and updating the UNISIST model | journal = Journal of Documentation | volume = 59 | issue = 3 | pages = 278 | year = 2003 | s2cid = 14697793 }}
Types of tertiary sources
{{More citations needed|section|date=May 2021}}
As tertiary sources, encyclopedias, dictionaries, some textbooks, 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 are aggregates of primary and secondary sources and therefore often considered tertiary sources. They may also serve as a point of access to the full or partial text of primary and secondary sources. Almanacs, travel guides, field guides, and timelines are also examples of tertiary sources.
Wikipedia is a tertiary source.{{cite web |title=Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources |url=https://crk.umn.edu/library/primary-secondary-and-tertiary-sources |access-date=19 April 2023 |publisher=University of Minnesota Crookston}}
See also
References
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