Difference between primary source and secondary source
When doing academic work, you always have to deal with quotations. These come either from primary sources or secondary sources. You should know the difference in order to choose the correct citation style.
Different sources - you should know that
- For your scientific work you use primary and secondary sources on the one hand. The difference between the two sources is that a primary source gives you direct information about a specific event. The author of this book, essay or similar reports from his own experiences.
- In the case of a secondary source, the author reports an event from another publication or by another author. So he did not determine this event himself.
- If you are quoting in academic papers, however, do not make any distinction between the type of source.
- There are different ways of citing. Some like to use footnotes, others refer to the relevant source in the text. Your professor or lecturer will tell you which way of citation he would like. If he gives you a free hand, you can decide for yourself how you want to cite the sources. The following statements relate to sources given by means of footnotes.
Primary sources and secondary sources in footnotes
- There are several ways of citing primary and secondary sources for a scientific paper. The difference with footnotes is that you place them below the text, while you place text references directly after the quotation.
- In the case of footnotes, first enter the author's surname and first name and the title of the source. It is up to you whether you state the first name in full or just the first letter.
- So that the reader can also look up the sources used, include the edition, year of publication and page number of the source in the footnote.
Correctly state secondary and primary source in scientific work
You are currently working on a scientific thesis and would now like to have secondary ...
Bibliography - useful information
- As a rule, no distinction is made between the sources in the bibliography. However, your instructor may want a separate listing of primary and secondary sources. Then of course you should take that into account.
- Basically, the sources in the bibliography are sorted alphabetically according to the authors' last names.
- If you are still unclear about the citation or the bibliography, please speak to your lecturer and ask. Because the wishes of the lecturers can be quite different here. Usually the consultation hours are provided for this, which you should also use.
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