- Iona University
- Research Guides
- Research Essentials
- Evaluating Sources
Research Essentials
- Home
- Choosing a Research Topic
- Finding Books and Articles
- Effective Database Searching
- Evaluating Sources
- Avoiding Plagiarism and Citing Sources
- Library Workshops
- Research Services & Help
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources
Identifying the kind of source you are using is crucial to understanding both how to evaluate the source and how to use it in your research.
Primary sources are original sources of information that drives other research projects. Primary sources typically include documents like poems, diaries, court records, interviews, and oral history projects. Primary materials also include research results generated by experiments – including surveys, fieldwork, or data sets – which are eventually published as journal articles. Primary sources have not been interpreted, analyzed, or tabulated; they are raw reflections of the speaker or researchers' experiences. In the library, you can find primary sources in these databases and by searching for diaries, journals, or interviews in the Iona University Libraries' book collection.
Secondary sources describe or analyze the primary sources. Examples of secondary sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, books, and articles that interpret or review research works. Peer-reviewed publications generally fall into this category.
Tertiary sources list, compile, digest, or index primary or secondary sources. Indexes, handbooks, digests, and almanacs generally fall into this category.
To determine the type of source you are working with, consider the following contextual clues and publication details:
-
Timing of the event recorded - If the article was composed close to the time of the event recorded, it is likely a primary material. For instance, a letter written by a soldier during the Vietnam War is primary material, as is an article written in the newspaper or a soldier's letter home during the Civil War. However, an article written in 2022 analyzing the results of the battle at Gettysburg is secondary material.
-
Rhetorical aim of the written item - Often, an item that is written with a persuasive or analytical aim is secondary material. These materials have digested and interpreted the event, instead of reporting on it.
-
Context of the researching scholar - Primary materials for a critic studying the literature of the Civil War are different from primary materials for a historian studying Civil War prisons. The critic's primary materials are the poems, stories, and films of the era. The research scientist's primary materials would be the diaries and writings of enslaved families.
Adapted from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point University Library
Methods for Evaluating Sources
Regardless of the type of resource you are examining - books, articles, social media posts, or AI-generated text - always evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the information you find before using it for your research. The CARDS method is one evaluative tool that allows you to make an informed decision about using a resource to further your own research.
Consider the following when determining the quality of an article or source:
C - Credibility:
- Is the author, publisher, or sponsor of the information evident? What are their credentials, reputation, education, or affiliations?
- Is there an "About Us" or "Contact Us" link? Besides an email address, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information?
-
If it's a book or article, what else has the author published? Does the reference have a bibliography? Is the information still valid today?
A - Accuracy:
- Do you see errors on the page (spelling, grammar, facts)? Errors like these not only indicate a lack of quality control (including a lack of peer-review) but can produce inaccuracies in the information.
- Do they cite the sources of their information?
R - Reliability:
- Is the source objective or does it advocate a certain point of view? Be strategic in this decision: objective sources allow you to foster a broader sense of a topic, while more persuasive pieces can dislodge details and nuances about your topic.
- Is the information free of advertising or clearly separated from it? If you are writing about Hurricane Katrina it is certainly interesting to read what BP said about the ensuing oil spills, but consider balancing that piece with a scientific perspective not funded by BP.
D - Date:
- Can you find the copyright date or the date when it was written or last revised?
- Do any statistics, graphs, or charts clearly state by whom and when the data was collected?
-
Are there links that no longer work? This indicates the site is not being meaningfully maintained and the information may be outdated.
S - Source:
- Is the information based on primary or secondary sources?
- Are there links to other sources that would score high in this CARDS evaluation or are more scholarly? Research is not quick but save yourself some time by using sources that connect you to other scholarly sources in the bibliography.
Despite this discussion of library resources, you might find your research requires more internet research than library research. Perhaps your topic is quite new and peer-reviewed articles have yet to be published, or you are being asked to analyze a company based on their public internet presence. Mike Caufield’s SIFT technique for source evaluation provides a reflective and thorough heuristic for evaluating internet sources.
Image Credit: Mike Caulfield, 2019. https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/ All SIFT information on this page is adapted from his materials with a CC BY 4.0 license.
S – Stop
The SIFT method recommends two different crucial stopping points in your internet research:
-
When you first encounter a website or internet source, stop and consider:
- Do you know this source?
- Is this source reputable?
-
Are the claims on this website reputable to the best of your current knowledge?
If you can’t answer these questions, approach the source cautiously as you move through the other SIFT steps.
-
As you move through each step, stop and consider:
- What is my purpose for seeking this information out? Am I doing a quick scan of internet sources to understand the internet discourse of the day, or am I doing deep academic work? Both are useful kinds of research but involve a different set of questions and practices. The first involves a shallow scan across different sources, the second requires a deeper investigation of each figure, quote, etc.
Stop throughout your work to avoid falling into the proverbial internet rabbit hole, forgetting what you were researching in the first place.
I – Investigate the Source
This practice largely overlaps with evaluating a source and/or author’s credibility in the CARDS method. Take a minute or two to deduce:
- Who is the author? What are their credentials? What have they previously written on this topic?
- What is this source? Is it a newspaper, a blog, or a news aggregator website? Where does this source derive funding?
F – Find Better Coverage
Read laterally across the internet and library resources about this topic.
If you are writing about the prevalence of CTE in former NFL players, do not solely rely on a press release from the NFL about the topic. You can certainly use NFL statements, but be sure to read across medical journals, newspaper sources, and peer-reviewed research articles about CTE before completely forming your research argument around one source.
T – Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media Back to Original Context
Tracing involves pulling apart a resource for claims, quotes, images, videos, etc., and finding the original source. Think of this as swimming upstream, potentially to a better source. To trace:
- Click on any links to see what sources are being used to construct an argument. Are these sources reputable? Are these sources news aggregators? If a new item, is the source reputable?
- Check sources in the bibliography if present. Are those sources more academic than the source you are evaluating? Feel empowered to ditch your original source and move on to the linked source.
- Reverse image search photos used in the source.
- Search for the original full video of any embedded media. Did the source cut or manipulate the video? Did the article accurately summarize the video? If not, you can deduce the bias of the article and use it accordingly in your own research.
Domain
Note the internet address domain in this search string: "climate change" site:gov. This asks the search engine to limit it's search to .gov sites for research about climate change from American government agencies. Using domain searching is a kind of evaluation tool: rather than opening up the search to commercial entities that might support untested or unscientific approaches to climate change that further their business interests, this search prioritizes information researched by various government entities.
Pay attention to the domain in web addresses to evaluate each source. The following domains will most likely publish academic-level information
- .edu (educational institution)
- .gov (government agency)
- .mil (military organization)
Stay critical as ever, and use this domain evaluation as a supplement to CARDS or SIFT.
Tools and Library Resources for Evaluating Information
- Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new windowCovering many current social issues, features updated viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, images and other resources.
- U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new windowU.S. Major Dailies provides access to U.S. national and regional newspapers, including Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new windowArticles from journals and newspapers covering all subject areas. Includes dissertations, working papers from OECD, company reports, and country profiles.
- Flipster Digital Magazines This link opens in a new windowDigital newsstand that offers a browse-able access to popular magazines such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Fortune, and The New Yorker.
Magazines can be downloaded to Android™ phones and tablets, Apple® phones and tables, and Kindle Fire tablets for offline reading. - Academic Search Elite This link opens in a new windowArticles from journals, magazines and other resources covering multidisciplinary topics.
- Newspaper Source This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text of 200+ regional, national, and international newspapers. The database also includes transcripts from major television and radio broadcasts.
- Congressional Research Service This link opens in a new windowReports are prepared for members of Congress by the Library of Congress to provide background information on major policy issues. Many reports are updated on a regular basis, this site includes most versions of the reports.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowCongressional Quarterly reports addressing controversial current issues. Includes historical perspective, recent developments, statistics, opposing viewpoints, and sources for additional research.
- General OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new windowArticles, reports and daily updates on a variety of topics: business, technology, current events, environmental issues, health care, humanities, politics, and many more.
- International Newsstream This link opens in a new windowProvides the most recent news content outside of the US and Canada, with archives which stretch back decades featuring newspapers, newswires, and news sites.
- News (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowProvides access to more 1,000+ major U.S. regional, national and local newspapers as well as leading titles from around the world.
- The New York Times (1980 - Current) This link opens in a new windowOften considered the official U.S. newspaper, the NYTimes publishes the complete text of important documents, speeches and presidential press conferences.Also available in full-text:
from 01/01/1939 to Present in Iona University Libraries Print/Microform
from 06/01/1980 to present in LexisNexis Academic
from 06/01/1980 to present in National Newspapers Premier
from 01/01/1985 to present in Academic OneFile
from 01/01/1985 to present in InfoTrac Newsstand
from 01/01/1985 to present in New York State Newspapers - US Newsstream This link opens in a new windowUS Newsstream enables users to search the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format.
- Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new windowThe WSJ is considered the US's preeminent publication for business news and information on financial markets worldwide. Content available from 1984 - Current.
Fact Checking Sites
- FactCheck.org - Annenberg Public Policy Center’s nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.
- Politifact - PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics. PolitiFact is run by editors and reporters from the Tampa Bay Times, an independent newspaper in Florida.
- SciCheck - Focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy.
- All Sides - Provides multiple angles on the same story.
Image Checking Sites
- Google Reverse Image Search - Upload or use a URL image to check the content history or to see similar images on the web.
- TinEye Reverse Image Search - Search by image and find where that image appears online.
- FotoForensics - Identify parts of an image that may have been modified or “photoshopped”.
Web History Checking Site
- Wayback Machine - Web archive that captures websites over time and can be used to verify content history and edits.
- Last Updated: Dec 5, 2023 5:18 PM
- URL: https://guides.iona.edu/researchessentials
- Print Page