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In some fields, a secondary source may include a summary of the literature in the introduction of a scientific paper, a description of what is known about a disease or treatment in a chapter in a reference book, or a synthesis written to review available literature. [17]
Secondary research involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research. Secondary research is contrasted with primary research in that primary research involves the generation of data, whereas secondary research uses primary research sources as a source of data for analysis. [ 1 ]
Sources of information are commonly categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary sources.In brief, a primary source is one close to the event with firsthand knowledge (for example, an eyewitness); a secondary source is at least one step removed (for example, a book about an event written by someone not involved in it); and a tertiary source is an encyclopaedia or textbook that provides a ...
A general reference is a citation to a reliable source that supports content, but is not linked to any particular text in the article through an inline citation. General references are usually listed at the end of the article in a "References" section, and are usually sorted by the last name of the author or the editor.
Secondary sources may draw on primary sources and other secondary sources to create a general overview; or to make analytic or synthetic claims. [3] [4] Tertiary sources are publications such as encyclopedias or other compendia that sum up secondary and primary sources. For example, Wikipedia itself is a tertiary source.
The use of the available secondary literature is strongly recommended to reference information on chemical safety, in preference to either (primary) journal articles or (tertiary) generalist textbooks: see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (chemistry)/Safety for more details and examples of secondary sources.
Secondary sources often have a wider perspective since they will analyse many primary sources or seek to put a single primary source into a wider context. Particular examples of this, in scientific publishing, are synthesis reports and meta-analyses. These secondary publications are designed to take many primary publications into account ...
Effort should be made to corroborate the reference with an independent source to maintain a neutral point of view. Accounts and Notes to the Accounts in an annual report, which have been independently audited, can be considered secondary sources about the organization, and have some level of reliability.