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What's the difference between a primary and secondary source?

In the field of history, primary sources are the original, raw evidence remaining from any period of time. To be considered a primary source, a document or artifact must have an original connection to an individual or event you are researching. Secondary sources, in contrast, are documents pertaining to a subject that are written by scholars or commentators after the fact.

Most history papers require you to include both secondary and primary sources in your works cited or bibliography page. In general, students find locating primary sources more challenging than secondary sources.

Next: Why are primary sources important to historians?