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Primary Sources
Primary sources are original works in a given field. In social and behavioral sciences, these are generally articles written with new data and findings. Literature reviews should focus heavily, if not exclusively, on primary sources.
Secondary sources analyze primary sources. These are not sources of original research, but they will discuss original research that is presented elsewhere.
Tertiary sources are consolidated discussions of primary and secondary sources. While secondary sources directly discuss primary sources, tertiary sources summarize a wide variety of sources. The most common types of tertiary sources are encyclopedias and dictionaries.