Tertiary sources such as subject encyclopedias can provide you with background information on a topic, and give you a basic understanding of key terms, and important people or voices in your discipline. This can give you a sense of how your research question fits in with other scholarly research that has been done. The resources listed on this page are of particular value to Philosophy students, as definitions and overviews found in general works may not always fit the philosophical meaning or lens.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a dynamic, online scholarly encyclopedia in which entries are kept up to date by an expert or groups of experts in the field.

Pay close attention to the very helpful bibliographies at the end of each entry for further exploration! Consulting a bibliography is an efficient way to make sure you know who the scholars are who've been working on your topic.