In secondary sources, authors analyze and interpret primary source materials.
Secondary sources can be scholarly or popular. Scholarly sources (sometimes called "academic" or "peer-reviewed" sources) are written by and for experts and typically include bibliographies and citations. Popular sources are written for a general, non-expert audience and can be authored by anyone.
There are several databases from which to choose when you are seeking scholarly work. Most databases for historians focus on a particular geographical and/or chronological period. Always make sure that you've selected the most appropriate database to search!
This combined search box covers world history, including the United States and Canada, from 1450 to the present. Do not use this search box if you are researching classical or medieval history--instead, use Iter and L'année philologique from the list above.
Depending on the scope of your research project, you also may wish to search one or more of the following databases.
These e-journal collections provide access to many journals in the field of History, but they are more limited in coverage compared to subject databases. In most cases, it's better to search subject databases to identify articles.
An interdisciplinary journal archive. It includes archives of over one thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. Includes the Artstor image collections.
