primary source

/ˈpraɪmɛri sɔrs/

/ˈpraɪməri sɔs/

Other forms: primary sources

A primary source is an original document or a person who has firsthand knowledge about something. In scholarly research and journalism, using a primary source is the most credible way to get information.

If you're writing a research paper, primary sources make your arguments more convincing, since the underlying information comes right from the original source. History scholars use primary sources like letters, photographs, and transcripts of interviews to get as close as they can to firsthand information about a person or event. Secondary sources, like articles or books published after an event happened, include additional commentary or interpretation. Primary comes from the Latin primarius, "of the first rank" or "principal."

Definitions of primary source

1. noun

   a firsthand account or contemporary document or artifact that provides information about an event or time period
   type of:

   source

   a document (or organization) from which information is obtained