Is a newspaper article a primary or secondary source?

Articles in newspapers and magazines can be primary or secondary depending on the focus of your research.

In historical studies, old articles are used as primary sources that give direct evidence about the time period. In social and communication studies, articles are used as primary sources to analyse language and social relations (for example, by conducting content analysis or discourse analysis).

If you are not analysing the article itself, but only using it for background information or facts about your topic, then the article is a secondary source.

Frequently asked questions: Referencing

What is the definition of peer review?: Peer review is a process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Utilising rigorous criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decide whether to accept each submission for publication.

For this reason, academic journals are often considered among the most credible sources you can use in a research project – provided that the journal itself is trustworthy and well regarded.
How do I paraphrase effectively?: To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive, or start from a different point)

Combining information from multiple sentences into one

Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point

Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.
When should I use quotes?: In academic writing, there are three main situations where quoting is the best choice:

To analyse the author’s language (e.g., in a literary analysis essay)

To give evidence from primary sources

To accurately present a precise definition or argument

Don’t overuse quotes; your own voice should be dominant. If you just want to provide information from a source, it’s usually better to paraphrase or summarise.
Is a movie a primary or secondary source?: A fictional movie is usually a primary source. A documentary can be either primary or secondary depending on the context.

If you are directly analysing some aspect of the movie itself – for example, the cinematography, narrative techniques, or social context – the movie is a primary source.

If you use the movie for background information or analysis about your topic – for example, to learn about a historical event or a scientific discovery – the movie is a secondary source.

Whether it’s primary or secondary, always properly cite the movie in the citation style you are using. Learn how to create an MLA movie citation or an APA movie citation.
How can you tell if a source is primary or secondary?: To determine if a source is primary or secondary, ask yourself:

Was the source created by someone directly involved in the events you’re studying (primary), or by another researcher (secondary)?

Does the source provide original information (primary), or does it summarize information from other sources (secondary)?

Are you directly analyzing the source itself (primary), or only using it for background information (secondary)?

Some types of sources are nearly always primary: works of art and literature, raw statistical data, official documents and records, and personal communications (e.g. letters, interviews). If you use one of these in your research, it is probably a primary source.

Primary sources are often considered the most credible in terms of providing evidence for your argument, as they give you direct evidence of what you are researching. However, it’s up to you to ensure the information they provide is reliable and accurate.

Always make sure to properly cite your sources to avoid plagiarism.
What are some examples of secondary sources?: Common examples of secondary sources include academic books, journal articles, reviews, essays, and textbooks.

Anything that summarizes, evaluates or interprets primary sources can be a secondary source. If a source gives you an overview of background information or presents another researcher’s ideas on your topic, it is probably a secondary source.
What are some examples of primary sources?: Common examples of primary sources include interview transcripts, photographs, novels, paintings, films, historical documents, and official statistics.

Anything you directly analyze or use as first-hand evidence can be a primary source, including qualitative or quantitative data that you collected yourself.
What makes a source credible?: A credible source should pass the CRAAP test and follow these guidelines:

The information should be up to date and current.

The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.

The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.

For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.
Which citation software does Scribbr use?: The Scribbr Reference Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js. It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Reference Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github.
What is a block quote?: A block quote is a long quote formatted as a separate ‘block’ of text. Instead of using quotation marks, you place the quote on a new line, and indent the entire quote to mark it apart from your own words.

APA uses block quotes for quotes that are 40 words or longer.
How do I quote text that contains a citation?: If you’re quoting from a text that paraphrases or summarises other sources and cites them in parentheses, APA recommends retaining the citations as part of the quote:

Smith states that ‘the literature on this topic (Jones, 2015; Sill, 2019; Paulson, 2020) shows no clear consensus’ (Smith, 2019, p. 4).

Footnote or endnote numbers that appear within quoted text should be omitted.

If you want to cite an indirect source (one you’ve only seen quoted in another source), either locate the original source or use the phrase ‘as cited in’ in your citation.
How many quotes should I use?: In scientific subjects, the information itself is more important than how it was expressed, so quoting should generally be kept to a minimum. In the arts and humanities, however, well-chosen quotes are often essential to a good paper.

In social sciences, it varies. If your research is mainly quantitative, you won’t include many quotes, but if it’s more qualitative, you may need to quote from the data you collected.

As a general guideline, quotes should take up no more than 5–10% of your paper. If in doubt, check with your instructor or supervisor how much quoting is appropriate in your field.
How do I cite a quote in academic writing?: Every time you quote a source, you must include a correctly formatted in-text citation. This looks slightly different depending on the citation style.

For example, a direct quote in APA is cited like this: ‘This is a quote’ (Streefkerk, 2020, p. 5).

Every in-text citation should also correspond to a full reference at the end of your paper.
What is a quote?: A quote is an exact copy of someone else’s words, usually enclosed in quotation marks and credited to the original author or speaker.
When should I quote instead of paraphrasing?: To present information from other sources in academic writing, it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text

You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis)

You’re presenting a precise definition

You’re looking in depth at a specific claim
What’s the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing?: Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.

Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.

Paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely into your own words and properly reference the source.
How do I paraphrase effectively?: To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive, or start from a different point)

Combining information from multiple sentences into one

Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point

Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

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Frequently asked questions

Is a newspaper article a primary or secondary source?

Frequently asked questions: Referencing

Questions?

Ask our team

Frequently asked questions

How does the sample edit work?