Secondary sources
What is a secondary source?
Are the publications such as a monograph or peer-reviewed journal articles in which scholars present their analyses, insights, and claims. This can include works such as scholarly criticism, some peer-reviewed journal articles, or reviews of a text or scientific study. On occasion, things that were originally published as secondary sources can be analyzed by future scholars as primary artifacts about what scholarship was like at the time of the original publication.
What is a peer-reviewed journal article?
It is a scholarly article that meets certain criteria set by a journal and has been read and approved by peer scholars. It presents original research, has been written for an audience of other experts, is often lengthy in nature, and has an extensive bibliography, evidence to mean that it has taken several years to write. You can find such articles in a periodical/journal.
What is a monograph?
A monograph is an academic book written about a scholarly subject, often published by a University Press. It usually has one author (i.e. each chapter isn’t written by a different person), and it’s not a reprinted primary source or a piece of fiction or poetry.
- DatabaseIs a collection of research material compiled by subject in one place. Databases can include peer-reviewed/scholarly articles, book chapters, reports, conference proceedings papers, and primary sources. The library subscribes to hundreds of databases in all subject areas taught at Carleton. JStor is a very popular database at Carleton (but certainly not the only one).
- Journals/e-journalsAlso known as a periodical, a journal is published as part of an ongoing series. Journals might be published anywhere from once a week to once a year, and are typically numbered by volume and issue. Carleton’s print journals are stored on the 3rd floor, but we have access to many electronic journals (e-journals) as well. You can find e-journals in our databases. There are many different types of journals (i.e academic journals, newsletters, magazines, and newspapers). Use the link above to search for journals by title.
Specialized databases
- America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
Contains information about scholarly articles on the history and culture of the U. S. and Canada. (For World History, use Historical Abstracts) - Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
The primary place to find scholarship on world history. (For U.S. and Canadian History, use America: History and Life). Covers publications from 1955 - present. - ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
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A broad, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary search tool. Searches through citations, subject indexing, and some full text). - HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Online This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations and subject indexing)
Includes journal articles about Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, and Latinos in the United States. Covers 1970 - current. - HLAS: Handbook of Latin American Studies This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
A bibliography pointing to key scholarship on Latin America.
About HLAS: consider this as a secondary resource for research.
