Historical Research
Compiling a Bibliography for your Research Paper
History students are often asked to find both primary sources and secondary sources for their research papers. Primary sources are sources that were produced in the time period under study. Primary sources are the most crucial building blocks of historical research. Secondary sources are works written by professional scholars that evaluate and analyze the time period under study based on reading and studying hundreds of primary sources. Secondary sources can take the form of monographs (book-length studies) or scholarly journal articles.
For most topics, there are also a significant number of reference works (sometimes known as tertiary sources) available. Many of these sources are compilations of information about a topic based on many secondary sources, but do not feature original scholarly research based on primary sources. As a result, some professors do not allow students to use reference books as official sources in their papers. Please follow the guidelines of your individual professor when deciding whether or not to add reference sources to your bibliography.
This handout from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington can help you differentiate between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.
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How to Find Secondary Sources
Books/E-Books
In the field of history, the book, rather than the article, is the principal publication for authoritative views. Students would be wise to rely on books more than articles as the main sources of information about the past. Books, both print and electronic, can be found by searching the online library catalog.
Scholarly Journal Articles
The UAH Library holds extensive scholarly journal articles, available either in print in the library or through online databases. Scholarly journal articles are sometimes called peer-reviewed or refereed articles. This is because scholarly articles have been subject to the review of experts in the author’s field of study prior to publication.
Be careful: some of these databases also contain short magazine articles that are not peer-reviewed. You will want to avoid magazine articles. For more information on the difference between a scholarly journal and a magazine, see this handout or this handout. If you are still unsure if the journal you have chosen is scholarly, look it up in Ulrich’s Periodical Directory.
In addition, many of these databases contain book reviews. You will want to ignore book reviews when you select your sources. For some of the databases, you can use “Advanced Search” options to limit your search to journal articles and overlook the book reviews.
Here are the best databases that you can use to locate scholarly journal articles:
J-STOR
Blackwell Synergy
Cambridge Journals Online
Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Oxford University Press Journals
Project MUSE
Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts (ASSIA)
Highwire Press
SAGE Press Full-Text Journal Collections
Clase Periodica
Science Direct
Professional Development Collection
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a useful alternative to the library’s “Supersearch” which includes many databases that primarily contain non-scholarly magazines. It provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar aims to sort articles the way researchers do, weighing the full text of each article, the author, the publication in which the article appears, and how often the piece has been cited in other scholarly literature. The most relevant results will always appear on the first page. When used from a campus computer, Google Scholar provides a link to sources in the UAH Library collections.
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How to Find Primary Sources
You can find primary sources via the online databases listed below. Be careful, as not everything in these databases is a primary source. If in doubt, ask a reference librarian or your professor.
African-American History and Culture
In the First Person
Military and Government Collection
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
New York Times
Newspaper Source
Official Documents of the United Nations (ODS)
Proquest Newsstand
Thomas (Federal Legisation)
Here are links to some excellent websites that contain primary sources.
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
Internet African History Sourcebook
Internet East Asian History Sourcebook
Internet Indian History Sourcebook
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook
Internet Jewish History Sourcebook
Internet Women’s History Sourcebook
Internet Global History Sourcebook
Internet History of Science Sourcebook
German Propaganda Archive
History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web
Amdocs: Documents for the Study of American History
World History Sources
Women in World History
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution
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How to Find Reference Works
Here are online databases that can provide you with additional information about any number of topics.
African-American History & Culture
American National Biography
Biography Reference Bank
Handbook of Latin American Studies
Military & Government Collection
Oxford Reference Online Premium
CIA World FactBook
CQ Weekly (Congressional Quarterly)
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
General
Textbook Websites:
Textbook Site for Western Civilization: The Continuing Experiment (HY 101/102 Text)
Online Learning Center for Traditions and Encounters (HY 103/104 Text)
Textbook Site for America: A Narrative History (History 221-222 Text)
Useful Websites for History Students:
The History Guide: A Student’s Guide to the Study of History
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (historical maps)
American Historical Association
H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Online)
History News Network
Style Guides
The most recent editions of style guides are available at the Library Reference Desk. Be sure to consult with your professor about what documentation system is expected for your research paper.
UAH Writing Center
Be sure to consult the UAH Writing Center for help writing and documenting your research papers. You can find a number of helpful handouts at their website, and you can also make an appointment to work on your paper with the help of a tutor.
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