Secondary sources describe, analyze, interpret or summarize events, phenomena or primary sources.
Such sources are often created significantly later than the time the event occurred, or the primary source was created.
Biographies, histories
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, directories, textbooks, reference works
Magazine, journal, newspaper articles
Bibliographies, indexes
Works of criticism, analysis, interpretation or review (e.g., scholarship)
| Primary | Secondary | |
| Literature | Hamlet (the play) | Journal article about Hamlet |
| Art | Mona Lisa (painting) | Article discussing da Vinci's work |
| History | Recorded interview with a survivor of the Titanic disaster | Book about the sinking of the Titanic |
| Business | Annual report for Microsoft company | Book about Microsoft |
| Politics/Government | Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King | Book about Canadian prime ministers |
| Social Science | Census data | Article about trends in the Canadian labour force |
| Psychology | Results of a clinical trial to treat anorexia nervosa | Book about treatment methods for eating disorders |
| Biology | Annual bird count | Report on the effects of pesticides on birds |
| Medicine | A study of the dopamine D2 receptor in Huntington's Disease | Book about neurological disorders |