Digital Resources for Research in American Legal History: Secondary Sources

A secondary source of information is one that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you are researching. For the purposes of a historical research project, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles. Also included would be reference sources like encyclopedias.

For secondary sources, often the best sources are those that have been published most recently. If you use a secondary source that was published decades ago, it is important to know what subsequent scholars have written on the topic and what criticism they have made about the earlier work or its approach to the topic.

Source: Primary Source Village (https://www.library.illinois.edu/village/primarysource/mod1/pg2.htm)