Bibliographies of books can be a good starting point. Historians routinely cite their primary sources in the books they write. Journal articles can also cite primary sources and knowing how to find historical newspapers or other library collections of primary sources is important.
If you would like to find books that are based on primary sources, use Discovery and try adding the word "sources" to your keyword search. Also try other keywords such as:
When searching for historical sources, or within them, you need to consider the context of those documents. For example, if you're looking for works about women in the military in the 1940s, you may have to use the world “girls”. Think about how your subjects were perceived in their own time and plan your keywords accordingly.
Peer-reviewed is the highest level of academic or scholarly publishing. The quality of the articles is maintained through a review process conducted by experts prior to publication. Not all academic journals are peer-reviewed, but all peer-reviewed journals are academic.
Articles submitted to a refereed or peer-reviewed journal are examined by one or more people with expertise in the field with which the article deals. This process gives the scholartic community assurance that the information in the article is credible and original. Some disciplines require peer-reviewed status more than others.
Learn more about peer review in the Library Skills Tutorial.