Are autobiographies primary or secondary sources

Primary vs. Secondary sources

This is the difference between a source written BY someone versus one written ABOUT something that someone else wrote.

• Primary Sources are created by someone first hand
• Secondary Sources are written about something that someone else created

Primary Sources

A primary source is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study.

It serves as an original source of information about the topic. 

One way to think of a primary source is it's the creator's original ideas, thoughts, or observations. They can be:

• Raw, unedited, unpublished - such as, a diary, personal letters, or data set
• Published - such as, an article in an academic/scholarly journal or book

For most research articles, you'll find all of these elements as headings and subheadings:

• Method -