Interdisciplinary Studies

The Citation Styles library guide linked below provides information on when and why you should cite the sources you use, as well as provides examples and style guides for many citation styles, APA, MLA, etc.

The Citation Management Tools library guide provides information on the three citation management tools supported by the ASU Library - Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote. Citation managers save and organize your references more efficiently, especially for longer projects. Use a citation manager to automatically create citations or lists of references (bibliographies) in different citation styles, insert citations into your paper, share your research, and collaborate in groups

Primary sources:

The definition of primary sources depends on the academic discipline and the context in which it is used. In the humanities, "Primary resources provide firsthand evidence of historical events. They are generally unpublished materials such as:

• manuscripts,
• photographs,
• maps,
• artifacts,
• audio and video recordings,
• oral histories,
• postcards,
• and posters.

In some instances, published materials can also be viewed as primary materials for the period in which they were written."

Historians use primary sources as evidence. Additional examples of primary sources are diaries, personal journals, government records, court records, property records, military reports, and military rosters.

Secondary sources:

In contrast, a secondary source is the typical history book which may discuss or analyze a person's life or work, an event or another historical topic. Secondary sources are accounts or interpretations of events by a person who doesn't have firsthand knowledge of the event. A good secondary source uses primary sources as evidence.

The Plagiarism Awareness  (ASU Library) and Academic Integrity tutorials will help you understand what plagiarism is and how to be cite your sources. Academic Integrity includes a game that tests your knowledge.

The Citation Styles Lib Guide includes a page on Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and ASU Policies around academic integrity.

Literature review definition

"A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally, you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment (sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography—see the bottom of the next page), but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries."  - The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It by Dena Taylor, Health Sciences Writing Centre, University of Toronto (Accessed July 16, 2025).

Annotated bibliography definition

"A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.) that one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).

"An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources." Annotated Bibliographies from Purdue Online Writing Lab (Accessed July 16, 2025)

For more information on how to conduct a literature review or how to write an annotated bibliography check out this expert Library Guide on Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies. This guide also includes additional information on how to evaluate sources and avoid plagiarism.