Definition: Raw data; original sources of information before it has been analyzed. Original materials on the basis of which further research can be performed. For example, interviews, survey data, notes made by a scientist, including diaries, various manuscripts, fiction, autobiographies, as well as various types of legal documents.
Primary sources allow researchers to get as close as possible to original ideas, events and empirical studies as possible. Such sources may include first hand or contemporary accounts of events, publication of the results of empirical observations or studies, creative works such as a novel or painting, and other items that may form the basis of further research. Primary sources were created in the time period under study.