NUR501 : Theoretical Foundations of Nursing

Primary sources are original pieces of writing, or records of historical events. When you search for primary sources for your theory paper, you're looking for works written BY the theorist, and not ABOUT him or her.

Examples of primary sources include:

• Books and scholarly journal articles written by the theorist;
• Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, correspondence;
• Memoirs and autobiographies.

A requirement of your paper is that you must use scholarly sources. But how do you know if what you've found is scholarly? Watch this helpful video (courtesy of the Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University):

Websites do not qualify for use in your paper, because they are not considered scholarly. However, if you find a good website on your theory or theorist, it may list references to scholarly sources that you can use.

For example, if you look at this webpage on Transcultural Nursing Theory, you'll notice this reference all the way at the bottom of the page:

Leininger M. Culture care diversity and universality: A theory of nursing. New York: National League for Nursing Press; 1991.

Search for this book, a primary source, in the library catalog, and you'll find the call number and availability of the book (if the library owns a copy).

This is how you can use the Web as a way to find primary and/or scholarly sources.

List of suggested websites on nursing theory.