Primary source

A primary source is the original document — the complaint, the order, the release — rather than a description of it. Where this site's summary and the primary source disagree, the primary source is right.

data and analysis · updated 2026-09-08

See also

• Provenance — Provenance is the documented origin of a piece of information. Every fact in this library traces to a named primary document, beca…
• Citation — A citation identifies the source of a claim precisely enough for a reader to check it. Citation density is the practical differenc…

Terms that refer here

Citation · Provenance

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