Direct communication refers to any source in which data or informative content is relayed in speech, writing, or other formats from a person or entity expected to have access to reliable sources, to the receiver who collects or enters the data.

This data is by nature second-hand or third-hand, as it passes through an intermediary between the original observation and the person who must interpret it. Therefore data gathered through communication is generally considered lower in quality than data gathered through direct observation or through many publications or forms of documentation.

The person entering the fact receives it through an intermediary. That distinguishes direct communication from observation, where the person entering the data experiences or measures the fact itself. A traceable earlier source can provide a more direct reference than the communication relaying it.