The article is presented in the format of a mix of established in law classic viewpoits on nature, essence and meaning of the sources of law, and current views and concepts on the subject, in respect of today's realities, particularly in the area of civil law. Approaches to the study of problems of the theory of sources of law are proposed in speech, including: 1) etymological (generally accepted understanding of the subject and the concept of the category «source of law»); 2) study of source law as natural phenomena (geographic, climatic, biological, and other factors affecting law-making process); 3) social, political, ideological and cultural factors affecting law-making process, study of the social component of sources of law.

Separate vector of research is devoted to the study of source of law in a broad sense (material, ideological and formal legal significance) and narrow (formal legal significance). Certain attention is paid to the principles of study of sources of law (objectivity, historicism, the unity of historical and logical, comprehensiveness, systematic method). Separate consideration — an issue devoted to the correlation between categories of «form of law» and «source of law».