Skip to Main Content

APA Style

Your guide to citing and referencing in APA Style (7th edition)

Secondary Sources

When you are researching, you may come across some information that you want to include in your assignment. What do you do when the information you want to include is a quote from another source?

Example

If you are borrowing a quotation of Smith's work, which is cited in Jones:

In-text

Name the original source in the sentence, and provide an in-text citation for the secondary source. Include the words as cited in to indicate that you are citing a quotation:

According to Smith's research (as cited in Jones, 2003, p. 12)...

Reference

Include the source you actually read in your References -- in this case, Jones.

Video: APA Style 7th Edition - Referencing Secondary Citations (Western Sydney University)

About Citing Secondary Sources

The APA Publication Manual recommends that you use secondary sources only when the original work is:

  • out of print
  • unavailable through usual sources
  • not available in English
chat loading...