Indirect citations are used when you want to quote, paraphrase, or summarize the words or ideas of one author that have been republished in another source.
Librarians recommend locating and checking the original source whenever possible. This will help you to understand the original context of the information and to avoid duplicating any errors. You can contact the library for help with tracking down an original source.
If the original source is not available, use these steps to give proper credit:
- In your bibliography, works cited list, or reference list, provide the details of the work in which you found the quotation or idea. For example,
- APA: Orlean, S. (2019). The Library Book. Simon & Schuster.
- MLA: Orlean, Susan. The Library Book. Simon & Schuster, 2019.
- For the in-text citation, include identifying information for both the original source and the indirect source.
- APA: (Smith, 2015, as cited in Orlean, 2019)
- MLA: (Smith, qtd. in Orlean, p. 119)
Make sure that your in-text citation provides the information your reader will need in order to locate the correct source in your full bibliography.
For more information about specific citation styles, please visit our guide on the topic.
