Citing from Secondary Sources

Diane Parfitt, MA

Below are selected passages from Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, and D’Andrea (1998) followed by suggestions for how you would refer to the passages in the citation style specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 1994). The passages are copied exactly as Lewis et al. had written them.

Example 1

Passage cited from Lewis et al. (1998, p. 125):

Attempting to explain this lack of attention, Snyder (1995) points out that mental health professionals have been "skeptical and ambivalent about hope, suggesting that it is too vague to measure, and useless to measure if we could" (p. 355).

Because you did not actually read Snyder, you write:

Snyder (as cited in Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, & D’Andrea, 1998) pointed out yada, yada, yada.

OR

Yada, yada, yada (Snyder, as cited in Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, & D’Andrea, 1998).

Remember:

  1. Paraphrase. Do not quote a primary source (e.g. Snyder) from a secondary source (e.g., Lewis et al., 1998) unless absolutely necessary.
  2. Do not list the primary source (e.g., Snyder) in your Reference list; only cite the secondary source (e.g., Lewis et al.).
  3. In your citation, do not put the year that the primary source (e.g., Snyder) was published, but put in the year that the secondary source was published (e.g., Lewis et al., 1998)
  4. In your citation, do not put the page number of the cited material from the primary source (e.g., Snyder).
  5. You should not indicate the page number for the Lewis et al. citation unless you are quoting the primary source as written by the secondary source (i.e., Snyder, as cited in Lewis et al., 1998, p. 125). The page number indicates where you found the citation in the secondary source.
  6. Secondary source, see APA (1994), pp. 200-201, 206.
  7. Secondary source, see Piazza (1998).
  8. Multiple author citations, see APA, p. 169.

Example 2

Passage cited from Lewis et al. (1998, p. 123):

Brickman and his colleagues define these four orientations as follows:

  1. The moral model: People are responsible for both creating and solving their problems.
  2. The medical model: People are responsible for neither creating their problems nor solving them.
  3. The enlightenment model: People are responsible for creating their problems but not for solving them.
  4. The compensatory model: People are not responsible for creating their problems but are responsible for solving them.

Because you did not actually read Brickman et al., you write:

The four orientation models proposed by Brickman et al. (as cited in Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, & D’Andrea, 1998) are: (a) yada, (b) yade, (c) yadi, and (d) yado.

OR

The four orientation models are: (a) yada, (b) yade, (c) yadi, and (d) yado (Brickman et al., as cited in Lewis et al., 1998).

Remember:

  1. Paraphrase. Do not quote a primary source (e.g., Brickman et al.) from a secondary source (e.g., Lewis et al., 1998) unless absolutely necessary.
  2. In your citation, do not list Brickman et al. in your Reference list. Reference the secondary source (e.g., Lewis et al.).
  3. In your citation, do not put the year that the primary source (e.g., Brickman et al.) was published, but put in the year that the secondary source was published (e.g., Lewis et al., 1998)
  4. In your citation, do not put the page number of the cited material from the primary source (e.g., Brickman et al.).
  5. You should not indicate the page number for the Lewis et al. citation unless you are quoting the primary source as written by the secondary source (e.g., Brickman et al. as cited in Lewis, Lewis, Daniels, & D’Andrea, 1998, p. 125). The page number indicates where you found the citation in the secondary source.
  6. Secondary source, see APA (1994), pp. 200-201, 206.
  7. Secondary source, see Piazza (1998).
  8. Seriation, see APA, pp. 93-94.
  9. Multiple author citations (i.e., Lewis et al.), see APA, p. 169.
  10. Six or more authors citations (i.e., Brickman et al.), see APA, p. 169.

Suggestion: Read the primary source and rid yourself of the above types of citations!

References

    American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.). Washington DC: Author.

    Lewis, J., Lewis, M., Daniels, J., & D’Andrea, M. (1998). Community counseling: Empowering strategies for a diverse society (2nd ed.). Boston: Brooks/Cole.

    Piazza, N. (1998). Writing tips for APA style research papers. Retrieved September 12, 1998 from the World Wide Web: http://CESP.utoledo.edu/course_info/apastyle.htm.