Secondary Source (As Cited In) Generator
Cite a source you only read about in another source. Enter the original author and the author, year and page of the work you actually read, and get APA 7's "as cited in", MLA 9's "qtd. in", Chicago 18's "quoted in" note and Harvard's "cited in" — plus which work belongs in your reference list. Free, no sign-up.
The two sources
One per line, first name then surname.
Take it from the work you read. Leave it blank if that work does not give it — don't write n.d.
Cite Them Right writes quoted in for a quotation and cited in for a paraphrase.
Your citations
Enter the original author and the author of the work you read to see your citations.
How to Use the Secondary Source Generator
- 1. Try to find the original first. Search its title or DOI; many older articles are digitized and a library can borrow the rest. If you can read it, cite it directly instead.
- 2. Enter both authors. The original author — whose words or idea you are using — and the author of the work you actually read, with that work's year.
- 3. Add the page you read it on. The page belongs to the work you read, because that is the page your reader can check. Add the original's year only if the work you read gives it.
- 4. For Chicago, add both titles. Chicago's note describes both works in full; the other styles need only names, years and the page.
Which Work Goes in Your Reference List
A secondary-source citation tells the truth about what you read: the idea belongs to one author, and you met it in another author's work. APA, MLA and Harvard put only the work you read in the list; Chicago lists both.
| Style | Phrase | In the text | In the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7 (§8.6) | as cited in | (Zukofsky, 1931, as cited in Costello, 1981, p. 78) | The work you read |
| MLA 9 (§6.77) | qtd. in | (qtd. in Costello 78) | The work you read |
| Chicago 18 (§14.160) | quoted in | A note naming both works | Both works |
| Harvard (Cite Them Right) | cited in / quoted in | (Zukofsky, 1931, quoted in Costello, 1981, p. 78) | The work you read |
All three manuals discourage the practice before they explain it. APA asks you to cite secondary sources sparingly — when the original is out of print, unavailable, or in a language you cannot read. MLA says to take material from the original whenever you can, and Chicago calls citing from a secondary source generally to be discouraged, because authors are expected to have examined the works they cite. If the work you read misquotes the original, the error becomes yours.
Secondary Source Citation Examples
Chicago's own example: Louis Zukofsky's 1931 essay in Poetry, quoted on page 78 of Bonnie Costello's Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions (1981):
APA 7, MLA 9 and Harvard
APA 7:
(Zukofsky, 1931, as cited in Costello, 1981, p. 78)
APA 7 narrative:
Zukofsky (1931, as cited in Costello, 1981, p. 78)
MLA 9:
(Louis Zukofsky qtd. in Costello 78)
Harvard:
(Zukofsky, 1931, quoted in Costello, 1981, p. 78)
Chicago 18th edition
Footnote:
Louis Zukofsky, “Sincerity and Objectification,” Poetry 37 (February 1931): 269, quoted in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions (Harvard University Press, 1981), 78.
Shortened note:
Zukofsky, “Sincerity and Objectification,” 269, quoted in Costello, Marianne Moore, 78.
Bibliography (original):
Zukofsky, Louis. “Sincerity and Objectification.” Poetry 37 (February 1931): 269. Quoted in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions (Harvard University Press, 1981), 78.
Bibliography (work you read):
Costello, Bonnie. Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions. Harvard University Press, 1981.
MLA's own example — Alexander Pope's line as quoted on page 239 of Leopold Damrosch Jr.'s The Imaginative World of Alexander Pope — and APA's case of an original with no known date, Gordon Allport's diary as reported by Ian Nicholson (2003):
When the original's details are thin
MLA 9, author in your sentence:
(qtd. in Damrosch 239)
MLA 9, author in the citation:
(Alexander Pope qtd. in Damrosch 239)
APA 7, no original year:
(Allport, as cited in Nicholson, 2003)
Common Mistakes
- Listing the original in APA, MLA or Harvard. The list records what you read. Only Chicago lists the original — with Quoted in.
- Citing the original as if you had read it. If the secondary source summarized it wrongly, you repeat the error with your name on it.
- Mixing the phrases. APA writes as cited in, MLA qtd. in, Chicago quoted in, and Cite Them Right cited in or quoted in.
- Giving the original's page. In APA, MLA and Harvard, the page is the one you read in the secondary source.
- Writing n.d. for an unknown original year in APA. Leave the year out: (Allport, as cited in Nicholson, 2003).
- Citing a lecture slide or textbook summary when the original is easy to find. A journal article with a DOI should be read and cited directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I write "as cited in" in APA 7?
- Name the original author and year, then as cited in and the source you read, with its year and page: (Zukofsky, 1931, as cited in Costello, 1981, p. 78). Narratively: Zukofsky (1931, as cited in Costello, 1981, p. 78). Only Costello goes in the reference list.
- What does qtd. in mean in MLA?
- It is short for quoted in, and MLA uses it for any material you took from an indirect source: (qtd. in Damrosch 239). Name the original author in your sentence or just before qtd. in, with no comma — (Alexander Pope qtd. in Damrosch 239). Only Damrosch goes in Works Cited.
- Do I put both sources in the reference list?
- Only in Chicago, which lists the original with a closing Quoted in sentence and gives the secondary source its own entry. APA, MLA and Harvard (Cite Them Right) list only the work you actually read.
- Which page number do I use?
- The page of the work you read — that is where your reader can find the passage. Chicago's note also gives the original's page, as the secondary source reports it, before quoted in: 269, quoted in … 78.
- When is it acceptable to cite a secondary source?
- When the original is out of print, unavailable through any library you can reach, unpublished — such as a diary quoted in a biography — or written in a language you cannot read. Convenience is not a reason: find and read the original if you can.
- Is a secondary source the same as a secondary source in history?
- Not quite. Here it means the copy you read when you could not read the original. Historians use primary and secondary to describe how a document was produced — a diary is primary, a monograph secondary — which is a different question.