Citing indirect sources according to the

APA Style
Date published October 6, 2016 by Bas Swaen. Date updated: March 27, 2019

If you want to refer to a source that you have found in another source, we recommend that you
actually look at the original or primary source. You can then just use the regular APA rules to
cite it.

If you cannot find the original source, you should cite it through the source that led you to it.
This is called citing an indirect or secondary source.

In the in-text citation, you should include both authors. Note the original source first, followed
by “in” or “as cited in” and the source where you found it.
Example: Source to another source

You consult a book written by Swaen in 2014. In this book, Swaen mentions something from a 2003 book by
Driessen. You now want to include a point about Driessen’s work in your dissertation, but you cannot find this book
yourself. You thus have to refer to it indirectly.
Example: When the more recent author has paraphrased the earlier author

Driessen (in Swaen, 2014) makes use of three methods.

Three possible causes are described (Driessen, in Swaen, 2014).

Example: When the more recent author has quoted the earlier author

Driessen (as cited in Swaen, 2014) describes three methods.

Three possible causes are described (Driessen, as cited in Swaen, 2014).

Note that you only need to include the year (here 2014) of the resource that you actually
consulted (here Swaen).

In the reference list, mention only the source that you actually consulted (not the original source
that you could not track down). In the above example, this would mean including Swaen’s book
(but not Driessen’s).

BookAPA-formatAuthor Last Name, Initials.

(Year). Book Title (edition). City, State/Country: Publisher.In the reference listSwaen, B. R. M.
(2014). Startup Scribbr (1st ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.
APA (see APA, section 6.17, p. 178; APA Style FAQ) suggests that secondary sources
should be used sparingly, especially when the full-text of the original source is
available. However, there are instances in which the original source is:

 Out of print
 Unavailable through the usual sources
 Not available in English

In these cases, you would list the secondary source in the reference list, name the
original work and use an in-text citation for the secondary source.
Here are some examples:
Citing an original work from a secondary source:
a. Secondary citation within the text:
According to Freud (as cited in Skinner, 1923), the characteristics ….
b. The document used is cited in the reference list:
Skinner, B. F. (1974). About behavioralism. New York, NY: Knopf.
Notice that Freud is mentioned in the body of the paper so the reader would understand
that any ideas being cited even though the actual book that discussed Freud's ideas
was actual written by Skinner.

Citing an unpublished manuscript from an archival collection

Original documents for unpublished and archived sources are difficult to retrieve so
secondary sources may be used. An example includes a diary entry like the example in
APA (6th ed.), p. 178, section 6.17.
a. Secondary citation ithin the text (direct APA example, p. 178)
Allport's diary (as cited in Nicholson, 2003).

b. The actual document used is cited in the reference list

Nicholson, I. (2003). Inventing personality: Gordon Allport and the science of
selfhood. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological
Association. doi: 10.1037/10514-000