Citing and referencing: Citing a source within a source

A guide to the styles recommended by Monash schools and departments for students and researchers

Citing a source within a source

 

One source quoted in another

General Rule

Sometimes, you want to include information from a source that is not the work of that author, and instead is attributed to another source.  Try to avoid repeating information cited in another source when you have not actually seen in the original. If possible obtain the original to verify not only that the information is accurate but that it also fairly represents the original meaning.

If the original source is unavailable, you need to tell your reader that you are citing the information from the second source.  In the note, include the original source details as well as the source you actually read (use ‘cited in’).  In the bibliography, include both the original source and the details of the source that you have actually read.

Example of Note

1. Louis Zukofsky, "Sincerity and Objectification," Poetry 37 (February 1931): 269, cited in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Posessions (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981), 78.

Example of entry in Bibliography

Zukofsky, Louis. "Sincerity and Objectification." Poetry 37 (February 1931): 269. Cited in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981.

 

One source quoted in another

General Rule

Sometimes, you want to include information from a source that is not the work of that author, and instead is cited to another source.  Try to avoid repeating information cited in another source when you have not actually seen in the original. If possible obtain the original to verify not only that the information is accurate and that it fairly represents the original meaning.

If the original source is unavailable, you need to tell your reader that you are citing the information from the second source.  In the in-text (parenthetical) citation, include the original source name/s as well as the source you actually read (use ‘cited in’). In the bibliography, include both the original source and the details of the source that you have actually read.

Example of Parenthetical citation (In Text)

(Zukofsky 1931, 269 cited in Costello 1981, 78)

Example of entry in Bibliography

Zukofsky, Louis. 1931. “Sincerity and Objectification.” Poetry 37 (February): 269. Cited in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981.