apa formatting question

October 10, 2007 10:39 AM

APA formatting question. How do I cite a study/article that's cited in a study/article that's the chapter of a book made up of individual studies/articles?

I've got authors and date for the first, authors and no date for the second (can't find it anywhere), and editors and date for the third.

posted by CrazyLemonade to Writing & Language (16 answers total)

I'd cite the original source, not the book or chapter that references it. Your goal as a researcher is to get as close to primary sources as you can.
posted by chrisamiller at 10:43 AM on October 10, 2007

Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (pp. 1-65). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
posted by k8t at 10:45 AM on October 10, 2007

You found the study in the secondary source? You cite the secondary source in the References. You mention the study in the main text, with the in-text citation containing the original source info, with a parenthetical "(as cited in secondary source)".

More detailed info here, under "Work Discussed in a Secondary Source."
posted by occhiblu at 10:45 AM on October 10, 2007

Oh wait, I didn't read it correctly. As Chrisamiller says, find the original source!

If you're an undergrad, you might be able to get away with

The sun is hot (Bob, 1992 in Steve, 1999).
posted by k8t at 10:46 AM on October 10, 2007

Yeah, but what about the tertiary source?

What I've got is, for example:

Smith, 1990...cited in Jones (no date)....who is part of [book] edited by Brown.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 10:54 AM on October 10, 2007

(Oh and I'm a grad student....I should know this by now, but I guess I never came across a reference this "deep")
posted by CrazyLemonade at 10:55 AM on October 10, 2007

Within the text, you'd say "Primary Source's study said yadda yadda (cited in secondary source)". In the Reference list, you'd have (as k8t outlined) "Secondary Source blah blah. In Tertiary Source blah blah."

So, in the text: "In Jones' study (as cited in Smith, n.d.), people are often frustrated by APA formatting rules."

In the Reference:

Smith, S. H. (n.d.). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (pp. 1-65). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
posted by occhiblu at 11:00 AM on October 10, 2007

(Sorry, I flipped your names around, making it confusing. In my example, the original study was done by Jones, it was quoted in Smith, and Zanna edited the work in which Smith's article appears.)
posted by occhiblu at 11:01 AM on October 10, 2007

Ok that makes sense. Thanks!
posted by CrazyLemonade at 11:05 AM on October 10, 2007

I would disagree slightly with occhiblu, and suggest that an even more scrupulously honest way to do this is to say:

Secondary Source asserts that Primary Source's report indicates blah blah blah (Tertiary citation).

Why? Because unless you go and find the original study, you are relying on the secondary report of what it says... and that may or may not be accurate. So you don't want to say with certainty that the primary source says X; instead, you report what you know for a fact, which is what the secondary source says about the primary source (and then you cite it's inclusion in the tertiary source).
posted by Forktine at 11:18 AM on October 10, 2007

I would agree with Forktine's disagreement with me. Good point.
posted by occhiblu at 12:03 PM on October 10, 2007

I'd love to try and find the articles you're missing. The citation information and the articles themselves. Pleeeeeease?
posted by sociolibrarian at 1:09 PM on October 10, 2007

sociolibrarian, I just emailed you a pdf. I'm not missing any articles, though, I was just missing the date of the "secondary" reference, which some googling took care of.

If you come up with a better way to cite/reference, please come back and post it here.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 4:29 PM on October 10, 2007

Oh, I misunderstood. From the comments and from Forktine's Because unless you go and find the original study answer, I thought you needed the original. I can't think of anything better than Forktine's reply.
posted by sociolibrarian at 8:16 PM on October 10, 2007

A paid option, while maintaining academic honesty, would be to try a site such as:



Again, it's a paid site but it is apparently run by a college professor.
posted by SparkyPine at 2:12 PM on October 12, 2007

Not sure why the link didn't work but here it is again:

http://www.aparesearchhelp.com
posted by SparkyPine at 7:03 PM on October 12, 2007