What happens when you want to cite an in-text citation from a source?

If you are able to locate the original source, it is best practice to find the original work and use your own interpretation. However, if you are unable to locate the original source or it is in a language you do not read, you may cite the secondary source.

You will use the embedded citation in your quote from the source you found. The embedded citation will not be in your references list.

Let's say that you quote a passage from Nicholson et al. (2010) who cites Allport (1903). Include the Allport citation as part of the quote, but only list the Nicholson source in the references list.

For example:

Women struggled with "the role of leisure in pre-retirement (Allport, 1903), but identified meaningful activities during retirement" (Nicholson et al., 2010, p.235).

If you are paraphrasing an idea from Allport's study that was written about by Nicholson, you would use "as cited in" in the in-text citation.

For example:

Three of the subjects from Allport's study (as cited in Nicholson, 2003) were unable to complete the test.