You may come across a summary of another author's work in the source you are reading which you would like to make reference to in your own work. When you do so this is called secondary citing.

Below is an example of an in-text citation: 

Ennis (1996, cited in Robinson, 2011) identifies three key critical thinking dispositions:

Ennis is the work to which you wish to refer but you have not read directly. Robinson is the secondary source where you found the summary of Ennis's work. It is important to realise that Robinson may have taken Ennis's ideas forward, and altered their original meaning.

It is recommended that, where possible, you read the original source for yourself rather than rely on someone else's interpretation of a work. For this reason it is best to avoid using secondary citing.

The reference list at the end of your document should only contain works that you have read. Only Robinson (2011) would appear in the reference list.

For further information about Referencing check out our guidelines.