Dealing With Primary and Secondary Sources and Self-Plagiarism in APA Style

Students often ask me how to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, and how to cite each, when writing an academic paper in American Psychological Association (APA) style. The concepts of primary and secondary sources are often misunderstood or confused by students.

This can lead to a deduction of points for non-compliance APA style, since the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) encourages use of primary (original) sources of information and discourages use of secondary sources and citations. According to the manual, "Use secondary sources sparingly, for instance, if the original work is out of print, unavailable through usual sources, or not available in English" (p. 178)

Students also ask how to cite their own work (e.g., a paper completed in a previous course). This is a very important question. Students who are not aware of the need to cite their previous work may be be susceptible to allegations of self-plagiarism, which the APA publication manual (2010) has described as "the practice of presenting one's own previously published work as though it were new" (p. 170). Read these tips to avoid the pitfall of self-plagiarism.

I am using this blog post to provide my response to common questions about primary and secondary sources and self-plagiarism, along with supporting material from the APA publication manual. Feel free to pass along this guidance.

NOTES:

1. Keep in mind, the American Psychological Association and its publications are the only primary (original) sources of information about APA style. I support the guidance I provide in this blog post with quotes, attributions, and citations taken from my direct observations of APA sources. Hence, for me, all material in this blog represents my original work or work that I have drawn from primary sources.

2. Also keep in mind, you as a reader of this blog are one-step removed from the original source of a direct quote, attribution, or citation that I have published in this blog; and you are reading my interpretation or reproduction of the original source. Therefore, if you base your work or interpretation of APA style on any direct quotes or citations of another author's work in my blog post you are using secondary sources, since you are not reading the original source. I encourage you to use my citations to locate an original source of material and base your interpretations and scholarly work on your direct observation of the primary source.

Question 1: In our course textbook, the author used an interesting quote from another author. Can I use that quote in my paper?

There is no black and white answer to this question. The APA publication manual recommends that you use a primary (original) source of information when you cite material in your work and the manual discourages you from using a secondary source (e.g., work by one author that is cited by another author). However, you may "use secondary sources sparingly, for instance, if the original work is out of print, unavailable through usual sources, or not available in English" (APA, p. 178). Here is how to distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

Primary source. If you or one of your paper's coauthors directly observed (read) the original source of the work that you quote, paraphrase, cite, or reference then you citing a primary source. The key here is that you directly observe the source that you are citing (e.g., work by the author of a textbook). You may include this primary source (textbook) material in your work with proper attribution or citation.

Secondary source. A secondary source is one step removed from the original source. For instance, the original work of your textbook's author is a primary source since you are observing the original source of that material (e.g., the textbook). However, the quote from another source published in that textbook is, for you the reader of the textbook, a secondary source. Since you are not reading directly the original source of that quote, attribution, reference, or citation you are depending on the textbook's author to reproduce and interpret the quoted material accurately. To ensure the accuracy of the citation and understand the context of the quote or attribution you should use the textbook author's reference list to find the original source of that material and read it directly.

Examples: In the APA publication manual's (2010) Introduction section, the editors wrote,

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was first published in 1929 as a seven-page "standard of procedure, to which exceptions would doubtless be necessary, but to which reference might be made in cases of doubt. (Bentley at al., 1929, p. 57)

In-Text citation of a primary source. Let's say you want to use and cite the editors' statement of fact about the publication date of the original APA manual. Since you were able to make a direct observation of this material, it becomes a primary source for your paper: "The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was first published in 1929" (APA, 2010, p. 3). Use the standard APA format for a reference list citation (see the example following Question 2, below.)

Now let's say that you want to use in your paper the current APA manual editors' quote from Bentley et al. (1929). The quote is a secondary source for you, since you are one-step removed from the original Bentley et al. source. You have not read the original Bentley et al. source; therefore, you are depending on the APA editors as intermediaries to reproduce and interpret the original source for you.

In-text citation of a secondary source. The APA publication manual discourages you from using or citing this secondary source. Try to find the original source, the Bentley et al. manual, read it directly, and then quote and cite it as a primary source. If you can't find the original source, you would then cite the secondary source of the Bentley quote in the APA publication manual as follows:

The original APA style manual was described by Bentley (1929) as a "standard of procedure, to which exceptions would doubtless be necessary, but to which reference might be made in cases of doubt" (as cited in American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 3).

However, since you did not read the Bentley source directly, you cite it only in text. In the reference list, you cite the source that you did read, the APA manual, but not the secondary source, Bentley, which you did not read directly. 

Question 2. Can I use material in this assignment that comes from a paper I have previously written in another course; and if so do I cite my previous paper as a primary or secondary source?

As author or co-author of your own paper, you may cite your paper as an original, primary source -- as long as you refer directly to your own material.

If you are a Marist College student, you are required to follow academic integrity policy before submitting work submitted in one course for credit in another course: "An arrangement by which work is to be submitted for credit in two or more courses must have the prior approval of the instructors involved" (see http://www.marist.edu/academics/advise/acad.html).

If you receive permission to use your previously published material, your citation would look something like this in your new paper:

Examples:

In-Text Citation from From Your Previous Work as a Primary Source:

According to Bason, Berman, Logue, Thompson, and Williams (2013), "Marist is a leader in the field of communication" (p. 2). 

Reference List Citation from Your Previous Work as a Primary Source:

Bason, M., Berman, S., Logue, M., Thompson, M., &   Williams, M. (2013). My Marist portal: Bringing a community together. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Communication, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY.

NOTES:

1. See the APA publication manual, Article 7.09, p. 221-212, for the reference list style of an unpublished paper from an academic institution.

2. If you wish to cite another source of course material that is not widely available (an e-mail or message to a limited distribution, a post in a discussion forum, a handout given only to students in the course, a telephone call, lecture notes, etc.) you should use the citation format for personal communication. See the APA publication manual, Article 6.19, p. 179, and the example, below:

Examples:

In-Text Citation for Personal Communication:

According to Van Dyke (personal communication, May 10, 2013), "If you wish to cite another source of course material that is not widely available ... you should use the citation format for personal communication.

or

When citing information that is not widely available, "you should use the citation format for personal communication." (M. A. Van Dyke, personal communication, May 9, 2013)

P.S. Also note the single space between the initials M. and A. The APA manual calls for one space after a period or other punctuation marks (except for a few rare exceptions). This includes an author's initials in text or reference list citations (e.g., M. A. Van Dyke, not M.A. Van Dyke), in page number citations (e.g., p. 3, not p.3), etc.

Reference List Citation for Personal Communication: According to the APA Style Manual, "Because they do not provide recoverable data, personal communications are not included in the reference list. Cite personal communications in text only" (p. 179). In other words, add to your reference list only sources of information that other readers or authors could find in a library, an online source, etc. In the case of a course paper that is not widely available or recoverable, you could use a personal communication citation when referencing its contents. Whether or not the paper is widely circulated or recoverable is a judgment call on the part of the author. However, if you are writing a new paper and wish to cite material from another source that you cited in your research paper (e.g., a direct quote), your research paper becomes a secondary source of that material -- since it is one step removed from the original source.

Since you directly observed that information when you cited it in your research paper, simply go back to the original source and quote it directly as a primary source. If you cannot find the original source and want to use your research report as the source of material, you would use a secondary citation style:

Examples:

In-Text Citation from Your Previous Work as a Secondary Source:

Rust (2005) stated that at the university level, faculty members who are in the middle of their careers can either be “allies or stubborn opponents as their institutions adjust to competitive pressures, revise programs to meet the needs of increasingly diverse students, and integrate new educational technologies" (as cited in M. Bason et al., 2013, p. 5).

NOTE: Only use the abbreviation et al. after your first citation, in which you list all authors.