An indirect quote is when you quote a source that is cited and/or quoted in another source. MLA calls these ‘indirect sources.’ As a general rule, you should try to avoid using indirect sources. If there is a quote in a source from another book or article that you want to use, find the original source of that quote and cite it. Only quote an indirect source when absolutely necessary, for instance, when the original work is out of print or unavailable, or not available in English or a language you speak.
If you do use an indirect source in your paper, name the original source in your text and include the indirect source in your parenthetical citation. If what you quote or paraphrase from the indirect source is itself a quotation, put the abbreviation ‘qtd. in’ (“quoted in”) before the indirect source in the parenthetical citation.
In the following example, Jane Austen is the original source, and Segal is the indirect source, given in the reference page:
In her article, Segal discusses how Jane Austen introduces many of her characters in terms of their financial situation. For instance, in the beginning of Sense and Sensibility Austen introduces us to the Dashwoods by saying, “The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large…” (qtd. in Segal 252).
