When you find a quote or idea in one source that originally came from a different source, MLA calls this an indirect source. You handle it by using the abbreviation “qtd. in” (short for “quoted in”) inside your parenthetical citation, and you only list the source you actually read in your Works Cited. Here’s exactly how to do it.
What “Qtd. In” Means and When to Use It
Say you’re reading a book by Author B, and inside that book, Author B quotes Author A. You want to use Author A’s words in your paper, but you never read Author A’s original work. In MLA style, this is called an indirect source. You’re not citing the person you read. You’re citing someone that person cited.
MLA’s rule is straightforward: put “qtd. in” before the source you actually consulted in your parenthetical citation. This signals to your reader that you found the quote secondhand. For example, if you’re reading Maryanne Wolf’s book and she quotes Marcel Proust, your citation would look like this:
As Marcel Proust reminisced: “There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those . . . we spent with a favourite book” (qtd. in Wolf 6).
Wolf is the author you read. Proust is the original speaker. The “qtd. in” tells your reader that Proust’s words came through Wolf’s text, not from Proust’s original work.
Step-by-Step Formatting
Follow these steps every time you cite a source within a source:
- Mention the original author in your sentence. Name the person who originally said or wrote the words. This usually happens in your signal phrase, the introductory language before the quote. (“According to Proust…” or “As Proust wrote…”)
- Place “qtd. in” inside the parenthetical citation. After the quote, open your parentheses, write “qtd. in” (lowercase, with a period after “qtd”), then give the last name and page number of the source you actually read. Close the parentheses and add your period after.
- List only the source you read in your Works Cited. In the example above, Wolf’s book goes on the Works Cited page. Proust’s original work does not, because you didn’t consult it directly.
If the source you read doesn’t have page numbers (a website, for instance), just use the author’s or publisher’s name after “qtd. in” with no page number. The citation still works the same way.
What Goes on the Works Cited Page
This is the part that trips people up. You mention both authors in the body of your paper, but only the secondary source, the one you actually held in your hands or read on screen, appears in your Works Cited list. The original author gets credit in your sentence text, and that’s enough under MLA rules.
So if your paper quotes Proust via Wolf, your Works Cited entry is for Wolf’s book. Format it exactly as you would any other MLA citation for that type of source (book, article, webpage, etc.). There’s no special formatting on the Works Cited page to indicate it contains an indirect quote.
When You Should Track Down the Original
MLA guidelines note that a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source rather than relying on an indirect citation. There are good reasons for this. The secondary author may have shortened the quote, taken it out of context, or even introduced a small error. If the original source is a published book or article you can reasonably access through a library or database, take the time to look it up. Then cite it directly and skip the “qtd. in” entirely.
Reserve indirect citations for situations where the original truly isn’t available to you. Maybe it’s out of print, in another language you don’t read, from an unpublished interview, or behind access barriers you can’t get around. In those cases, “qtd. in” is the correct and accepted approach.
Full Example in Context
Here’s how everything looks together. Suppose you’re writing a paper about childhood reading habits. You’re reading Wolf’s book Proust and the Squid, and on page 6, Wolf quotes Proust.
Your sentence in the paper:
Marcel Proust once reflected that the most fully lived days of childhood were often those “we spent with a favourite book” (qtd. in Wolf 6).
Your Works Cited entry (for Wolf’s book only):
Wolf, Maryanne. Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. Harper Perennial, 2008.
Notice that Proust has no separate entry. His name appears only in the body of your paper, and the parenthetical “qtd. in” tells readers exactly where you encountered his words.