Editing Encyclopedia:Citing sources (section)

===Say where <em>you</em> read it <span id="SAYWHEREYOUGOTIT"></span>===
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"Say where {{em|you}} read it" follows the practice in academic writing of citing sources directly only if you have read the source yourself. If your knowledge of the source is secondhand—that is, if you have read Jones (2010), who cited Smith (2009), and you want to use what Smith (2009) said—make clear that your knowledge of Smith is based on your reading of Jones.

When citing the source, write the following (this formatting is just an example):

{{quote|John Smith (2009). ''Name of Book I Haven't Seen'', Cambridge University Press, p. 99, cited in Paul Jones (2010). ''Name of Encyclopedia I Have Seen'', Oxford University Press, p. 29.}}

Or if you are using short citations:

{{quote|Smith (2009), p. 99, cited in Jones (2010), p. 29.}}

The same principle applies when indicating the source of images and other media files in an article.

'''Note''': The advice to "say where {{em|you}} read it" does {{em|not}} mean that you have to give credit to any search engines, websites, libraries, library catalogs, archives, subscription services, bibliographies, or other sources that led you to Smith's book. If you have read a book or article yourself, that's all you have to cite. You do not have to specify {{em|how}} you obtained and read it.

So long as you are confident that you read a true and accurate copy, it does not matter whether you read the material using an online service like Google Books; using preview options at a bookseller's website like Amazon; through your library; via online [[Wikipedia:PAYWALL|paid databases of scanned publications]], such as [[JSTOR]]; using [[reading machine]]s; on an [[e-reader]] (except to the extent that this affects page numbering); or any other method.