Citing source within a source

If I have to cite a source withitn a source from an article Im translating from french to english (paraphrasing according to APA rules), how should I do it?

Or should I just cite it like I "took it from the original source"?

You just paraphrase or refer to the original primary source in your writing and provide a citation to the secondary source and list the secondary source as a reference. Technically, citing and referencing the primary source that you didn't read instead of the secondary source where you discovered it is a form of plagiarism.

You could also go with something like this:
Smith argues that... (as cited in Martins, 2012).

There's no need for the "as cited" part: all you have to do is cite Martins in the text and list Martins as your source on your Reference page (not Smith) if you only read about Smith in Martins. The point is simply that if you only found Smith's argument in Martins, you have to cite Martins for that argument because you can't properly cite Smith as your source.

Basically, you still need to name the original source because you are taking the information from someone else.

As a part of your signal phrase, you can say something like "ABC indicated that... (as cited in Oliver, 2018, p0203). That will clearly indicate to the reader that you are referring to a secondary source for your content.

When it comes to listing the source in your references page, you will need to cite the secondary source (Oliver) in the list as that is the "original" source of your citation in the text.

I know that it sounds a bit confusing to a new writer but there are many examples on the web that can help illustrate this point.

The only important thing to remember is this.

When you are citing second hand information, as in this case, you should make sure to reference both sources in order to avoid any plagiarism accusations in the future.

While it's better to use secondary sources sparingly, the correct per the most recent APA style is (as cited in Doe, 2018).

Example of when to omit:
Deer reported similar instances (as cited in Doe, 2018).

Example of when to include:
"Similar instances have been noted (Deer, 2016)" (Doe, 2018).

There are other ways but the above is recommended by APAStyle.org (a good resource). As @WriteReview also noted, there are many citation resources online. You may want to Google the APA version you are required to use. That will give you the exact location to find which format is appropriate for your project.

Best of luck!

While some students actually cite a source within a source, I find that it is always better for students to use just one direct source. That is because when the paper runs through a plagiarism checker, the system fails to identify that the presentation is a source within a source, flagging it as potential plagiarism. The professors don't even bother to double check the software report, which ends up with the client coming back to me demanding I change the plagiarized source. To avoid the potential pitfall, I have stopped using the source within a source method and have instructed my writers to do the same. Either it comes from one original source or they do not use it at all. The plagiarism complaints regarding that reference type stopped after I implemented that system. Sometimes, you just have to avoid doing things, even if it makes completing the paper a bit more difficult to do.

As long as the information is properly referenced, there should be no problem citing sources within sources. The problem only arises when someone tries to misrepresent the information as having come from the original source when it really came from a secondary source.

It is nice to read a threat that discusses how to properly cite a source in a research paper. These days, the students do not pay much attention to their citations and how it is represented in the page. Some tend to openly plagiarize the words of the original author or simply cut and paste without referencing it. I believe that this lack of knowledge when writing papers is one of the reasons why Introduction to Research and Writing should be brought back in college or at least in the final years of high school. They need to learn the importance of properly referencing information in a paper so as to avoid academic dishonesty charges in college.