When is secondary-source citation acceptable?

The primary source (e.g., Erickson s publication) is not available in a language that the student reads.
The primary source is not available from the student s university library or interlibrary loan or there will be a substantial delay in obtaining the primary source.
The student is too lazy to find the primary source and read the original work.
The only required reading for the course was the textbook; therefore, the instructor has indicated that secondary citations will be allowed.
When the student is too busy to read the primary source, but recognizes that secondary citations are weak supports and indicate a lack of scholarly rigor.

All answers are acceptable, but Answers A and B are the reasons that are most widely accepted. Secondary citations are weak supports because you are relying on another persons interpretation of the primary source. Rigorous scholarship demands that you investigate primary sources whenever possible. Moreover, students should seek out the primary sources of seminal works such as Ericksons that have had a substantial influence on the field.