Are secondary sources frowned on

Question

I'm doing a lit review. Many of the sources I've found have come from other articles. There have been times when I've seen the source cited, then went and found the article, briefly read it, then paraphrased what the primary source said. Is this legal? Many times I'll cite the source as a secondary source (e.g., George, 1999 as cited by Frank, 2001). Is the use of secondary sources bad? Obviously it's not illegal, but are they looked down upon?

Answer 1

A source is a source of course of course, and if you note it properly, then you are fine, it's when you don't note your source that it would be inappropriate.