Convert Entity Framework Object to JSON Object

The problem is probably that your SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET either contains a property that references instances of type SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET, or it contains a property that points to objects that have pointers to SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET instances. Serializing such a circle of pointers would result in a serialization process that would never end. You will need to transform your SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET to a type that does not (directly or indirectly) reference itself before doing the serialization. You can create a brand new type and write code to instantiate such a type from your SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET (http://automapper.codeplex.com/ might come in handy here). However, I tend to find that in most cases it is easier to just use an anonymous type: SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET sheet = /*some sheet*/ var json = new { sheet.Id, sheet.RevisionNumber, sheet.Title }; return serializer.Serialize(json); EDIT If you want to use AutoMapper and assuming that your sheet looks something like class SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET { public int Id { get; set; } public SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET SomeOtherAuditSheet { get;set;} public string Title { get;set;} } you could create a type like class JSON_SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET { public int Id { get; set; } public int SomeOtherAuditSheetsId { get;set;} public string Title { get;set;} } When your application starts (say, in Application_Start) you configure AutoMapper: AutoMapper.Mapper.CreateMap<SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET, JSON_SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET>() .ForMember(dest => dest.SomeOtherAuditSheetsId, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.SomeOtherAuditSheet.Id)); The Id and Title properties will be mapped directly across from SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET to JSON_SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET because they have the same names in both types. The property SomeOtherAuditSheetsId needs special configuration, because there is no property with that exact name on the source type. When you want to convert SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET to JSON_SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET you do: return AutoMapper.Mapper.Map<SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET , JSON_SYSTEM_AUDIT_SHEET >(sheet); You may want to have a look at https://github.com/AutoMapper/AutoMapper/wiki/Flattening. Hope this helps.