How do I cite a personal interview or interpersonal communication in APA format?

Answer

Personal interviews and other types of interpersonal communications (interviews, phone calls, emails, memos, personal letters, conversations, texts, IM chats, unrecorded class lectures, live speeches, etc.) should not be cited in the reference page because they are not recoverable by your reader. They all need to be cited in-text, but not in the reference list. Provide the initial(s) and surname of the communicator, indicate it's a personal communication, and as an exact date as possible for the citation. See section 8.9 of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) (p. 260) for more information.

Examples of in-text citations for a personal communication follow:

According to L. Harrington (personal communication, February 22, 2011), interviews included in papers need to be relevant.

Sample paraphrase sentence here.....(E. Grimm, personal communication, December 3, 2012).

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Last Updated Jun 24, 2020
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Answered By Kerry Louvier

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