On this page
Updated . Example details checked against APA Style, "Personal communications" (its own example).
The APA format
Pattern
(F. Last name, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
- Personal communication covers interviews, emails, texts, phone calls and unrecorded lectures that a reader cannot look up (APA 7, 8.9).
- No reference entry, because there is nothing to retrieve.
- Narrative form: E. Robinson (personal communication, January 4, 2019) said...
- Research participants you interviewed for a study are not cited at all; their words are your data.
This example is APA Style’s own sample personal communication.
Published interviews
An interview printed in a magazine, broadcast as a podcast or posted as a video is cited in the format of its source, with the publication as the reference. For a magazine interview, the magazine article pattern applies; name the interviewee in your sentence.
A real example
In-text citation (no References entry)
(E. Robinson, personal communication, January 4, 2019)
When details are missing
- No exact date: give the closest date you have; APA asks for one.
- Several interviews with one person: cite each date you draw on.
Common mistakes
- A reference entry for a personal interview. APA cites personal communications in the text only.
- Leaving out the initials. Personal communications use initials and last name.
Or let Format do it.
Choose Interview: name the person interviewed and the interviewer, and where it was published. Leave “Published in” empty for your own interview. Format writes the in-text citation in APA 7, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Is an email a personal communication?
Yes, cited the same way: (A. T. Boyle, personal communication, June 21, 1997).
What if the interview is recorded and online?
Then a reader can find it, so cite the recording as a video or podcast with a reference entry.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in APA
Every source kind is on the APA page, and every style is on How to cite.