Lynn UniversityLynn Library
Skip to Main Content

APA Help

Interview conducted by you or personal communications

 

Do not cite your interview on the References page. Instead, cite the information in the paper as an in-text citation only:

(Communicator, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

 

Examples:

In speaking with Zadie Smith (personal communication, March 21, 2020), she stated…

In an email, she wrote that ... (Z. Smith, personal communication, May 29, 2020).


Note. An interview you conducted yourself, which is not published, is considered a personal communication. Learn more from APA Style about how to cite personal communications

Published interview

If you read, watch, or listen to an interview conducted by someone else, you should pick the reference format for the source. For example, did you see or here it in a magazine, newspaper, recorded radio broadcast, podcast episode, or TV show?

Since the name of the person interviewed may not necessarily appear in the citation, you may integrate the person's name into the narrative of your paper.


Example of the narrative description & in-text citation:

Dr. Robert Watson stated, "People think we know all there is to know about history. We don't know the half of it" (Laird et al., 2019-Present).


Example reference list citation:

Laird, N., Oron, D., & Ryan, N. (Executive Producers). (2019-Present). Secret Nazi ruins [TV series]. Go Button Media.