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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Interview

A guide to help users create citations using APA (American Psychological Association) style, 7th edition.

Helpful Tip!

Question Mark
Why are interviews not included in the references?

Panel Discussion
Personal interviews/communication whether it is conducted in-person, phone, email, virtual (i.e. Skype, WebEx, Google Hangouts...) are not "recoverable" data and therefore a reader would not be able to go back to the source to review the interview. 

NOTE: If you recorded the interview or Skype meeting and posted it online (i.e. YouTube, web site) you can then include the reference and direct the reader to the audio or video file that captured the interview.
See: APA Style: Personal Communications OR Quotations from Research Participants

An Interview

Important Note: Personal interviews are not included in the reference list because they do not provide recoverable data. Cite them IN TEXT ONLY.

Personal Communication Includes letters, phone calls, email messages, and interviews.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Interviewee First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

(Interviewee First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

References:

Not included

Example

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(J. Brown, personal communication, April 27, 2010)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

(J. Brown, personal communication, April 27, 2010)

References:

Not included

Subject Guide

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