Citing Personal Communication: An APA Style How-To

Monday, January 29, 2018 APA , research , Scholarly Writing No comments

Students may come across the need for personal communication sources throughout their coursework at Walden, and citing this type of evidence is a little unique compared to other sources. What’s a personal communication? A personal communication is when you
interact directly with a person or group of people and then use the information from that interaction to inform your work. One of the most common assignments I see is one where a student writer interviews someone else working in their field. So, you have your interview, what do you do next?

Citing Personal Communication: An APA How-To

Here are some examples of when you should cite a personal communication in your work:

You have interviewed a colleague via phone, email, or in person
You cite something a co-worker told you about their experience
You make a generalization about how staff feels based on a conversation you had
You want to use something a colleague or mentor said via email to you

For your personal communication, include in your citation:

the first initial and last name of your source
the phrase “personal communication”
the date you interacted

Note that you do not include personal communications in the reference list, since it is not information that another reader can retrieve.

A complete citation for a personal communication might look something like this:

(C.Helakoski, personal communication, November 11, 2017)

To use a personal communication citation in your work, simply employ it like you would a parenthetical citation.

Example: She said that she enjoys working in the Writing Center (C.Helakoski, personal communication, November 11, 2017).
Example: He wrote that “Empathy is vital to my success” (J.Smith, personal communication, 5 November, 2017).

You can read additional examples on our personal communication webpage as well, and note that this webpage has links to resources concerning interview transcript excerpts or other doctoral study concerns regarding personal communications.

When you’ll need to cite this information may also vary by assignment, so if you are ever unsure, ask your instructor. For example, if the entire assignment is an interview, your instructor might say that you do not need to cite each time since that’s the full content of the work. Or if you are writing a personal narrative and talking about your experiences and impressions of others, citing a personal communication is likely unnecessary.

We also have an in-depth discussion of how you can use this and other citation strategies in your personal narrative assignments for your Walden University coursework in our narrative writing series. Check out our "APA Documentation Style In Scholarly Narrative Writing" post for more!

Now that you know how to cite a personal communication, you can go through assignments to ensure you’re citing that information correctly. Have you used personal communications in your work? Let us know in the comments below!

Claire Helakoski is a Writing Instructor at the Walden Writing Center and holds an MFA in Creative Writing. She has taught writing and Composition as well as acted as a writer and editor in a variety of mediums. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and enjoys reading, writing creatively, and board games of all kinds.