In APA style (6th edition), personal information can be interviews, phone calls, text messages, memos, letters, emails, resumes, lecture notes, or class handouts. These forms of personal communications are not published and are therefore not retrievable by other researchers. These kinds of information should be included in the text of your research paper but not in your list of references.
Include all personal communication as in-text citations. The parenthetical citation should contain the person’s name, the phrase “personal communication,” and the date of the communication.
Examples of properly formatted in-text citations for personal communications:
- (T. Smith, personal communication, February 25, 2014).
- T. Smith relates the problems that students have with APA style (personal communication, February 25, 2014).
