When doing research, you may want to cite an interview that discusses your topic. These interviews are considered a part of scholarly writing, so APA has several guidelines for citing them.
Published Interviews
When you have published interviews that are in articles, newspapers, magazines, or newspapers, you should follow the guidelines for the type of source that it is published in. There are no other special guidelines for these types of sources.
Personal Interviews
Personal interviews are ones that you conduct, such as interviews conducted via email messages, letters, or phone calls. When citing them, you do not need to provide page numbers or other types of location information because they are not able to be recovered by the reader. Also, they do not need to be included in the References page.
In-text Citations
- Paraphrase: When you paraphrase information from your interview and use the person’s name in your narrative, use the following format for the in-text citation:
(personal communication, Month Day, Year)
Example:
According to S. J. Coleman, The basis of educational leadership is the premise of applying and constructing the type of knowledge, which makes a positive difference (personal communication, January 25, 2023).
- Quotation: When you quote information from your interview, use the following format for the in-text citation:
(Interviewee First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
Example:
“To ensure a positive outcome, educational leaders need to build partnerships with diverse community and set and meet effective transformative goals” (S. J. Coleman, personal communication, January 25, 2023).
Podcast Interview
With the rise in popularity of podcasts, you can find interviews for your research across a vast range of subjects.
In-text Citation
For the in-text citations, put the host of the podcast as the author. You can mention the person being interviewed in the narrative of your paper.
- Paraphrase: If the podcast is still on the air, provide the year it started and the word “present” (2023-preset). If it has ended, provide its start and end years (2021-2022). If it started and ended the same year, provide just that year (2022).
(Host’s last name, year)
Example:
My guest, Connie Hamilton, has worked with students to have them meet their self-esteem needs using specific strategies (Gonzalez, 2021- present).
- Quotation – In addition to the above format, provide a timestamp for the part of the interview from which you obtained the quotation.
“The ways in which students can enhance their self-esteem are based on the fourth tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy, which addresses both having respect from others and respect from oneself” (Gonzalez, 2021, 1:27).
References List
Host name, Initials. (Host). (Year, Month Day). Episode title (No. Number). [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast Name. Production Company (Publisher of the podcast or where you watched it). URL
Example:
Gonzalez, J. (2021, July 11). The importance of Maslow’s fourth tier. (No. 1) [Audio podcast episode]. In Cult of Pedagogy. Apple Podcasts. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/maslow-esteem/
Research Participants
If you have conducted original research in which you interview people who have voluntarily participated after giving informed consent, you will not be disclosing their identity.
They are not considered experts and will not be referenced as personal communication.
Therefore, you will not need to provide in-text citations, even when quoting them, or put them in your References list. When providing excerpts from the interview, give each participant a generic pseudonym, such as “Participant 1.”
Example:
According to Participant 1, “An office position in which I can work at home contractor is empowering because I have the opportunity to have a more balanced work and home life.”
Note: For more information refer to sections 8.7 and 8.9 of the APA manual (7th edition).
