How to Cite an Interview in APA | Format & Examples
Whether you’re using information from a published interview or an interview you conducted, APA has special citation guidelines.
- Interviews you conducted don’t need APA reference page entries because those sources aren’t retrievable. Personal interviews need in-text citations that label the interview as a “personal communication.”
- Published interviews in magazines, podcasts, and other sources need reference entries and in-text citations. The reference entry format is determined by the type of source (e.g., online magazine article). APA in-text citations for published interviews should include the author and year of the source rather than the interviewee’s name.
Regardless of where the interview data came from, it’s helpful to use the interviewee’s name in the narrative of the sentence for context.
| Personal interview in-text citations | Published interview in-text citations |
|---|---|
| Licensed professional counselor Elena Jones (personal communication, July 1, 2023) described the impact of diet and exercise on mental health. | Educator and reading expert Patricia Alexander described the impact of digital media on persistence and time on task (International Reading Association, 2020). |
The examples below will help you format APA interview citations for a few types of interviews. You can also try QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator. Additionally, our Online Notepad can help you effectively take notes during interviews.
APA citations for interviews you conducted
For interviews that you conducted, APA does not require reference page entries because the source isn’t retrievable. Instead, you only need to credit the source in the text of your paper. Interviews that you conducted fall into two main categories:
Personal interviews
A personal interview is a dialogue between you and one other person who has experience or expertise with your topic. When you paraphrase or quote personal interviews, include an in-text citation but omit a reference entry. In-text citations can be narrative or parenthetical.
- Narrative: Use the interviewee’s first initial and last name in the narrative of your sentence. In parentheses after the last name, write “personal communication” and the full date of the interview.
- Parenthetical: At the end of the sentence that quotes or paraphrases, include the interviewee’s first initial and last name, “personal communication,” and the full date in parentheses.
| Narrative citation | Parenthetical citation |
|---|---|
| Physics teacher B. Chamberlain (personal communication, August 10, 2024) explained that students use school-issued devices to watch movies and socialize with friends during school hours. | Another high school teacher reported that many of the texts and calls that students receive during the school day are from caregivers (J. Nelson, personal communication, August 20, 2024). |
Research participant interviews
If you interviewed research participants as part of an experimental design, you don’t need reference entries or in-text citations when you quote or paraphrase them. APA guidelines for research participant interviews are as follows:
- Mention in the sentence that the information is from a research participant.
- Keep the research participants’ names confidential by assigning pseudonyms.
- If you include a transcript of the interviews in an Appendix, mention that in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
If applicable, you only need to mention the Appendix once. Additional quotes or paraphrases from interviews don’t need to mention the Appendix.
APA citations for published interviews
APA citations for published interviews should follow the guidelines for the type of source that included the interview (e.g., a magazine article). For the in-text citations and reference entry, the author is the interviewer. The interviewee is not included in APA citations for published interviews, but it should be mentioned in the narrative of the sentence.
APA online magazine or newspaper interview citations
If the interview you’re quoting or paraphrasing was in an online newspaper or magazine, include the article’s author, publication date, article title, newspaper/magazine title, and URL in the reference entry. In the in-text citations, cite the article author and year of publication.
For exact quotations, cite the paragraph number (or for APA PDF citations, a page number).
| APA format |
Last, F. M. (year, month day). Article title in sentence case. Magazine or Newspaper Title in Title Case. URL
|
| APA reference |
Currin, G. H. (2024, September 26). Billy Strings, 21st century bluegrass rockstar, is trying very hard to be good. GQ. https://www.gq.com/story/billy-strings
|
| APA in-text citation, quotation | During the interview, Strings explained to Currin (2024), “I want to spread the joy of bluegrass music to as many people as I can. I think that’s my duty here on Earth—besides, you know, being a dad” (para. 9). |
| APA in-text citation, paraphrase | Strings mentioned recent opportunities to collaborate with Judd Apatow and Mike Birbiglia (Currin, 2024). |
APA podcast interview citations
If you quote or paraphrase an interview from a podcast, begin the reference entry with the host, and cite the host’s name in the in-text citations with the year of the episode. If you use a quotation from the podcast, the in-text citation should include the timestamp of when the quotation begins.
| APA format |
Last, F. (Host). (year, month day). Title in sentence case [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast title in sentence case. Production Company. URL
|
| APA reference |
Shepard, D. (Host). (2024, September 23). Lupita Nyong’o [Audio podcast episode]. In Armchair expert with Dax Shepard. Armchair Umbrella. https://armchairexpertpod.com/pods/lupita-nyongo
|
| APA in-text citation, quotation | In a podcast interview with Dax Shepard (2024), Lupita Nyong’o explained why she was motivated to develop an American accent: “An American market requires you to sound American” (45:01). |
| APA in-text citation, paraphrase | Narrative: During the interview with Shepard (2024), Nyong’o explained that accents did not come as naturally to her as some of her classmates. |
| Parenthetical: Nyong’o described her decision to pursue a graduate program in acting at Yale (Shepard, 2024). |
APA YouTube interview citations
If you quote or paraphrase a YouTube interview in APA writing, begin the reference entry with the person or organization that uploaded the video. The in-text citations should include this person or organization with the year of publication. If you use any exact quotations, include a timestamp of when the quotation begins.
As with other in-text citations for interviews, provide context about the interviewee in the narrative of the sentence.
| APA format |
Author. (year, month day). Title in sentence case and italics [Video]. YouTube. URL
|
| APA reference |
International Literacy Association. (2020, November 20). Science of reading episode with Patricia Alexander [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UdRZxcq6sMc?si=rHDJl4Vt_AecvsUz
|
| APA in-text citation, quotation | Reading expert Patricia Alexander explained, “We’re finding that students spend most of their time in these passive literacy activities” (International Literacy Association, 2020, 12:10). |
| APA in-text citation, paraphrase | Narrative: During an International Literacy Association (2020) interview, Patricia Alexander described the impact of screen time on learning. |
| Parenthetical: Alexander advised educators to … (International Reading Association, 2020). |
Frequently asked questions about APA interview citations
- How do you cite a personal communication in APA?
-
To cite a personal communication in APA, omit a reference page entry, but include an APA in-text citation.
In sentences that quote or paraphrase the person you spoke with, include their name in a signal phrase. In parentheses, include the words “personal communication” and the date of the interview or conversation.
You can also put the interviewee’s name in parentheses with “personal communication” and the date.
APA personal communication citation examples Licensed professional counselor Elena Jones (personal communication, July 1, 2023) described the impact of diet and exercise on mental health.Another mental health provider believes that increasing protein and limiting refined sugars can improve mood and executive function (Wanda Hays, personal communication, July 15, 2023).
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you create impeccable citations for a variety of outside sources, including personal communications.
- What are the guidelines for APA title capitalization?
-
APA title capitalization can be sentence case or title case depending on the type of source and where you’re using the title in the document.
Title case means that you capitalize the first word, major words (e.g., “job” or “parents”), and all minor words that are four letters or longer (e.g., “with”), but not minor words like “at” or “the.”
Sentence case means that you only capitalize the words that you’d capitalize in a sentence—the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon.
When you mention a title within the prose of your document, always use title case (e.g., “The Paradox of Stay-at-Home Parents” in The Atlantic).
In reference list entries, use sentence case for any work that’s contained within a larger source (such as a journal article) as well as self-contained works (e.g., books or websites). The following is an example of a reference entry for a book in APA style.
APA book reference entry example Bradshaw, J., & Ellis, S. (2016). The trainable cat: A practical guide to making life happier for you and your cat. Basic Books.Use title case for the titles of periodicals (e.g., journals) in reference list entries, such as this example for a journal article in APA.
APA journal article reference entry example Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator can help you follow APA guidelines for title capitalization in your own writing.
