Research & Referencing
A guide for students and staff on referencing, copyright, creative commons and more
How to reference personal communications
Types of Resources
Personal communications may include:
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unpublished lecture notes
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letters
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memos
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personal interviews
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telephone conversations
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emails
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messages from non-archived discussion groups or bulletin boards
Personal Communication
As they do not provide recoverable data, personal communications are not included in the references list.
Cite personal communications in-text only. Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible.
e.g. (J. Smith, personal communication, August 15, 2009)
e.g. J. Smith (personal communication, August 15, 2009) notes that...
e.g. The novelist has repeated this idea recently (Salman Rushdie, personal communication, May 1, 1995).