by Thomas Mejtoft, PhD
Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know.
Lao Tsu*
From time to time there are information that needs to be referenced in a paper but there is no published version of the statement (or the publication is not released to the public) but the statements come from e.g., a conversation or an email. Hence, the facts in the statement rely on face-to-face or written communication between the author and the informant.
These guidelines are based on the following sources:
Personal Communications by APA style
IEEE – Referencing Guide: Citing Personal Communications by Murdoch University
Harvard Referencing: Personal communications by Victoria University
Hope you find this material useful!
If you are looking for other resources around writing to use, here is a page with resources and material. If you are looking for how to use and cite figures, screenshots, code etc. please refer to the following documents: How to use and cite figures from other sources, How to cite screenshots, References to secondary sources and review articles, Writing references to personal communication, Writing references to programming code, and Citing content created by generative AI. Regarding quotes and visualizing data, please read the following documents: Master quotes in writing and How to visualize your data in an understandable way.
Reference to personal communication
Any communication that cannot be retrieved by a reader should be considered as “personal communication”. This can be a face-to-face conversation, an email, a text message, a phone call, a social media message (that is not public), etc. That is, any information that cannot be retrieved from public sources.
Personal communication should only be cited when it is regarded as the best source available. Do not use personal communication for information that can be found in published sources.
When writing a reference to personal communication, there is a in-text reference but no post in the reference list. Using the expression “personal communication” and stating the source (i.e., the name of the one giving the information) and the date should be in-text only. Hence, personal communication should not be included in the reference list since the information is not retrievable. In general, only sources that are published (in some way), and retrievable in e.g., a library, online etc. should be in the reference list.
When referring to personal communication in writing, follow the examples below:
Only about half of students starting the five-year engineering program in Interaction Technology and Design graduate (T. Mejtoft, personal communication, February 12, 2022).
...
T. Mejtoft (personal communication, February 12, 2022) states that only about half of students starting the five-year engineering program in Interaction Technology and Design graduate.
...
In a personal interview with T. Mejtoft (February 12, 2022), he states that only about half of students starting the five-year engineering program in Interaction Technology and Design graduate.
...
In an email to the author (February 12, 2022), T. Mejtoft states that only about half of students starting the five-year engineering program in Interaction Technology and Design graduate.
...
During a phone call, T. Mejtoft (February 12, 2022) stated that only about half of students starting the five-year engineering program in Interaction Technology and Design graduate.Observe: The example above is for information that is treated as a source of information just like a reference. That is, for example, a statement of an expert that could be in print, but is not. In many cases the results in a research paper or report is based on interviews or observations, which is a form of personal communication. However, regarding writing results, this example do not apply since then the results should be structured to conform with the method used and most of the time the respondents are anonymous.
*Quote from Tao Te Ching (Tsu, 600BC/1997, ch. 56).
Tsu, L. (1998). Tao Te Ching (G-F. Feng & J. English, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published around 600 BC).
Cite this page as (APA style):
Mejtoft, T. (2024). Writing references to personal communication. Notes on (scientific) writing, no 4. Retrieved from https://www.mejtoft.se/thomas/education/academic-writing/reference-to-personal-communication/
If you have any questions, praise, critique, or feed-forward, please do not hesitate to contact me.
(First published by Thomas Mejtoft: 2021-12-27; Last updated: 2024-11-25)