APA interview citation uses the interviewee’s name, the words “personal communication,” and the interview date for non-retrievable interviews.
If you’re writing in APA and your evidence comes from an interview, you can’t guess the format and hope it passes. One small choice decides everything: can your reader retrieve the interview on their own?
When the interview is private, APA treats it as a personal communication. You cite it in your text, and you do not add it to the reference list. When the interview is public, you cite the source that holds it (podcast, magazine, video, web page, archive record). This article gives you patterns you can copy, plus the small details that keep citations consistent.
If your assignment prompt says citation of interview apa, it’s usually asking for two things: an in-text citation that fits your sentence, and a reference entry only when readers can retrieve the item.
Citation Of Interview APA rules you must follow
APA’s reference list is built for items a reader can locate. Interviews split into two buckets:
- Not retrievable: you conducted it and your reader can’t access it.
- Retrievable: it’s published, posted, or stored in a public record.
Use the table to pick the right path fast.
| Interview situation | Where you cite it | Core format you follow |
|---|---|---|
| You interviewed someone and only you have the notes | In text only | (A. A. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year) |
| Phone or video call interview you did, not posted | In text only | Surname (personal communication, Month Day, Year) or (A. A. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year) |
| Email interview you did, private inbox only | In text only | (A. A. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year) |
| Interview data from your own study participants | Text plus your transcript handling | No reference entry; label participants and point to transcripts per your method and appendices |
| Interview transcript you published on a web page | Reference list and in text | Web page format with author, date, title, site name, URL |
| Magazine or newspaper Q&A you read online | Reference list and in text | Periodical article format, usually with the interviewer as author |
| Podcast episode that is an interview | Reference list and in text | Podcast episode format, with host as author and episode URL |
| Video interview on YouTube or a news site | Reference list and in text | Online video format, with uploader as author and URL |
| Oral history recording in an archive catalog | Reference list and in text | Archival or audiovisual format with archive name and locator ID |
Quick test for retrievable vs not retrievable
Run this test before you write any citation: could a classmate locate the same interview using only the details you plan to provide? If you would need to send them the recording, email thread, or transcript, it’s not retrievable.
Common not retrievable cases
- Unpublished notes from a call, meeting, or hallway chat.
- A private email exchange that answered your questions.
- A recording saved on your phone or drive with no public link.
Common retrievable cases
- A posted Q&A page with a stable URL.
- A podcast episode in a public feed.
- A video interview with a public link.
- An archive record with a public catalog entry.
Citation of interview APA rules for personal interviews and emails
If you conducted the interview and it’s not retrievable, APA calls it a personal communication. The rule is laid out in APA Style’s personal communications guidance.
What the in-text citation must include
- Interviewee’s initials and last name
- The words “personal communication”
- The full date (month, day, year)
Parenthetical pattern
(J. R. Khan, personal communication, March 14, 2025)
Narrative pattern
Khan (personal communication, March 14, 2025) noted the lab switched sampling methods in 2023.
Narrative citations work when the name belongs in the sentence. Parenthetical citations work when you want the sentence to carry the point first. Both are valid, so pick the one that keeps your paragraph moving and avoids repeated names.
Two small details that cause big mistakes
- Use the interviewee as the name in the citation. The citation points to who gave you the words.
- Keep personal communications out of the reference list. A reader can’t retrieve them, so the list would become a dead end.
Multiple interviews with one person
If you spoke with the same person on different dates, cite the date tied to the material you are using. If your paragraph draws from the March interview and the June interview, cite each one where it belongs.
Participant interviews in your own study
Interviews used as research data sit in a different lane. APA says not to treat research-participant quotes as personal communications. You treat them as your own data and explain how transcripts are stored and labeled. APA Style’s page on quotations from research participants lays out the rule.
Keep it simple:
- Use participant IDs or pseudonyms that match your ethics plan.
- State where full transcripts live (appendix, dataset, secure repository described in your method).
- Quote and paraphrase with the participant label you use in your transcripts.
When the interview is published or recorded
If your reader can retrieve the interview, you cite the public source that contains it. That source type controls the reference entry: a periodical article, a podcast episode, a video, a web page, or an archive record.
A common surprise is authorship. In many published interview formats, the interviewer, host, or uploader becomes the author of the work you are using. In your sentence, you can still name the person who spoke the quote, but your citation points to the source you retrieved.
Published Q&A in a magazine or newspaper
Treat it like an article. Your reference entry lists the credited writer (often the interviewer), the date, the title, the periodical name, and the URL or page range.
In text, cite it like any article: (InterviewerSurname, 2022). For direct quotes, add a page number for print or a paragraph number for stable web text.
Podcast interview episode
Treat it like a podcast episode. Your reference entry uses the host as author, adds the date, the episode title, the show title, and the URL.
When you quote a specific moment, add a time stamp after the year, like (HostSurname, 2023, 18:09).
Video interview
Treat it like an online video. Use the uploader or channel name as author, then date, video title, a bracketed descriptor like [Video], the site name, and the URL.
For a direct quote, add a time stamp, like (UploaderName, 2024, 01:12:33).
Interview transcript on a website
If the interview is a transcript page, cite it as a web page. Use the author credited on the page (a person or an organization), then the date shown on the page, then the page title, site name, and URL.
Archive or oral history recording
Archives often provide a catalog entry with a title, date, and locator. Use that record to build your APA reference entry, then add the archive name, collection name, and call number or ID so your reader can find the same item.
Build the reference entry in four parts
Once the interview is retrievable, build the reference entry using APA’s standard order: author, date, title, and source. That order is explained in APA Style’s reference entry principles.
Author
Use the creator of the work you accessed. That can be the interviewer for a written Q&A, the host for a podcast episode, the uploader for a video, or the organization for a transcript page.
Date
Use the publication date shown on the item. If the page lists only a year, use the year. If it lists year, month, and day, use the full date.
Title
Use the title of the item you accessed: episode title, article title, video title, or page title. For media, add a bracketed descriptor when APA calls for it.
Source
Add the container and the locator: periodical name and volume, show name, site name, archive name, plus the URL or DOI when present. The source piece is what makes the item retrievable.
If no person is credited, use the organization as author. If both are missing, start the reference with the title. Keep titles in sentence case; use italics only on the source element.
Common slip-ups and fast fixes
Before you submit, scan your work with this table. It catches the mistakes that cost the most points.
| Slip-up | What goes wrong | Fix that works |
|---|---|---|
| Putting a private interview in the reference list | Readers can’t retrieve it | Cite it in text as a personal communication with a full date |
| Leaving out the day and month for a personal communication | APA asks for a full date | Use Month Day, Year every time |
| Citing a public podcast interview as personal communication | The episode is retrievable | Cite it as a podcast episode and add the URL |
| Quoting audio or video with no time stamp | Readers can’t locate the moment | Add a time stamp in the in-text citation |
| Confusing who spoke the words in a published interview | The citation points to the interviewer, but the quote is from the guest | Name the guest in your sentence, then cite the source author |
| Using “n.d.” when a date is shown on the page | It weakens traceability | Check the page header, footer, or record view for a posted date |
| Mixing APA patterns across the same paper | It breaks consistency | Apply one APA rule set to every in-text and reference entry |
Copy-ready templates you can paste and fill
Replace the bracketed fields with your details. Keep the punctuation and italics.
Personal interview you conducted
- Parenthetical: (A. A. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
- Narrative: Surname (personal communication, Month Day, Year) stated …
Podcast interview episode
HostSurname, A. A. (Host). (Year, Month Day). Episode title [Audio podcast episode]. In Show title. Publisher. URL
Periodical interview
InterviewerSurname, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of interview. Periodical Title, volume(issue), page–page. URL
Web transcript interview
AuthorSurname, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of interview transcript. Site Name. URL
Online video interview
UploaderName. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. Site Name. URL
Final pass before you turn it in
Use this six-step check in your last edit. It keeps your citation of interview apa clean from start to finish.
- Label each interview retrievable or not retrievable.
- If not retrievable, cite it in text only as “personal communication” with a full date.
- If retrievable, cite the source type and write a full reference entry.
- Add page numbers, paragraph numbers, or time stamps for direct quotes.
- In published interviews, name the speaker in your sentence to avoid confusion.
- Do one sweep for commas, italics, and date format.
If you stick to that routine, your citations will read clean, your references will be retrievable, and your formatting will stay consistent across the whole paper each time.