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How to Cite an Interview | APA, MLA & Chicago Style

Published on March 31, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on June 28, 2022.

To cite a published interview from a newspaper , you need an in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the interviewer’s name, the publication date, the interview title, the name of the newspaper, and a URL if the article was consulted online.

The exact format varies across the different citation styles: APA , MLA , and Chicago style .

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Table of contents

Citing an interview in apa style, citing an interview in mla style, citing an interview in chicago style, frequently asked questions about citations.

In an APA Style reference for an interview published in a newspaper , the interviewer is listed as author in the reference entry and the APA in-text citation.

Because the name of the interviewer appears in the in-text citation, it won’t always be clear whom you’re quoting. It’s important to clarify in the sentence when you’re quoting the interviewee’s words.

For interviews published in other source types (e.g. books , journal articles , podcasts , videos ), follow the relevant format, listing the interviewer as the author in each case.

Participant interviews

In APA Style, a participant interview is one you conducted yourself as an explicit part of your research methodology. Since these are your own work and not previously published, they should not be cited.

Instead, describe where the information comes from the first time you quote or paraphrase the interviews.

If the interviews themselves are included in an appendix , you can point this out to the reader with a parenthetical statement like “(see Appendix A)” the first time you quote them.

Personal interviews

When you refer to something someone said to you privately, outside of the context of a formal interview, this is cited informally in the text as a personal communication .

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In an MLA Works Cited entry for an interview published in a newspaper , you list the interviewee in the author element. Clarify who conducted the interview after the title, and use the interviewee’s name in the MLA in-text citation.

Works Cited entries for interviews published in other source types should follow the relevant format (e.g. book , video , podcast , journal article ).

Interviews you conducted

When referring to an interview you conducted yourself, keep the interviewee in the author position, and list your own name and the date when you conducted the interview later. These interviews are usually untitled; just write “Interview” in plain text in the title position.

A Chicago style bibliography entry for an interview published in a newspaper lists the interviewee in the author position, mentioning the interviewer later.

In the Chicago footnote, the interviewee name may be omitted if it’s already part of the title.

For interviews published in other source types, follow the relevant format (e.g. book , video , journal article ), always listing the interviewee as the author.

When referring to an interview you conducted yourself , Chicago recommends against including it in the bibliography. Instead, just refer to the interview in a footnote when you first quote or paraphrase it. You can refer to yourself as “author” in this context.

The main elements included in a newspaper interview citation across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the names of the interviewer and interviewee, the interview title, the publication date, the name of the newspaper, and a URL (for online sources).

The information is presented differently in different citation styles. One key difference is that APA advises listing the interviewer in the author position, while MLA and Chicago advise listing the interviewee first.

For a published interview (whether in video , audio, or print form ), you should always include a citation , just as you would for any other source.

For an interview you conducted yourself , formally or informally, you often don’t need a citation and can just refer to it in the text or in a footnote , since the reader won’t be able to look them up anyway. MLA , however, still recommends including citations for your own interviews.

Untitled sources (e.g. some images ) are usually cited using a short descriptive text in place of the title. In APA Style , this description appears in brackets: [Chair of stained oak]. In MLA and Chicago styles, no brackets are used: Chair of stained oak.

For social media posts, which are usually untitled, quote the initial words of the post in place of the title: the first 160 characters in Chicago , or the first 20 words in APA . E.g. Biden, J. [@JoeBiden]. “The American Rescue Plan means a $7,000 check for a single mom of four. It means more support to safely.”

MLA recommends quoting the full post for something short like a tweet, and just describing the post if it’s longer.

Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.

• APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
• MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
• Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.

Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.

The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.

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Caulfield, J. (2022, June 28). How to Cite an Interview | APA, MLA & Chicago Style. Scribbr. Retrieved April 1, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-an-interview/

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MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)

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On This Page: Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)

Interview (in person), citing elders, email interview, telephone interview, abbreviating months.

In your works cited list, abbreviate months as follows: 

January = Jan. February = Feb. March = Mar. April = Apr. May = May June = June July = July August = Aug. September = Sept. October = Oct. November = Nov. December = Dec.

Spell out months fully in the body of your paper. 

When is personal communication (in person, emails, and telephone) used in citation?

The category "Personal Communications" is used in situations where you are taking information from a source such as an email thread or an interview you conducted with someone else. In this case the work isn't published anywhere; someone else couldn't find and read the full interview or email on their own.

Sometimes you may find interviews with people in journals, magazines, newspapers, websites, etc. In those cases don't use the "Personal Communications" category. Instead, cite them according to where you found the information.

For example, an interview in a magazine would be cited like a magazine article. That way anyone reading your assignment could easily track down the interview for themselves by finding the same magazine article.

Note : For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Last Name of Person Who Was Interviewed, First Name. Interview. By Interviewer First Name Last Name, Day Month Year of interview. 

Last name, First names, Elder, Nation/Community.  Topic/subject of communication if applicable . Personal communication, Date Month Year. Territorial Acknowledgement of where the information was shared/collected.

This citation template was developed by Norquest College  in the spirit of wahkôhtowin and reconciliation. It was expanded upon by Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library and the KPU the Elder in Residence, Lekeyten. 

Last Name of Person Who Was Interviewed, First Name. "Subject Line of Email." Received by Name of Person Who Received Email, Day Month Year of Email. Email Interview.

Learn more: See  MLA Handbook , p. 124 for citing emails, p. 211 for descriptions at the end of citations.

Last Name of Person Who Was Interviewed, First Name. Interview. Day Month Year of interview. By Interviewer First Name Last Name. Telephone Interview.

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• MLA Style Manual

How to Cite an Interview in MLA Format

Last Updated: December 23, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Rachel Scoggins, PhD . Rachel Scoggins is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Lander University. Rachel's work has been presented at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association and the Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. She received her PhD in Literary Studies from Georgia State University in 2016. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,367,901 times.

A thoroughly researched paper often supplements written sources with interviews. Interviews generally fall into two categories: published print or broadcast interviews and unpublished personal interviews. [1] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source Citing an interview may seem confusing if you're used to just citing books and articles, but just like with any MLA citation, follow the simple rules to complete a polished citation.

Citing Interviews With In-Text Citations

• Periods go after the parentheses. Think about the parenthetical citation as being part of the sentence. The period goes at the end of the whole sentence, so it goes after the parentheses.
• The superintendent stated that there would be money in the budget for new computers (Jones).
• Emily said, "Training for the Olympics was the most challenging thing I have ever done" (Walker).

• Jones stated that there would be money in the budget for new computers.
• Walker said, "Training for the Olympics was the most challenging thing I have ever done."
• The difference between the examples in step 1 and step 2 is the way the last name is presented. In step 1, the last name is in the parenthetical citation because it does not appear in the sentence. In step 2, the last name appears in the sentence, so it does not need to be repeated in a parenthetical citation.
• The reason why the last name must appear in either the sentence or the parenthetical citation is because the last name corresponds to the entry on the works cited page. Every citation must link directly to the works cited page.

• Emily trained so hard that she bruised her foot and had to take a break (Walker 45).
• Walker explained that she had to take a break from training after bruising her foot (45).
• Remember, MLA does not put a comma between the last name and the page number in a parenthetical citation.

• If a quotation ends with an exclamation point or a question mark, place it inside the quotation marks.
• Dr. James Hill said, "The virus starts by affecting the brain" (56).
• Dr. James Hill asked, "If we can't find a cure, how will we save the human race?" (57).

• Start your block quote like this: In an interview from 2002, Peter Jackson stated:
• Punctuate the end of your block quote like this: Jackson said he will always keep making movies. (34-35)

Citing Interviews on a Works Cited Page

• Dates should be formatted with the numerical value for the day, followed by the three letter abbreviation for the date followed by a period, and then the numerical value for the year. Most months just use the first three letters of their name. May has no period after the three letters. June and July both stay the same with no period afterwards. September is abbreviated using 4 letters: Sept.
• For type of interview, state if it is a personal, telephone, or e-mail interview.
• Example: Gambill, Mike. Telephone interview. 1 Apr. 2003.

• For an interview published in a print source, start with the interviewee's last name, followed by a comma and then the first name. Add a period. Place the name of the interview in quotation marks, with a period inside the quotation marks. Next, list the name of the larger book or journal where the interview was published in italics. Add a period. Next, give the author or editor of the book by stating "By First Name Last Name" or "Ed. First Name Last Name." Add a period. Then finish the citation with information required by the medium.
• Amis, Kingsley. “Mimic and Moralist.” Interviews with Britain's Angry Young Men . By Dale Salwak. San Bernardino: Borgo, 1984. 34-47. Print. [8] X Research source
• Blanchett, Cate. "In Character with Cate Blanchett." Notes on a Scandal . Dir. Richard Eyre. Fox Searchlight, 2006. DVD.
• If the interview has no name, just type the word "Interview" without any quotation marks or italics.
• Jolie, Angelina. Interview. 60 Minutes. CBS. WCBS, New York: 3 Feb. 2009. Television. [9] X Research source

• If no publisher is given, insert the abbreviation n.p. If there is no publication date, use n.d.
• If the interview does not feature a title, add the descriptor "Interview" after the interviewee's name with no italics or quotation marks.
• Obama, Michelle. Interview by Caren Zucker. ABC News . ABC, 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2009.
• Antin, David. "The Way I See It." Dalkey Archive Press. Dalkey Archive P, n.d. Web. 21 Aug 2007.

Sample MLA Citation

Community Q&A

• Be sure to include the full listing of proper sourcing to avoid plagiarism. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Remember, works cited pages use hanging indents. The first line is lined up with your left margin, while every subsequent line is indented. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Always start your MLA citation entries with last names. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_other_common_sources.html
• ↑ https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/MLA9/interviews
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_quotations.html
• ↑ https://guides.library.unr.edu/mlacitation/personalcommunication
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/747/
• ↑ http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/MLA/interview
• ↑ https://utica.libguides.com/c.php?g=703243&p=4991681

About This Article

To cite an interview in MLA format, include the interviewee’s last name in parentheses after quoting it, making sure to put any punctuation outside of the parentheses. However, if you state the person’s last name in the sentence, you don’t need to include a citation in parentheses. If you’re citing a printed interview, add the page number after the name in the citation. Finally, include the citation on your “Works Cited” page by listing the interviewee’s last name, the type of interview, and the date of the interview, each separated by a period. To learn how to format a longer quote from an interview, keep reading. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Interview

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Helpful Tip!

NOTE: If you recorded the interview or Skype meeting and posted it online (i.e. YouTube, web site) you can then include the reference and direct the reader to the audio or video file that captured the interview. See: APA S tyle: Personal Communications  OR Quotations from Research Participants . 

An Interview

Important Note: Personal interviews are not included in the reference list because they do not provide recoverable data . Cite them IN TEXT ONLY.

Personal Communication Includes letters, phone calls, email messages, and interviews.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Interviewee First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

References:

Not included

(J. Brown, personal communication, April 27, 2010)

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APA Interview Citation

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How to Reference an Interview in APA

Use the following template to cite an interview using the APA citation format. We also provide style guides for the MLA and Chicago styles. To have your bibliography or works cited list automatically made for you, check out our free APA citation maker .

Once you’re finished with your citations, we can also help you with creating an APA title page .

Important Note on Personal Interviews:

• A personal interview should NOT be included in a reference list in APA. They are not considered recoverable data (they cannot be found by a researcher). You should reference personal interviews as in-text citations instead.
• Example: (J. Doe, personal communication, December 12, 2004)

That being said, there is a general structure if you want to cite a personal interview as part of your APA works cited list:

Author, A. (Year, Month Date). Interview type.

APA format example:

Marino, B. (2014, October 18). Personal Interview.

For more information on how to cite in APA, check out the APA Style Guide .

←Back to APA Citation Guide

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As per Sections 8.7 and 8.9 of the APA Publication Manual , 7 th edition, personal interviews are treated as personal communication. Since personal communication cannot be recovered by readers, APA recommends using personal communication only when a recoverable source of communication is not available.

And since personal communications cannot be recovered by readers, they are also not included in the reference list. Instead, the in-text citation for personal communication, including personal interviews, is much more detailed than other APA in-text citations.

When citing a personal interview in an in-text citation, include the first initial and surname of the person interviewed, “personal communication,” and the full date of the interview, rather than just the year.

The following templates and examples show how to cite a personal interview in an in-text citation in APA style.

Narrative citation: Interviewee’s First Initial Surname (personal communication, Month Day Year)

Parenthetical citation: (Interviewee’s First Initial Surname, personal communication, Month Day Year)

Narrative citation: A.J. Forrester (personal communication, May 9, 2014)

Parenthetical citation: (A.J. Forrester, personal communication, May 9, 2014)

Personal interviews should be treated the same way as personal communications, since neither can be recovered by readers. Since these sources cannot be retrieved, there is no need to provide an entry for them in the reference list. A personal interview should just have an in-text citation and NOT an accompanying reference list entry.

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MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

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MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the  MLA Handbook  and in chapter 7 of the  MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's  The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the  internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in  Nature  in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's  The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's  Evaluating Sources of Information  resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

• Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
• Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
• Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like  CNN.com  or  Forbes.com,  as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009. 

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.

• How it works

How to Cite an Interview in Harvard Style?

Published by Alaxendra Bets at August 15th, 2021 , Revised On August 23, 2023

1. How to Citing interviews you conducted at Harvard

Quoting your research participants.

In Harvard referencing, the basics of in-text citation for personal communications are:

Author (communicator).

Format description.

Example: The Vice Chancellor’s statement was confirmed during an interview (P Dawkins 2011, personal communication, 11 October). OR, During an interview conducted on 11 October 2011, Prof Peter Dawkins stated that …

Example: One participant, David, stated in an interview (surname, David Year, personal communication, Date and Year) that he found the experience “very challenging” (full interview transcripts are presented in Appendix A). OR During an interview conducted on Date and Year, one participant, David, stated that he found the experience “very challenging” (full interview transcripts are presented in Appendix A)

Citing Personal Interviews

Example: An email (L. Singh 2020, personal communication, April 24) with one of the researchers involved in the project clarified that it was “still ongoing”.

2. Citing published interviews

Citing a newspaper interview.

The United States aims to return its space program to its former glory. Bridenstine (2018) stated that “A big objective is to once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil”.

Note: Under this section on the APA website given, the second example doesn’t hold true in Harvard. The above format is the one main one followed in Harvard referencing, where the name of the interviewee is mentioned, followed by the year of the interview in ().

Why should you use a Plagiarism Detector for your Dissertation?

It ensures:

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Citing a podcast interview

Citing an interview from youtube, frequently asked questions, do you have to cite an interview you conducted harvard.

Yes, when following Harvard citation style, you must cite an interview you conducted. Include interviewee’s name, date, method, and context. Citing maintains academic integrity and allows readers to verify your sources.

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To cite a TED talk, the format differs slightly depending on whether you viewed the talk on the TED Timestamp or YouTube.

Sometimes citing the Movie, Television and Radio Programs in Harvard Style is very tricky. Here is the easiest guide to do so

The basic format to a report reference in Harvard Style: Author (Year of Publication) Title of Report. Place of publication: publisher.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Chicago Style / How to Cite an Interview in Chicago/Turabian

How to Cite an Interview in Chicago/Turabian

If you are conducting research for a paper or project, interviews can be a great way to get information and quotes directly from the source, whether you are conducting the interview yourself or citing a published interview. This guide will show you how to cite both published and unpublished interviews in notes-bibliography style using the 17th edition of the  Chicago Manual of Style .

Guide Overview

• Cite a published interview
• Cite an unpublished interview
• Cite an unattributed or anonymous interview
• Cite personal communications
• What you need

How to Cite a Published Interview

If you are citing an interview published in a periodical (i.e., magazine, newspaper, or journal) or on TV/radio you should follow the citation structure for that type of source. The below example follows the magazine citation structure since the interview was published in a magazine. For more information, see these guides on how to cite a journal , how to cite a magazine , how to cite a newspaper , and how to cite a TV/radio broadcast .

Citation Structure:

1. Interviewee First name Last name, “Interview Title,” interview by Interviewer First name Last name, Publication or Channel/Show Name, Month day, year, URL (if online) or page number (if in print).

Bibliography: 

Interviewee Last name, First name. “Interview Title.” By Interviewer First name Last name. Publication or Channel/Show Name, Month day, year. URL (if online).

Magazine Cover

Citation Example:

1. Michelle Obama, “Oprah Talks to Michelle Obama,” interview by Oprah Winfrey, O, The Oprah Magazine, April 1, 2009, 27.

Obama, Michelle. “Oprah Talks to Michelle Obama.” By Oprah Winfrey. O, The Oprah Magazine, April 1, 2009.

Note: If this example were accessed online, the note and bibliography would be formatted as follows:

1. Michelle Obama, “Oprah Talks to Michelle Obama,” interview by Oprah Winfrey, O, The Oprah Magazine, April 1, 2009, https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/michelle-obamas-oprah-interview-o-magazine-cover-with-obama.

Obama, Michelle. “Oprah Talks to Michelle Obama.” By Oprah Winfrey. O, The Oprah Magazine, April 1, 2009. https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/michelle-obamas-oprah-interview-o-magazine-cover-with-obama.

A Note on Direct Quotations

A direct quote from an interview should be treated like a direct quote from any other type of source. However, when using a direct quote from a published interview, be sure to include quotation marks both for the quoted material (the interview) as well as any internal quotation marks from the interviewee’s statements (if applicable). Any quoted material within your quote, should be shown in single quotation marks. For example, a direct quote from an interview might be written in your paper as follows:

They also discussed books in the interview. “I asked the First Lady for a recommendation, and she said ‘I love reading nonfiction.'” 1

If an interview is presented as a dialogue between the interviewee and interviewer, however, the quoted information can be included in regular quotation marks:

When discussing books, the First Lady stated, “I love reading nonfiction.” 1

How to Cite an Unpublished Interview

Unpublished interviews are normally only cited in the text or in notes, but if you include an unpublished interview in your bibliography, the citation should include the name of the interviewee, the interviewer, some identifying information if necessary or appropriate, the place and date of the interview, and where a transcript or recording is available (if it is).

1. First name Last name of interviewee (title/identifying information if needed), interviewed by First name Last name, Month day, year of interview, transcript (if applicable), transcript location, City, State (if applicable).

Last name, First name of interviewee (title/identifying information if needed). Interviewed by First name Last name, Month day, year of interview. Transcript (if applicable), transcript location, City, State (if applicable).

1. Emily Gover (Information Literacy Librarian, EasyBib.com), interviewed by Allison Cloyd, July 2014, transcript, EasyBib Archives, New York, NY.

Gover, Emily (Information Literacy Librarian, EasyBib.com). Interviewed by Allison Cloyd, July 2014. Transcript, EasyBib Archives, New York City, New York.

How to Cite an Unattributed or Anonymous Interview

Unattributed or anonymous interviews should only be cited in the notes and do not require a bibliography entry. It is a good idea to provide some context within the text regarding the absence of the interviewee name (e.g., “names are withheld to protect the privacy of the interviewees”).

1. Interview with interviewee description, Month day, year of interview.

1. Interview with North High School student, January 28, 2022.

How to Cite Personal Communications

If you want to cite information you received directly from another person, but a full interview wasn’t conducted, you can cite that information as personal communications. Like unattributed or anonymous interviews, personal communications can be cited within the text or in the notes, but it is not necessary to create a bibliography entry.

1. Contact First Name Last name, message type to author, Month day, year of correspondence.

1. John Doe, email message to author, January 28, 2022.

What You Need

While the exact information you need to cite an interview will vary depending on whether it is published, and if so, where it is published, you will generally need the following:

• Interviewee name
• Title of interview
• Interviewer name
• Publication or channel/TV show name
• Date of interview
• Page numbers if applicable
• URL or other location information if applicable

Chicago Formatting Guide

Chicago Formatting

• Book Chapter
• Conference Paper
• Musical Recording

Citation Examples

• Thesis or Dissertation
• Encyclopedia
• Sheet Music
• YouTube Video

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