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Chicago Citation

A guide to citing source according to the Chicago Manual of Style

Personal Communications Citation Notes & Format

Important: Personal communications—including personal, unpublished interviews—are not available to the general public the way published materials are, and are NOT usually included in the bibliography.

They are cited in text or in notes.

See below for examples of footnote and shortened footnote entries for interviews and personal communications.

Elements to include when citing interviews and personal communications from section 14.211–214 of The Chicago Manual:

Unpublished Interviews

  1. Names of both interviewee and interviewer (can be unattributed at the request of the interviewee)
  2. Brief identifying information if relevant
  3. Place or date of the interview (or both, if known)
  4. If a transcript or recording is available, where it can be found

Personal Communications

  1. Names of both correspondents (can be excluded if clearly referenced in the text)
  2. Reference to conversation, message, etc.; medium may be mentioned
  3. Date of message

Interviews

Footnotes

1. Steve Hamersky (director, Dugan Library, Newman University), in discussion with author, January 2023.
2. Daniel L. Bordon, interview by Peter D. Olch, June 2, 1968, Archives and Modern Manuscript Program's Oral History Collections, National Library of Medicine, http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/2935112R.
3. Interview with faculty member, August 12, 2022.

The third example is of an anonymous interview. The absence of the interviewee's name should be explained (e.g. "All interviews were confidential and the identity of interviewees are withheld by mutual consent").

Interviews

Personal Communications

1. John Doe, email message to author, December 3, 2021.
2. WhatsApp direct message to author, March 2, 2022.

The second example applies to a footnote where the name of the correspondent is mentioned in the text. In such a case, the name would not need to be repeated in the note.