Skip to Main Content

MLA Citation: Personal communications

Personal Communications

  • If a person you are interviewing wishes to remain anonymous, do not create a works-cited-list entry for the interview. Instead, indicate in an endnote that the source is a personal interview and provide the method of communication (e.g., phone, e-mail, text message, in-person meeting) and the date of the interview.

Name of person interviewed. Description. Date. 

Johnson, Frank. Personal Interview. 20 Sep. 2019.

Potter, Melinda. FaceTime Interview. 20 Sep. 2019.

 

Name of person who sent the letter. Description. Date.

Garner, Susan. Letter to the Author. 8 Feb. 2020.

In text citation (sample wording): Frank Johnson holds the view that ... ; in her letter, Garner points out that ... 

  • If you refer generally to a series of e-mail exchanges that you had with the same person over several months or if you repeatedly discuss or quote from such an exchange, you could refer to the e-mail messages in your prose or in an endnote. But if you quote directly from a single message that you received or paraphrase its contents, it may be clearer and more economical to create a works-cited-list entry for the message.

Name of person who sent the email. "Subject Line." Date.

Bircher, Alexander D. "Re: Benefits of Fasting." 8 Feb. 2020.

 

In text citation: ... (Bircher)