Interview Citation Generator
Cite an interview you conducted yourself or one that was published in a magazine, newspaper or on a website. Enter the interviewee, the date and, for a published interview, its title, source and link, and get the reference and in-text citation in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 and 10,834 other styles. Free, no sign-up.
Important: APA treats a personal interview differently
In APA 7th, an interview you conducted yourself is personal communication — you cite it in-text only, e.g. (J. Smith, personal communication, March 4, 2024), and it does not appear in the reference list. In MLA, Chicago, and Harvard, the same personal interview does get a full entry. A published or broadcast interview (magazine, newspaper, podcast, TV) is cited by its published form and appears in the bibliography in every style, including APA.
Interview Citation Examples
APA 7th editionIn-text only (personal communication)
Personal interviews are NOT listed in the APA reference list — cite them only in-text.
In-text: (J. Smith, personal communication, March 4, 2024)
MLA 9th editionWorks Cited
Smith, Jordan. Interview. Conducted by Alex Rivera, 4 Mar. 2024.
In-text: (Smith)
Chicago (author-date)Reference list
Smith, Jordan. 2024. Interview by Alex Rivera. March 4, 2024.
In-text: (Smith 2024)
How to Use the Interview Citation Generator
- 1. Say which kind of interview it is. One you conducted, or one that was published. They are cited differently, and APA treats the first as a personal communication.
- 2. Fill in the details. The generator opens on Manual Entry with the source type set to Interview. Type the interviewee in Author(s), the date, and for a published interview its title, the publication in Journal / Publication and the link.
- 3. Pick a style. Choose APA, MLA, Chicago or another of the 10,834 styles. The in-text citation appears under the reference.
- 4. Use the right output. For your own interview in APA, use only the in-text citation. In every other case, copy the reference or the note.
Personal Interview or Published Interview?
| Interview you conducted | Published interview | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A conversation you had for your research or paper, not recorded anywhere a reader can reach | An interview printed, posted or broadcast by a magazine, newspaper, site or program |
| Who is the author | The person interviewed | The interviewee (APA), or the interviewee with the interviewer named (MLA, Chicago) |
| APA 7 | In text only: (J. Smith, personal communication, March 4, 2024) | A reference-list entry with [Interview] after the title |
| MLA 9 | Smith, Jordan. Personal interview. 4 Mar. 2024. | Smith, Jordan. “Title.” Interview by Alex Rivera. Source, date, link. |
| Chicago 18 | A note: interview by author, with the place and date | A note and, if the interview is published, a bibliography entry |
APA also distinguishes interviews done for research. If you interviewed participants for a study, do not cite them as personal communications: describe the method in your paper and refer to participants by pseudonym or number.
Interview Citation Examples
An interview you conducted with Jordan Smith (an illustrative interviewee), held on 4 March 2024.
APA 7th edition
In-text (parenthetical):
(J. Smith, personal communication, March 4, 2024)
In-text (narrative):
J. Smith (personal communication, March 4, 2024)
Reference list:
None. Personal communications are not listed.
MLA 9th edition
Works Cited:
Smith, Jordan. Personal interview. 4 Mar. 2024.
In-text citation:
(Smith)
Chicago 18th edition (note)
Footnote:
Jordan Smith, interview by author, March 4, 2024.
A published interview, again with illustrative details.
Published online
APA 7:
Smith, J. (2023, May 2). An interview with the architect [Interview]. The Design Review. https://example.com/design-review/architect-interview
MLA 9:
Smith, Jordan. “An Interview with the Architect.” The Design Review, 2 May 2023, example.com/design-review/architect-interview.
Chicago note:
Jordan Smith, “An Interview with the Architect,” The Design Review, May 2, 2023, https://example.com/design-review/architect-interview.
For a personal interview the generator prints a title line such as Interview with Jordan Smith and, in APA, a reference that APA does not want in your list. Use the in-text line it gives, and in MLA delete the title so the entry reads Personal interview. For a published interview, add the interviewer's name by hand in MLA (Interview by Alex Rivera).
Common Mistakes
- Putting a personal interview in the APA reference list. APA wants it in the text only.
- Citing the interviewer instead of the interviewee. For a personal interview, the person interviewed is the source.
- Skipping the date. The date of the interview is part of every form.
- Treating research participants as personal communications. In APA, describe the method and refer to participants anonymously.
- Using this for a podcast or broadcast. A recorded program has its own format. Use the Podcast Citation Generator or the TV Show Citation Generator.
Which Tool Do You Need?
| You have | Use |
|---|---|
| An interview, personal or published in print or online | This page |
| An email or a private message | Email Citation Generator |
| A podcast episode, including an interview episode | Podcast Citation Generator |
| A speech or a lecture | Lecture Citation Generator |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I cite an interview in APA 7?
- If you conducted it yourself, cite it in text only: (J. Smith, personal communication, March 4, 2024), with no reference-list entry. A published interview is listed like any other item, with the interviewee as author and [Interview] after the title.
- How do I cite an interview in MLA 9?
- A personal interview: Smith, Jordan. Personal interview. 4 Mar. 2024. A published one: the interviewee, the title in quotation marks, Interview by and the interviewer, the source in italics, the date and the link. In text: (Smith).
- How do I cite an interview in Chicago style?
- Cite your own interview in a note: Jordan Smith, interview by author, March 4, 2024. Chicago normally leaves unpublished interviews out of the bibliography. A published interview is cited like the article, book or site it appears in.
- How do I cite an interview I recorded?
- Cite it as a personal interview, with the interviewee and the date. Add the place if the style asks for it. Keep the recording or transcript in case your instructor asks to see it.
- Do I need permission to quote an interview?
- Get the interviewee's consent before you interview, and tell them how their words will be used. For research with people, follow your institution's ethics rules.
- Which citation styles does the interview generator support?
- APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18 at the top of the list, and any of the other 10,834 styles. Switch the style and the same details are reformatted.
Related Tools
How to cite a Interview in each style
Format rules, templates, and worked examples for the styles most often required.