Personal communication
You may need to consult more than one section to accurately represent the source used (eg. number of authors and source descriptions)
Personal communication may include (but is not limited to) email, fax, interviews, conversations, direct or private messages via social media, telephone conversations and letters.
Reference list entries of personal communication are not required, provided enough information is provided within the text to identify the communication. Check with your lecturer if you are unsure.
Format for in-text citation
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
(Name, date, year, communication method with Name)
In-text citation example
...re:cite is a very useful tool to assist with citation (Ashley Sutherland, November 3, 2019, email message to Tanya Wilson).
OR
...re:cite gives citation examples in a variety of styles (Ashley Sutherland, November 4, 2019, conversation with Tanya Wilson).
OR
In a private Facebook message to the author on February 2, 2020, Julie Cohen indicated that....
Style notes for this reference style
- For more examples see Manual 15.53.
- Personal communications such as conversations, letters, emails, text messages, , AI generated text are cited in-text only.
- Separate key elements of the citation with commas.
- You can weave some or all of this information into the text.
- Dates should be included where it is not mentioned in the text.
- If there is any additional contextual information that is significant to this communication, please include it in the citation.
Explore resources to help with reference management and enable you to effectively integrate and cite sources into your writing and assessment tasks .