How to Cite a Phone Interview Within the Body of a Research Paper

APA Style

• 1

  Write out your quotation from the interview or fact as a statement. You can either use a direct quote or an idea as a simple sentence.

• 2

  Include the last name of the interviewee inside parentheses and followed by a period outside of the parentheses, if you plan to include the interview on the reference page. This should follow immediately after the quotation or sentence.

• 3

  Write the first initial and last name followed by a comma followed by “telephone interview,” followed by the date inside parentheses. The parenthetical should be concluded with a period. Example: (P. Hacker-Witt, telephone interview, September 10, 2011). This in-text citation does not require a line item in the reference section. You can also title the interview as “personal communication” if you wish.

• 4

  Reference the shorter in-text citation on the reference page. It should read: “Last name, First initial. (year, Month, day). Telephone interview.” Example: Hacker-Witt, P. (2011, September, 10). Telephone interview.

MLA Style

• 5

  Write out your quotation or statement from the interview in your research paper.

• 6

  Include the last name of the interviewee inside parenthesis, such as (Hacker-Witt), after the statement. This ends the in-text citation but requires a line item on the reference page.

• 7

  Complete the reference section with the name of the interviewee, the person’s specialty, telephone interview and the date as follows: Hacker-Witt, Pharaba. Writer, Demand Media. Telephone interview. 10 Sep. 2011.