Citing Personal Communications--Emails, Interviews, Lectures, etc. in APA Format
Emails, letters, memos, telephone conversations, lectures, course materials handed out in class or provided via Blackboard, and personal interviews are considered personal communications in APA. This type of communication can be difficult to provide recoverable data; therefore, these types of communication are not included in the Reference list. Cite personal communications within the body of your paper only. Information on citing communications.
Example:
In an interview, Sally Shoefeld explained the treatment for an accident victim (personal communication, December 18, 2023).
Note: For more information about interviews, https://apastyle.apa.org/learn/faqs/cite-interview
See 9.30 and 10.8 in 7th Edition
APA Citation Style does not have a separate category for government publications. According to APA, government documents can be considered Books, Technical/Research Reports, or Brochures.
Helpful Tips:
General Format
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Author Surname OR Name of Government Organization, Year)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname OR Name of Government Organization, Year, page number)
References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Government Name. Name of Government Agency. (Year). Title: Subtitle (Report No. xxx [if available]). Publisher.
Example 1
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Gilmore et al., 1999)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Gilmore et al., 1999, p. 5)
References:
Gilmore, J., Woollam, P., Campbell, T., McLean, B., Roch, J., & Stephens, T. (1999). Statistical report on the health of Canadians: Prepared by the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Advisory Committee on Population Health. Health Canada, Statistics Canada, Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Example 2
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Edwards, et al., 1997)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Edwards, et al., 1997, p. 2)
References:
Edwards, N., Sims-Jones, N., Hotz, S., & Cushman, R. (1997). Development and testing components of a multifaceted intervention program to reduce the incidence of smoking relapse during pregnancy and post-partum of both women and their partners. Report prepared for Health Canada at the Community Health Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Canada.
Example 3
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Ontario Ministry of Health, 1994)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Ontario Ministry of Health, 1994, p. 7)
References:
Ontario Ministry of Health. (1994). Selected findings from the mental health supplement of the Ontario Health Survey. Queen's Printer for Ontario.
Example 4
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 2004)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 2004, p. 8)
References:
U. S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. (2004). Worsening depression and suicidality in patients being treated with antidepressant medications: FDA public health advisory. Author.
text adapted from https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA/book-government-publication#:~:text=Name%20of%20Government%20Agency.,xxx%20%5Bif%20available%5D).
APA Publishing Policies on Artifical Intelligence.
For this policy, AI refers to generative LLM AI tools and does not include grammar-checking software, citation software, or plagiarism detectors.
Additional reading material:
The ERIC databases adds Education document numbers to the records. Make sure to include these and when in doubt always give your reader the trail to find the document you are referencing.
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/eric-database-references