Personal communication may include materials such as emails from unarchived sources, private memos or unrecorded interview conversations. Confidential material may include medical charts, patient health records and other internal reports containing private information. As these sources do not provide recoverable data, or the data is restricted in access due to confidentiality, it is acceptable to cite these types of sources in-text only.
The initials precede the family name in the citation. Don’t include an entry in the reference list.
Note:
Before paraphrasing or citing from a confidential document, ensure that you have the necessary permissions to do so from the source.
Rule:
The basics of an in-text entry for personal communications:
- Author (communicator).
- Year.
- Format description.
- Day.
- Month
- Place.
Interview:
Example:
The Director's statement was confirmed during an interview (S Neerputh 2022, personal communication, 22 June).
Email:
Example: In their email correspondence it was confirmed that previously detected inconsistencies had been resolved (M Smith, personal communication, 8 February 2020).
Health Report:
Example: The radiologist's findings were further confirmed (P Alan, radiology report, 6 March 2021) …
