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General Business 360 Research Guide

Informational Interview

General Rules: Citing Informational Interviews

In-text Citation: Information to Include

In-text citations and signal phrases can be woven into sentences and paragraphs in multiple ways, and what you emphasize depends on what information will be most relevant and/or persuasive to your reader. However, the following information should always be included:

  • Attributive tag or signal phrase that introduces your source
  • Interview subject's name
  • Date of interview

 

Reference Citation: Information to Include

None.

 

Specific Example: Informational Interview that You Conducted

 

In-text Citation Options

According to Dana Hsu, financial analyst at GE, employees at the company are passionate about what they do (personal communication, April 6, 2018).

 

Employees at the company are passionate about what they do (D. Hsu, personal communication, April 6, 2018).

 

References Page Entry

Informational interviews and other types of personal communication are not cited on your References page.

 

Note: Other types of "personal communication" that should be cited this way include personal emails, text messages, phone conversations, and class lectures. See the Publication Manual of the APA, 7th Edition, for more information.