How to Cite an Interview APA

An interview is a one-on-one conversation between two people where one person asks the questions and the other answers. It is a structured discussion between the interviewer and interviewee.

Interviews are vital information sources covering different topics. You might encounter a research paper that requires an interview citation. The interview could be published in a book, online article, newspaper, or video.

Citations are mandatory when composing a professional paper. You can use several formatting methods to cite sources in your paper. APA format is a preferred method for citing published and personal interviews.

This article aims to help you understand what an APA citation is, how to cite interviews in APA format, and show examples to guide your compositions.

The American Psychological Association uses the APA documentation style. Hence, it is popularly known as the APA format. It is mainly used in the social sciences and behavioral field for citing sources. You can also use the APA style to cite different types of interviews.

Thus, an APA interview citation follows the standard APA format requirements. We’ve created an interview citation generator for your convenience to simplify your writing process. The following are essential details you need to fill out in the free tool to generate an accurate citation:

• The Interview source
• Subject
• Author – first and last name
• Interviewer’s full name
• Interview format – radio, TV, in-person.
• Interview location.

It is imperative to choose the interview source before you fill out the required details. Some of the sources include a website, book, newspaper, journal, online articles, videos, dissertations, blogs, etc.

Let us explore the basics of an APA-style interview format and the details you must include. It consists of the following:

• Author’s last name (Interviewer)
• Interview type
• Publication year

However, the APA format varies, depending on the type of interview source. For instance, personal interviews are informal and unavailable to the general public. These types of interviews are not published and should be referenced inside the text and not in the reference list.

Citing an interview APA style is significant in the academic field. It provides credible sources of information to support your research paper. Besides, the format is a standard communication style that allows your readers to know the exact location of the information.

Sometimes, students encounter plagiarism challenges during writing. Thus, interview citations play a huge role in preventing plagiarism cases from arising.

Keep in mind that by understanding and following the APA citation for interview, you will craft exceptional papers that readers recognize because of the consistent format. Your audience will locate the citations and their meanings without struggling.

Apart from social sciences learners and professionals, some colleges and researchers use the APA format to cite interviews.

Before we proceed to the examples, it is imperative to know the process of writing an APA interview citation. Usually, citing an APA interview follows the author-date format. As mentioned above, the citation order depends on the type of interview. Let us take an example of a personal interview citation. Follow the steps below:

1. Insert an open parenthesis referencing the interview at the end of the text but before the period.
2. Write the first initial of the interviewee; add a period and their last name.
3. Insert a comma and the type of interview; in this case, personal interview.
4. Insert a close parenthesis followed by a period at the end of the interview citation.

Remember that personal interviews are informal, subjective, and not referenced like other types of interviews. Personal communications in APA style include face-to-face conversations, phone calls, emails, text messages, memos, online communication, or unrecorded lectures.

However, the above examples don’t include personal published interviews. For instance, your personal interview can be published on a website, article, or book. In such a case, you can generate an APA citation for interview transcript to incorporate into your paper. Insert the citation in the appendix; then, when you want to reference that particular interview, you can refer to the appendix. Therefore, if you have a published personal interview, you should use the author-date option to cite it inside the text and add a complete reference to the publication source in the reference list.

Here is an APA format you can use when you want to write an interview citation:

(First Name-Initial, Last Name, Interview Type, Full Date)

An example of a proper citation:

(J. Peterson, personal communication, April 3, 2018).

So, you can apply this citation format if you want to paraphrase or quote your interview source.

Sometimes your assignment might require you to reference your personal interview and include it in the APA reference list. In such a scenario, you must add the interviewee’s name, interview date, and interview type.

Here is an APA format for referencing:

Last Name, Last Name-initial, (Full Date-Year, Month, Date). Interview Type (Communication Type).

An example of the above:

Kelly, P. (2017, April 30). Personal communication, (Personal Interview).

As mentioned above, personal interviews are considered personal communications and are not incorporated into the reference list. But the interviews are usually cited within the body of the text. This option is known as an in-text citation and offers your readers enough information to identify the interview source easily. The APA in-text citation includes the author’s name and the publication year.

Here is an example of an in-text citation format:

(Interviewer/Communicator’s name, type of interview, date of interview)

(K. Smith, personal communication, November 5, 2018).

When citing a published interview, you need to follow the right format for the type of interview source it was published. The sources of published interviews include books, articles, journals, or videos.

It is imperative to note that the author is the interviewer in the APA citation. You should not include the interviewee’s name in the citation or the reference list.

However, writing a clear citation that depicts who says what in an interview someone else has conducted is essential.

Here are a few examples of published interviews citations:

Newspaper Interview

Citing a newspaper interview requires you to follow the right APA format. Apart from the interviewer’s name and date of publication, you should also include the title of the interview and the name of the newspaper and URL.

Here is the APA format:

Interviewer’s name, Last Name Initials. (Date-Year, Month Day). Interview Title. Newspaper Name. URL

Reference entry example:

Mike.K. (2020, July 18). How AI is changing the world today. Guardian Weekly. shorturl.at/eiyXY

APA in-text citation: (Mike, 2020)

YouTube Interview

You can cite a YouTube video since it falls under the published interviews. However, it is imperative to know that the author, in this case, is the individual or company that uploads the video. Not the interviewer or interviewee.

Here is the APA format:

Author’s First Name, Last Name Initials. (Date-Year, Month, Day). Title of Video (video). YouTube. URL.

Reference entry example:

The Business Talk. (2019, January 12). How to double your income in six months (Video). YouTube. https://youtu.bee/zvv8iFupg19M

APA in-text citation: (The Business Talk, 2019)

As a student, it is critical to understand how to cite an interview in APA format. You might get a research paper with instructions to cite a personal or published interview. So, ensure you understand the process of citing different types of interviews. Be keen when using parenthesis, commas, and periods because one mistake might jeopardize your paper.

Therefore, if you are stuck with a complex assignment, you can use our free citation generator to get accurate results within minutes. Contact us for further writing assistance; we will salvage your grades and boost your academic performance.