Citing Interviews and Personal Communications with BibTeX: A Complete Guide

As a researcher, you’ll inevitably need to cite interviews, email correspondence, and other personal communications as sources in your papers. But how exactly should you go about referencing these informal exchanges in BibTeX?

Proper citation format can vary based on your field and institution. This detailed guide will show you the best ways to use BibTeX to cite interviews and other forms of personal communication in a variety of fields.

Overview of Citing Interviews and Personal Communication

When doing research, having casual conversations and writing to experts can be a great way to get inside information and different points of view. You should still give credit when you use ideas and information from interviews, emails, conversations at conferences, and other personal communications in your paper, even if they haven’t been published yet.

Unfortunately, most standard BibTeX styles don’t have built-in ways to cite these unpublished works. As a researcher, you’ll need to figure out the best way to give them credit while still following the rules of your field. Let’s explore some approaches.

Citing Interviews in BibTeX

Interviews involve an intentional focused discussion with an expert source to gather information relevant to your research. Here are some options for citing interviews in BibTeX

Use the @misc Entry Type

The flexible @misc entry allows you to cite unpublished communications. Here’s an example structure:

@misc{johnson_interview_2023,  author = {Clark Johnson},   title  = {Interview on topic XYZ},  year   = {2023},  note = {Personal communication on 01/15/2023} }

You can then cite this in text as:

Information on xyz (Johnson, 2023)

Use @unpublished

Some styles specifically recommend @unpublished for citing interviews

@unpublished{lee_interview_2022,  author = {Michelle Lee},  title = {Interview on abc},  year = {2022},  note = {In-person interview on 02/28/2022}}

Cite this in text as:

Insights on abc (Lee, 2022)

Add to References Without BibTeX Entry

In some disciplines like history, interviews are simply referenced in text and omitted from the bibliography. For example:

Valuable perspectives on xyz were provided in an interview with Clark Johnson on 01/15/2023.

Check your style guide for field-specific expectations.

Citing Email and Other Personal Communication

For informal email exchanges and conversations at conferences for example, you can use variations of the above approaches.

@misc Entry

@misc{taylor_email_2023,  author = {Jennifer Taylor},  title = {Email correspondence on topic xyz},   year = {2023},  note = {Email exchange on 01/19/2023}}

Cite as:

Insights shared by Taylor (2023)

@unpublished Entry

@unpublished{lee_conversation_2022,  author = {Michelle Lee},  title = {Conversation at ABC conference},  year = {2022},  note = {Informal discussion at conference on 10/10/2022}}

Cite as:

Perspectives shared by Lee (2022)

Reference Only in Text

For example:

Valuable information on xyz was provided through email correspondence with Jennifer Taylor on 01/19/2023.

General Guidelines for Citing Interviews and Personal Communication

When citing interviews and informal communication sources in BibTeX, keep these key guidelines in mind:

• Check style guide requirements – Referencing format can vary across disciplines. Ensure you follow the conventions of your field.

• Include key details – The interviewee’s name, interview date, and medium (in-person, email, etc) are crucial.

• Use the most suitable entry type – @misc and @unpublished are common options for interviews and personal communication.

• Quote sparingly – While references are needed, limit direct quotes from informal discussions. Paraphrase ideas.

• Omit from bibliography if recommended – In some styles like Chicago, interviews are only cited in text.

• Ask for written info if possible – Getting key details in writing strengthens the credibility of informal sources.

• Specify nature as personal communication – Labels like “Personal communication” indicate the source is unpublished.

Examples of Citing Interviews in Different Styles

Let’s look at how interviews may be cited in some popular bibliographic styles:

APA Style

In-text citation:

(J. Smith, personal communication, January 28, 2020)

No BibTeX entry needed.

MLA Style

In-text citation:

(John Smith, interview by author, 28 Jan. 2020)

Entry:

@misc{smith_interview_2020,  title = {Interview on Topic XYZ},  author = {John Smith},   howpublished = {Interview by author},  year = {2020},  month = {1},  date = {28},}

Chicago Style

In-text citation:

John Smith, interview by author, January 28, 2020

No bibliography entry required.

IEEE Style

In-text citation:

[4] J. Smith, interview by author, Jan. 2020.

Entry:

@misc{ smith_interview_2020,  title = {Interview on topic XYZ},  author={John Smith},  month={Jan.},  year={2020}}

Tips for Conducting Interviews to Cite

To gather credible, citable information when interviewing sources:

• Take detailed notes during the discussion.

• Record the interview if permitted.

• Frame insightful questions that have not been explored in existing literature.

• Ask for clarification or elaboration on vague points.

• Request interviewees to summarize key points in writing afterwards.

• Keep a record of correspondent names, dates, and context.

Citation Management Tools

While the above examples show manual entry of interview citations in BibTeX, reference management tools like Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote make it easier to organize and cite a variety of sources.

These tools allow you to:

• Add references for PDFs, websites and other items with a few clicks.

• Generate formatted bibliographies in thousands of styles.

• Seamlessly cite references in Word docs and Google Docs.

• Sync your reference library across devices.

So leverage these timesaving tools to efficiently manage all your citations, including interviews and personal communications, as you conduct your research.

Key Takeaways

Referencing informal interviews and personal correspondence in your research papers adds credibility by acknowledging the ideas and insights you’ve gathered from knowledgeable sources. While unpublished, these are still intellectual contributions that merit proper attribution.

This guide summarizes suitable ways to cite interviews and personal communication in BibTeX across different styles, using @misc or @unpublished entries. Keep it handy as a reference to ensure you adequately credit these sources in a scholarly manner.

With an understanding of the guidelines provided here, you can confidently cite your interview sources in BibTeX. Doing so demonstrates your commitment to giving comprehensive credit to all contributions while allowing readers to trace the origins of key ideas.