You’re knee-deep in writing your paper, quotes highlighted, ideas flowing and then it hits you: you have no idea how to cite that interview you conducted last week. You pause. Do you put it in the reference list? Just the in-text? What if it’s a podcast? Suddenly, what felt like progress turns into a detour through a jungle of APA rules.
But don’t toss your laptop just yet. The key here is clarity. Once you know the kind of interview you’re dealing with, personal or published, you can cite it properly and move on like a pro. In this guide, I’ll break down exactly how to cite an interview APA format, step by step.
How to Cite a Personal Interview in APA Format
When I first had to include insights from a personal interview in an academic paper, I had to figure out how to APA cite interview content that wasn’t published or publicly accessible. Unlike books or journal articles, there’s no title page to reference, no URL to copy-paste, just your notes and the responsibility to get it right. APA treats these differently for a reason.
Step 1: Start by gathering the basic info from your interview. You’ll need the interviewee’s first initial and last name, the exact date you spoke to them, and how the interview was conducted.
Step 2: In your document, type the in-text citation using APA’s personal communication format. It should look like this: (J. Smith, personal communication, March 15, 2025).
Note: Skip the reference list as APA doesn’t require one for personal interviews.
Step 3: If you’re adding a transcript as an appendix, mention it in the text. Just tack on a quick note after your in-text citation something like: (J. Smith, personal communication, March 15, 2025; see Appendix A).
Note: Make sure the interviewee’s name is mentioned clearly in your sentence. Instead of just dropping in the citation, write it as part of the narrative when you can.
How to Cite a Published Interview in APA Format
I used to think citing a published interview would be as easy as copying the link and slapping it into my reference list. But once I actually looked at the APA guidelines, I realized there’s more nuance depending on where the interview appears. Once you know what source type you’re working with, it’s just a matter of plugging the info into the right format.
Step 1: Figure out what kind of source the interview comes from. Check if the interview is from a YouTube video, a podcast, a magazine article, or some other format.
Step 2: For a YouTube interview, format your reference entry with the uploader as the author. Here’s the structure: “Uploader’s Name. (Year, Month, Day). Video Title [Video]. YouTube. URL.” You can refer to the TED example in the attached image.
Step 3: For a podcast interview, follow the APA format using the host as the author. You’ll want to structure it like this: “Host’s Last Name, First Initial. (Host). (Year, Month, Day). Episode Title [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast Name. Publisher. URL.” You can refer to the ABC Radio example below.
Step 4: Add your in-text citation using the name of the uploader or host and the year. So if you're citing the TED YouTube video, it would look like this: (TED, 2021).
How to Cite an Interview in APA Format Using WPS Office
Before I gave WPS Office a shot, I assumed it’d be another lightweight editor. But once I started using it for my interview citations, the difference was obvious. Instead of jumping between citation guides and formatting shortcuts, I had everything in one place. The layout is intuitive, the tools are right where you need them, and the APA templates take out most of the confusion.
Step 1: First, open your browser to visit WPS Office and click the "Free Download" button to start the download.
Step 2: The download will finish in a few seconds. Once done, run the installation file like you would for any other app or software.
Step 3: WPS Office will show you a few simple terms and conditions. Accept them, then click the "Install" button to begin the installation.
Step 4: After installation, open WPS Writer and create a new document.
Step 5: For personal interviews, type the in-text citation directly into the document, like this:
J. Smith, personal communication, March 15, 2025
Step 6: For published interviews, type the in-text citation directly into the document, like this:
TED. (2021, June 2). Yuko Munakata: The science behind how parents affect child development [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/evw0h1kg-j4
Step 7: Once your reference list is typed out, go ahead and highlight all the entries. Then, right-click the highlighted section and choose “Paragraph” from the context menu.
Step 8: In the Paragraph window, set up the formatting like this:
Under Line spacing, choose “Multiple” from the dropdown, and type 2 in the box next to it.
Under Indentation, set “Special” to Hanging and enter 0.5 inches in the “By” box.
Step 9: Once your references are complete, save your document. WPS Office also lets you export as a PDF which is a handy option for final submissions.
After Citing Interviews—Enhance Your Workflow with WPS Office
By the time I’d figured out how to cite both personal and published interviews correctly, I just wanted a way to get it all into my document without messing up the formatting. I started using WPS Office because it opened fast and didn’t crash on my older laptop, but what kept me using it was how simple it made the small things like getting citations to look right the first time. It didn’t take over the process, but it took enough off my plate to help me focus on actually writing the paper.
All-in-One Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Support
When I was citing both personal and published interviews, I found myself stuck between my notes, APA examples, and the actual paper. WPS Writer made it easier to manage all of that without needing multiple tools open. I could format my reference entries for a YouTube interview, tweak in-text citations for personal communication, and drop in section headers, all in one document.
Built-in PDF Reader and Editor
Some of the interviews I referenced were in PDF format like a transcribed Q&A from a magazine or a scanned article with embedded interview quotes. Instead of managing a separate PDF viewer, I opened them directly in WPS, highlighted the parts I needed, and made quick margin notes to remind myself where to cite them.
WPS AI: Smart Writing Assistance
Once I had all my citations in place, the last thing I wanted was awkward phrasing around them or worse: missing punctuation in a tricky in-text citation. WPS AI flagged a few small errors I probably would’ve missed on my own, like forgetting a comma before the date or using the wrong tense in a sentence. It didn’t try to change my writing, but those subtle fixes helped clean things up before I turned in the final draft.
FAQs
1. Should interviews be included in an APA reference list?
Only published interviews should be listed in your references. A personal APA interview citation is handled in-text only, since it’s not accessible to readers and therefore doesn’t appear in the reference list.
2. What does APA define as an interview?
According to APA, an interview is a conversation where information is obtained from another person through a set of structured or semi-structured questions.
3. How do you cite a radio interview in APA?
Interviewer’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year, Month, Day). Interview title [Radio broadcast]. Station Name. URL (if available)
4. How to reference an interview APA style in the reference list?
For published interviews (like those in podcasts or YouTube videos), follow the source-specific APA format and include them in your reference list. For personal interviews, APA recommends in-text citation only, since they’re not retrievable.
