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Citation Help: Interviews & Other Source Types

MLA Citation Examples: Other Source Types

Personal interview

Smith, John. Personal interview. 31 Aug. 2007.


Unattributed or Anonymous Interview

If the person being interviewed wishes to remain anonymous, do not create an entry in the works cited list. Instead, include information in a footnote that the source is a personal interview.


Published or Broadcast Interview or an Interview Contained in Another Work

Create an entry as you would for any other source, replacing the person interviewed for the author.

Saro-Wiwa, Ken. “English Is the Hero.” No Condition Is Permanent: Nigerian Writing and the Struggle for Democracy, edited by Holger Ehling and Claus-Peter Holste-von Mutius, Rodopi, 2001, pp. 13–19.

If the interview is not contained in another work, you may list the interviewer’s name in the “Other contributors” slot after the description and follow it with a comma:

Walcott, Derek. Interview. Conducted by Susan Lang, 22 Oct. 2002.


Indirect Sources

If you refer to or quote from a source that is cited in another source, list only the source you consulted directly (the secondary source) in your works cited list. Name the original source in the text of your paper, and cite the secondary source in parentheses:

Wallace argues that "prior experience with nonnative speech facilitates comprehension" (qtd. in Smith 203).

*In this example, only the Smith source, which was consulted directly, would be included in the works cited list.

Whenever possible, try to find and consult the original source. If the University of Iowa Libraries does not have the original source, we can try to get it for you through interlibrary loan.

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Useful Resources for MLA Citation