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Harvard UON Referencing Style:  Email etc.

UON Library guide to the Australian Harvard Style based on the online Style Manual: the standard for Australian Government writing and editing 2020.

Personal Communications and Confidential Materials

 

Personal communications and confidential materials may include the following examples:

  • conversations (whether face-to-face or by telephone)
  • email, text messages, private messages shared through social media and received by the author.
  • generative AI programs, such as ChatGPT
  • private letters, private contracts, wills
  • medical records and internal reports or documents

For personal communication and confidential material, only include an in-text citation. Don’t include a citation in the reference list.

The medium may be mentioned if relevant. Initials may be used for first names.

An email address or the like belonging to an individual should be omitted. Should it be needed in a specific context, it must be cited only with the permission of its owner.

For examples:

In a conversation with the author on January 6, 2009, lobbyist Ann Adams admitted that . . .

Though inconclusive, a fifteen-second video shared with the author via Instagram by the subject’s family did suggest significant dementia.

Susannah Bishop (personal communication, 5 February 2020) wrote ...
... (Jonathan Lee, Facebook direct message to author, May 5, 2017) ...
... (Brenda Hasbrouck, text message to author, May 5, 2017) ...

... the baby was premature (J Smith, radiology report, 22 February 2022)

... (C. R. Brown and M. B. Brown, unpublished data) ...

 

Reference list entries are not needed.

Be sure to check with your lecturer if these kinds of resources are suitable for use in your assignments.

Using AI tools without permission may be considered an academic integrity violation and may result in disciplinary action.

Interviews

 

  • If the interview is private and unrecorded, follow the instructions for personal communications. 
  • If the interview is published freely online, hyperlink the title and include the date you accessed it.
  • If you’re citing a PDF, avoid linking directly to the PDF. Instead link to the page that hosts the PDF.
  • Always use the interviewer’s name in the in-text reference. If you’re quoting the interviewee, make it clear in the text, eg
    • Milne responded about the resignation (Sales 2018).

 

Transcript of an interview: Format and Example

Interviewer I (Day Month Year) Interviewer Full Name interviews Interviewee Full Name: Title of interview [interview transcript], Name of Publisher, accessed Day Month Year.

Sales L (28 September 2018) Leigh Sales interviews Justin Milne: Justin Milne resigns as ABC chairman [interview transcript], ABC, accessed 4 February 2022.

 

Audio or video file of an interview

Interviewer I (Day Month Year) Interviewer Full Name interviews Interviewee Full Name: Title of interview [interview audio or video file], Name of Publisher, accessed Day Month Year.

Sales L (20 December 2019) Leigh Sale interviews Dudley Harrington: Dudley Harrington on the Queensland floods [interview video file], ABC, accessed 4 March 2022.

 

Generative AI such as ChatGPT

 

Currently there are no specific guidelines for citing generative AI in Harvard style. The University of Newcastle suggests referencing Generative AI as for personal communication. This is because like personal communications, AI Generated content is difficult to reliably reproduce. 

Generative AI examples

  • A generative text program stated "Australia is a hot, vast country" (ChatGPT, 19 January 2023)
  • According to OpenAI's ChatGPT, "student needs are dependent upon a variety of factors" (24 December, 2022)

 

Reference list entries are not required. 

It is an expectation of the University of Newcastle that all work submitted for assessment is the student's own original work. Prior permission must be obtained from a course coordinator before submitting work generated using an AI tool. 

Using AI tools without permission may be considered an academic integrity violation and may result in disciplinary action.

Subjects: Referencing