Personal communications may cover the following examples:
Personal communications are usually run into the text only, not as formal end references. Include the nature and source of the cited information, using a term or terms to indicate clearly that no corresponding citation is in the reference list. Place the source information in parentheses.
For example:
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 private letters, unless the letter resides in a library or other public archive, the author of a publication citing a letter must provide written permission from the cited person (if living) to the publisher or from the cited organization if it is carried in a document such as in internal memorandum that is not accessible to the public.
It is highly recommended that any cited personal communications be saved to disk or in print because not all systems use a standard method of saving or archiving messages.
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.
Personal communications are usually run into the text only, not as formal end references. Include the nature and source of the cited information, using a term or terms to indicate clearly that no corresponding citation is in the reference list. Place the source information in parentheses.
The following are some examples of placing references to personal communications within the running text.
See the general rules for personal communication for more details.
In a conversation with the author on January 6, 2009, lobbyist Ann Adams (unreferenced) admitted that . . .
… and most of these meningiomas proved to be inoperable (2003 e-mail from RS Grant to me; unreferenced) while the few that …
...produced the same result (Facebook direct message from Jonathan Lee to author, May 5, 2017, unreferenced) .
.... Incidents of aggression towards hospital staff in the Sydney area have been increasing over the last five years (2016 author interview with PK Smith; unreferenced, see Appendix for full transcript) .
Generative AI example
When prompted with “What is a proper noun?” OpenAI's ChatGPT (24 December, 2022, unreferenced) replied “A proper noun is a type of noun that refers to a specific, unique person, place, thing, or idea.”
Currently there are no specific guidelines for citing generative AI in Vancouver style. The University of Newcastle suggests referencing Generative AI following the pattern for personal communications. There are several reasons for this, including that like personal communications, AI Generated content is difficult to reliably reproduce.
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.