Harvard Solent Referencing

It is generally accepted that personal communications such as emails, letters and telephone conversations do not need to be included in the final reference list. However, you can refer to them in an assignment and include the full details in your text.
 

In-text reference example

Smith (2020) wrote..

Reference list format

SENDER'S NAME, year. Email to RECIPIENT'S NAME. Day/Month of email
 

Reference list example

SMITH, B., 2020.  Email to K. JONES.  24^th August

Letter 

You should get permission to refer to the communication before using it.
 

In-text reference example 

As stated in a letter from D. White on 21st July 2007, it is...

Reference list format

NAME(S), Year. [Outline of topic discussed] (personal communication, date)
 

Reference list example

WHITE, D., 2007. [Letter on the history of education in Southampton] (personal communication, 21 July)

Telephone call

You should get permission to refer to the communication before using it.

In-text reference example

Brown outlined this idea in a telephone call on 10th August 2008.

Reference list format

NAME(S), Year. [Outline of topic discussed] (personal communication, date)

Reference list example

BROWN, J., 2008. [Telephone conversation on study skills] (personal communication, 10 August)

Your dissertations and some other pieces of work will include some primary research, which you may have conducted yourself, this may be in the form of interviews, surveys, and focus groups.  Before you include such information in your work, you should consider that if you are referring to communications which are not publicly available, you must have the permission of the parties involved before you use it.

You should also check with your tutor about the most appropriate way to present the interviews, surveys and feedback in your work, for example including transcripts in appendices.

Appendix/appendices are used for information that may not fit well into the main body of your written work, but which will still be useful and informative.  Because appendices are part of your work, they are not required in your reference list, but will almost certainly need to be referred to in the main body of your work, and can be referred to using the abbreviation of the appendix number e.g. A-1.

Examples
 

In-text reference example

Participant A (see A-1) states “………”   or Interviewee B (see A-2) states “…….”

Interviews were conducted using an open-ended interview schedule (see A-3).

If you need to provide the full reference to content from an interviewee or participant, that has been incorporated into your work, you should reference using the following format:
 

Reference list format

INTERVIEWEE/OR ANONIMYSE NAME, Year [Title of interview, focus group or survey] (personal communication, day and month)
 

Reference list example

PARTICIPANT A, 2022. [Interview on NHS waiting lists] (personal communication, 20th October)