American Psychological Association (APA): Personal Communication and Social Media

Email messages, letters, and other personal communication are not included in the list of references. Cite these sources in the text of your paper.

If an online posting is not archived, cite it as a personal communication in the text of your paper and do not include it in the list of references. If the posting is arched, give the URL and the name of the discussion list if it is not part of the URL.

McKinney, J. (2006, December 19). Adult education-healthcare partnerships [Electronic mailing list message]. Retrieved from

http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/healthliteracy/2006/000524.html

Use the author's real name, if it is given, and put the screen name in brackets. If only the screen name is known, begin with that name, not in brackets. Add the date of posting in parentheses (use "n.d." if the post has no date). For the title, include the entire post or a caption (up to forty words), use a description of the post if there is no title or caption. After the title, add a label such as "Tweet," "Facebook status update," or "Photograph" in brackets. Include the URL for the post. Provide a retrieval date only if the content is undated. Cite personal media posts that are not accessible to all readers as personal communication in the text of your paper.

You can find a more detailed list of social media citations on our Social Media Guide.

National Science Foundation. (2015, December 8). Simulation shows key to building powerful magnetic fields

1.usa.gov/1TZUiJ6 #supernovas #supercomputers [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/NSF/status

/674352440582545413

U.S. Department of Education. (2015, December 10). We're watching President Obama sign the Every Student

Succeeds Act [Facebook status update]. retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/ED.gov/