• Personal communications include letters, memos, personal interviews, telephone conversations, emails, text messages, online chats, messages from discussion lists and electronic bulletin boards.
• Citations for this type of material are not included in the reference list because they do not contain recoverable data. Cite personal communications in the text only. Adding "personal communication" to the citation within the text is a useful indicator of the kind of information under discussion.
• Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator and provide as exact a date as possible:
M. Day (personal communication, July 30, 2000) finds the film meets several criteria ...
Professor Lutes in an email to the author gave details of his clinical experience with this treatment (T. K. Lutes, personal communication, April 18, 2001).
• Indigenous knowledge encompasses many forms, including cultural language, art, stories, dance, and the written word. Proper acknowledgement of these in academic writing recognises the authority and expertise handed down by Indigenous Knowledge Keepers.
• Capitalise most terms related to Indigenous Peoples, including words related to the culture (such as Elder and Traditional Knowledge), and names of specific groups (such as Anangu Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte).
• If the information has been recorded and is recoverable by readers, cite it in the text and include a reference list entry in the correct format for that format, e.g. video, recorded interview, book, article.
• If the information is not recorded, and therefore not recoverable by readers, include an in-text citation but no reference list entry. A variation of the Personal Communication citation can be used for the in-text citation.
• In instances when no reference list entry is given, provide as much detail in the in-text citation as is necessary to describe and contextualise the information. Include the following information:
• Work with any Indigenous People you communicate with to ensure your wording accurately represents their perspectives, that the information is suitable to be included in your work, and that they agree to having their name included.
• Examples