Best examples of CSE format examples for personal communications

Real examples of CSE format examples for personal communications

CSE style (both Name–Year and Citation–Sequence systems) treats personal communications as unrecoverable sources. That means:

• They are not listed in the reference list.
• They appear only in the text as parenthetical notes or narrative attributions.
• You give the person’s initials and last name, the words “personal communication”, and the full date.

Here are realistic, field-tested examples of CSE format examples for personal communications you can adapt.

Email from a subject-matter expert (Name–Year system)

In modern research, email is probably the most common type of personal communication. Suppose you emailed an epidemiologist at the CDC in 2025:

Recent surveillance data suggest the outbreak peaked in early February (MJ Patel, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, personal communication, 2025 Feb 18).

Or written narratively:

According to MJ Patel (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, personal communication, 2025 Feb 18), the outbreak likely peaked in early February.

This is a classic example of CSE format for personal communications: initials plus surname, institutional affiliation (optional but helpful), the phrase personal communication, and a precise date in YYYY Mon DD style.

If you are using CSE Name–Year and already have a lot of parenthetical citations, you can keep it short:

The updated vaccine coverage estimate is approximately 82% (MJ Patel, personal communication, 2025 Feb 18).

Interview with a clinician (Citation–Sequence system)

In Citation–Sequence CSE, you still do not assign a reference number to personal communications. They stay in the text only.

Many patients reported delaying care due to cost concerns (LA Gomez, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, personal communication, 2024 Nov 03).

Or in a more narrative style:

In a 2024 interview, LA Gomez, MD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, personal communication, 2024 Nov 03), observed that many patients delayed care due to cost concerns.

Even though the rest of your article may be packed with numbered references—like CDC guidance on health equity or NIH funding data—this example of CSE format for personal communications never gets a number or appears in the reference list.

Lab meeting discussion in a methods section

Personal communications often appear in methods and limitations sections, especially when you’re clarifying protocol details.

The modified extraction protocol was initially tested with a smaller pilot sample (TR Johnson, University of Washington Department of Biochemistry, personal communication, 2024 May 09).

Or:

As confirmed in a lab meeting (TR Johnson, personal communication, 2024 May 09), the pilot study used a reduced centrifugation time.

This is one of the best examples of CSE format examples for personal communications because it shows how to credit informal, internal knowledge without pretending it’s a published, citable method.

Slack or Teams message from a coauthor

CSE cares less about the platform and more about accessibility. A Slack DM, Teams chat, or internal messaging thread is still personal communication.

The final sample size calculation assumed a 15% attrition rate (K Chen, University of Michigan School of Public Health, personal communication, 2025 Jan 27).

You do not say “Slack message” in the citation; CSE simply treats it as personal communication. If the medium truly matters (for example, in a digital ethnography), you can mention it in the sentence:

In a project Slack discussion (K Chen, personal communication, 2025 Jan 27), the team agreed to assume a 15% attrition rate.

Conference hallway conversation

Researchers often rely on conversations at conferences, workshops, and symposia. These are textbook examples of CSE format examples for personal communications.

The preliminary meta-analysis suggests a smaller effect size than previously reported (R Singh, University College London, personal communication, 2024 Oct 15).

You might describe the setting in the sentence but still format the citation the same way:

During an informal discussion at the 2024 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, R Singh (University College London, personal communication, 2024 Oct 15) reported that the preliminary meta-analysis suggests a smaller effect size than previously published.

Phone call with a public health official

Policy- and practice-focused papers frequently rely on calls with government officials. Again, CSE treats this as personal communication.

Local vaccination uptake improved after implementation of mobile clinics (S Rivera, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, personal communication, 2025 Mar 04).

If you’re writing for a policy journal and want to foreground the official’s role, you can write:

In a 2025 phone interview, S Rivera, Director of Community Health Initiatives at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (personal communication, 2025 Mar 04), reported that vaccination uptake improved after the mobile clinics launched.

Private dataset clarification from a statistician

Sometimes you need to explain how you interpreted a private dataset, such as a restricted-use survey or institutional data.

Missing values were imputed using a chained equations approach (L Thompson, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, personal communication, 2024 Jun 21).

This is a clean example of CSE format examples for personal communications in quantitative work: it documents who confirmed the method, without pretending readers can access the same clarification.

Student-researcher interview in an education study

If you’re writing in STEM education or learning sciences, you may cite conversations with instructors or students.

Several students reported relying primarily on short-form video tutorials rather than textbooks (anonymous undergraduate physics major, personal communication, 2024 Sep 30).

For ethical or IRB reasons, you might anonymize the individual. CSE allows this, as long as you clearly indicate that it is still a personal communication.

How CSE defines and handles personal communications

To use these examples of CSE format examples for personal communications correctly, you need to know what CSE actually means by personal communication.

Under CSE (see Scientific Style and Format, 8th edition), personal communications are:

• Unpublished: not formally published in a journal, book, report, or stable public website.
• Non-recoverable: readers cannot independently access the exact content.
• Direct: you obtained the information personally, not via a third party.

These examples include:

• Emails
• Phone calls
• Conference chats
• Internal memos or DMs
• Unrecorded guest lectures
• In-person interviews that are not archived publicly

Because readers cannot retrieve these, CSE keeps them out of the reference list. Instead, you acknowledge them in-text. That keeps your reference list focused on verifiable sources—like NIH reports or Mayo Clinic clinical overviews—while still giving credit for behind-the-scenes expertise.

Formatting details in examples of CSE format for personal communications

The best examples of CSE format examples for personal communications all follow the same core pattern:

• Initials and surname of the person
• Optional role or affiliation
• The label personal communication
• Exact date in YYYY Mon DD format

For instance:

As confirmed by the trial’s principal investigator (DA Morales, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, personal communication, 2024 Aug 12), enrollment closed ahead of schedule.

Compare that to a shorter version:

Enrollment closed ahead of schedule (DA Morales, personal communication, 2024 Aug 12).

Both are correct examples of CSE format for personal communications. The longer version is helpful when the person’s authority matters; the shorter version works when space is tight and the context is clear.

A few style points that matter in practice:

• Date order: Year first, then abbreviated month, then day: 2025 Jan 05.
• No quotation marks: You do not put “personal communication” in quotes.
• No reference list entry: Do not add a reference number or a Name–Year entry.
• Punctuation: The personal communication note stays inside the sentence, before the period.

Ethical and practical tips when citing personal communications

Using examples of CSE format examples for personal communications correctly is partly about ethics, not just punctuation.

Get permission when possible. CSE recommends that you obtain the individual’s consent before citing them as a personal communication. This matters especially when:

• The person is not a coauthor.
• The information is sensitive, preliminary, or not yet public.
• The person is a trainee or junior researcher.

A simple email—“May I cite your comment as a personal communication in my article?”—usually does the job.

Avoid over-reliance. Reviewers may push back if key claims rest mainly on personal communications instead of published sources. When you can, pair a personal communication with a formal citation, for example:

Recent CDC guidance emphasizes the importance of wastewater surveillance for early detection (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2023; MJ Patel, CDC, personal communication, 2024 Dec 01).

Protect confidentiality. In fields like medicine and education, you may need to anonymize individuals. CSE allows descriptions such as:

a pediatric emergency physician (personal communication, 2025 Feb 10)

or

a high school chemistry teacher in a large urban district (personal communication, 2024 Apr 22).

Follow your IRB and institutional guidelines, such as those described by many university research offices (for example, Harvard’s guidance on human subjects research).

Adapting examples of CSE format examples for personal communications to your project

You can treat the examples above as templates and swap in your own details. Here are a few realistic 2024–2025 scenarios and how you might phrase them.

AI in medical diagnostics (2025)

The hospital’s internal validation study showed a higher false-positive rate in older adults (E Brown, PhD, Mayo Clinic Department of Radiology, personal communication, 2025 Feb 03).

Climate data clarification

Updated satellite-based temperature estimates show a smaller warming trend in the 1990s than earlier datasets indicated (L Nguyen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, personal communication, 2024 Jul 19).

STEM education research

Many first-generation college students reported using AI tools to “translate” textbook language into more accessible explanations (community college physics instructor, personal communication, 2024 Oct 05).

Public health messaging trends

According to a senior communications strategist at a state health department (personal communication, 2025 Jan 11), short-form video content consistently outperformed static posts in vaccine outreach campaigns.

Notice how all of these real examples keep the CSE structure intact while reflecting current research realities—AI diagnostics, climate data, and digital outreach.

FAQ: examples of CSE format for personal communications

How do I write an example of CSE format for personal communications in Name–Year style?
You include the person’s initials and last name, the phrase personal communication, and the full date, all in parentheses within the sentence. For example:

The revised risk estimate is lower than previously published (JS Lee, personal communication, 2024 May 14).

This is one of the simplest examples of CSE format examples for personal communications you can reuse.

Do I put personal communications in the reference list in CSE?
No. In CSE, personal communications are cited only in the text and are not included in the reference list. That applies to emails, phone calls, private interviews, and similar sources.

Can I cite a personal communication from someone who asked to remain anonymous?
Yes, but you should describe their role rather than naming them, and you should still label it as personal communication with a date. For example:

a senior ICU nurse at a large academic medical center (personal communication, 2024 Aug 30).

Follow your IRB and institutional ethics guidelines.

Are social media DMs treated as personal communications in CSE?
If the message is private (for example, a Twitter/X DM or Instagram message), CSE treats it as personal communication. You would format it like any other personal communication, without naming the platform in the citation unless it’s contextually important.

What if my journal’s instructions conflict with these examples of CSE format for personal communications?
Journal instructions always win. Many journals adapt CSE style and may tweak how they want personal communications handled. Use these real examples as a baseline, then adjust to match the journal’s author guidelines.