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How to Cite a YouTube Video

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Website Book Journal Video

While you might first think of books, newspapers, and journal articles as go-to sources for academic assignments, YouTube provides a wealth of informative, easily accessible videos. Yes, there is questionable content, but the site is also filled with educational channels, snippets from evening news programs, and even full-length documentaries on a range of interesting and scholarly subjects.

Since YouTube has a ton of information, citing a video retrieved from YouTube might seem more difficult than citing a book. But the process is fairly simple—and we’ve put together this helpful guide on how to cite a YouTube video using MLA format , APA format, and Chicago style.

If you’ve previously cited a video from another website, you’re in luck: The process for citing a video from YouTube is basically the same. To provide an example, we’ve cited a video from the CrashCourse YouTube channel—run by “Fault in Our Stars” author John Green—that offers educational videos on a slew of topics, including history, chemistry, and psychology. This particular video is about the US Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism. We’ve laid out how to cite the video in MLA format, APA format, and Chicago style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO7FQsCcbD8

To properly cite a video from YouTube, you must consider the following pieces of information:

• Full name, username, or name of the company that posted the content
• Title of the video
• Title of the website (YouTube)
• Publisher of the video
• Date the video was posted
• Length or duration of the video
• URL or of the video

Use the following structure to cite a YouTube video in MLA 9:

Last name, First name (of the individual who posted the content) OR the name of the company OR the username. “Title of the Video.” Title of the Website , Name of the Publisher that uploaded the video (only include if it differs from the author or title), Date it was uploaded, URL.

Here’s how the above example would be cited in MLA 9 :

CrashCourse. “The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash Course US History #8.” YouTube , 21 Mar. 2013, youtu.be/bO7FQsCcbD8.

If you need help with in-text and parenthetical citations, CitationMachine.net can help. Our MLA citation generator is simple and easy to use!

Use the following structure to create an APA citation for a YouTube video :

Name of the Account OR Last Name, First initial of uploader [YouTube Account Name]. (Year, Month Day it was posted). Title of the video [Video]. YouTube. URL

Here’s how the above example would be cited in APA:

CrashCourse. (2013, March 21). The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash course in US History #8 [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/bO7FQsCcbD8

Use the following structure to cite a YouTube video in Chicago :

Last name, First name of the individual or the company who posted the content. “Title of Video.” YouTube video, length. Date published. URL.

Here’s how the above example would be cited in Chicago :

CrashCourse. “The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash Course in US History #8.” YouTube video, 13:03. March 21, 2013. https://youtu.be/bO7FQsCcbD8

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Including the name(s) of the video poster is discussed in reference examples 88 and 90 of the APA Publication Manual , 7 th edition. If the video is posted on the organization’s official website, then the speaker or presenter’s name would be listed in the author field. However, if the video is posted on YouTube or any other video sharing site, the name of the account that uploaded the video is listed as the author instead, to aid retrieval.

APA reference list template and examples:

Presenter’s Last Name, F. M. or Uploader’s Last Name, F. M. [Username*]. (Date posted). Title of the video [Video]. Publisher. URL

Cutts, S. (2016, October 18). Are you lost in the world like me? [Video]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/209248444

Fogarty, M. [Grammar Girl]. (2016, September 30). How to diagram a sentence (absolute basics) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zznr-e6A4mQ

Iimjobs. (2020, March 2). Chegg – Life at Chegg | Showcase | iimjobs.com [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Nb3Ebtj9M

*Note: The username should be included if the account holder’s name and account name are both known and if including the username will help in retrieval.

Per the MLA Handbook , 9 th ed., the performer or creator is omitted if they are not mentioned in the source. Instead, the name of the uploader is included in the contributor field.

MLA works cited list template and example:

“Video Name.” Name of the Website , uploaded by Account Name, date video was posted, URL.

“Top 10 Unforgettable Buffy The Vampire Slayer Moments.” YouTube , uploaded by MsMojo, 1 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKq4SjCPzII.

As per the APA Publication Manual , 7 th edition, the in-text citation for a direct quote from a YouTube video should include the last name of the person who uploaded the video, the year the video was published, and a timestamp of the quote you are citing.

APA in-text citation template and example:

(Uploader Surname, year, HH:MM:SS)

(Cutts, 2016, 1:12:37)

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA YouTube Citation

How to Cite a YouTube Video in APA

While doing research for a paper, you may find relevant YouTube videos that you want to cite. You may already know how to cite a website in APA , but it can be difficult to know how to cite YouTube in APA style. You may also want to cite quotes within the video, user comments, or entire YouTube accounts.

The guidelines of this page cover APA 7th edition and specifies what you need to know to cite any various YouTube video content in APA style. For similar but different media, like citing a movie in APA or a tv show,  you’ll need to visit another guide.

Guide Overview

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

Step-by-step instructions for a YouTube video citation in APA style

Basic youtube video citation structure.

• Video with creator’s real name and screen mame

Video without uploader’s real name OR video by an organization

Citing a youtube channel, citing a direct quote from a video, citing a comment on a youtube video, citing a ted talk found on youtube, a note on apa 7th edition, citing a youtube video in apa, what you need, troubleshooting.

• List the real last name of the video’s uploader, capitalizing the first letter. Place a comma after the last name and then list the first initial of their first name, followed by a period. If you find their middle initial, list it after the first initial and period, also followed by a period. If the creator’s name is unavailable, skip this step and begin your citation with the next step.
• Next, using brackets, list the screen name of the video’s uploader as it is spelled on the page. Place a period after the closing bracket.
• Then, in parentheses, put the full numerical year followed by a comma, the full written month starting with a capital letter and followed by a comma, and the numerical day that the video was posted. Close the parentheses and follow with a period.
• Put the title of the video in Italics and in sentence case (only capitalizing the first letter and proper nouns). Do not place a period after the title.
• After the title, put the word Video (for the source format), capitalized, in normal font, and in brackets. Place a period after the closing bracket.
• Put the word YouTube (for the website source name) as it is spelled here, followed by a period.
• List the full URL for the web page containing the YouTube video you are citing. Do not follow with a period.

Note that in your citation, you must indent any lines after the first line. APA-style in-text citations for quoting and paraphrasing are the same for YouTube videos.

Video with creator’s real name and screen name

If only the screen name is available, you put the screen name first in the citation and omit the “[Screen name]” part of the citation.

View Screenshot

Now that you know how to cite YouTube in APA style, you may need more specific information on citing channels, quotes, or comments.

Instead of citing one particular YouTube video, you may want to cite an entire YouTube channel. While the format is similar to citing a YouTube video, there are a few key differences you can see in the format guidelines below.

• You will always use “n.d.” for “no date” because YouTube channels are undated.
• If you are instead citing another tab of the account (Videos, Playlists, Channels, Discussion, About), put the correct tab name instead of the word “Home.”
• Use the words “YouTube Channel” instead of the name of any specific videos since you’re citing a whole channel (not just one video).

You may want to include a direct quote from a YouTube video within your paper. While your reference page citation for the quote will be the same as a citation for the whole video, your in-text citation will need a timestamp to help readers easily access the quote ( Publication Manual , p. 274). It is commonly accepted to only include a timestamp for the beginning of the quote, but you may use a timestamp range if you think it would be helpful.

While researching your topic, you may find that you want to include a comment left on a YouTube video. You will need to cite the comment itself rather than the YouTube video. The format for citing a YouTube comment is similar to citing a YouTube video with a few key differences.

TED Talks are often great sources of information, and they can be found on both the TED website and on YouTube. When citing a TED Talk found on YouTube, list TED as the author for the in-text citation and the reference page.

The 7th edition of the APA Manual came out in 2020, replacing the 6th edition that came out in 2009. There are a few changes in the newest manual that apply when you need to cite YouTube video APA style.

Notable 7th edition changes include:

• Omission of “Retrieved from” before URLs
• Addition of the website name
• Uses “Video” instead of “Video file.”
• In-text citation format is the same,

APA 6th Edition Reference Page Format:

Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. [Screen name]. (Year, Month Day). Title of the video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL

APA 7th Edition Reference Page Format:

Uploader Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. [Screen name]. (Year, Month Day). Title of the video [Video]. Name of website. URL

In-text Citation Format (6th AND 7th Edition): 

(Author/Creator Last Name OR Screen name, Year)

To cite YouTube videos in APA style, you will need certain information. If available, find the following to include in your citation:

• Name of the individual(s) or group who uploaded the video. If it’s an individual, use their real name.
• Video uploader’s screen name
• Date attached to the video (including year, month, date)
• Title of the video
• URL of the video’s webpage

If any of the above information is not available on the same page as the YouTube video, you may need to do a little more research to find it. For example, to find the real name of the video’s uploader, you can click on the screen name to view the creator’s account where you might find their real name in the bio.

If any of the information is not available, even after doing additional research, simply leave it out of the citation, but include the rest of the information following the order of the basic format below.

Who is the author?

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (2020, p. 344) clarifies that the uploader of the video is used as the “author” of the video, even if they are not the creator of it.

Further information on citing in APA can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association in Section 10.12.

Solution #1: How to cite a video when the uploader’s real name cannot be found

When you want to cite a video from YouTube, Vimeo, or any other video-hosting sites, but cannot find the uploader’s real name, use their username in place of their actual name in your APA works-cited citation.

If using a username in place of a typical name, keep the same format and case of the username as it is discovered online, and omit the bracketed “username” part of your APA citation in your bibliography.

Use the username in place of the author’s name for your in-text citation.

Example in-text citation:

(videogamedunkey, 2021)

Example reference:

videogamedunkey. (2021, September 21). Originality in video games [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOQzTtsr3AQ

American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10/1037/0000165-000

Published July 21, 2014. Updated April 16, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau.  Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

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To cite a YouTube video, you need to have the name of the uploader or the screen name, the full date the video was uploaded, the title of the video, and the URL (uniform resource locator). If any of these details are not available, you can skip it and add only the available information. The templates for in-text citations and reference list entries of a YouTube video along with examples are given below.

In-text citation templates and examples:

Video uploader’s name or Screen name (publication year)

Seburn (2020)

Parenthetical:

(Video uploader’s name or Screen name, publication year)

(Seburn, 2020)

Note that month and day are not mentioned in in-text citations.

Reference list entry template and example:

Video uploader’s Surname F. M. [Screen name]. (Publication Year, Month Day). Video title  [Video]. YouTube. URL

Seburn, C. [Smart Screen]. (2020, May 20). Welcome to the smart student! (Introductory video)  [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/wz9kb_cQ57Y

If you want to include the screen name, include it in square brackets after the uploader’s name. Set the title of the video in italics and sentence case. The word “Video” follows the title in square brackets. Use the word “YouTube” before the URL.

To cite a movie in APA style , it is important that you know basic information such as the name of the director, the date, the title of the movie, and the name of the production company.

In-text citation template and example:

Director Surname (Year)

Coppola (1972)

(Director Surname, Year)

(Coppola, 1972)

Director’s Surname, F. M. (Director). (Year). Title of the movie [Film]. Production Company.

Coppola, F. F. (Director). (1972). The godfather [Film]. Alfran Productions.

To cite a TV series in APA style, it is important that you know basic information such as the name of the executive producer, the date, the title of the TV series, and the name of the production company.

Executive Producer Surname(s) (Year/s)

Crane and Kauffman (1994–2004)

(Executive Producer Surnames, Year/s)

(Crane & Kauffman, 1994–2004)

Executive Producer’s Surname, F. M. (Executive Producers). (Year). Title of the TV show [TV series]. Production Company.

Crane, D., & Kauffman, M. (Executive Producers). (1994–2004). Friends [TV series]. Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions.

Streaming video

To cite a streaming video in APA style, it is important that you know basic information such as the name of the person or group who uploaded the video (or their username), the year, month, and day the video was uploaded, the title of the video, the streaming service, and the URL.

Video uploader’s surname or username (Year)

Stanford (2010)

(Video uploader’s surname or username, Year)

(Stanford, 2010)

Video uploader’s Surname F. M. [Username]. (Publication Year, Month Day). Video title . [Video]. YouTube. URL

Stanford. [Smart Screen]. (2010, March 29). Introduction to human behavioral biology . [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIGh9g6fA

If you want to include the username with the uploader’s full name, include it in square brackets after the uploader’s name. Set the title of the video in italics and sentence case. The word “[Video]” follows the title. Use the streaming service’s title, “YouTube,” before the URL.

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APA 7th Edition Tutorial: Cite a YouTube Video or Website

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• Abstract Page
• APA Paper Section Headings
• Cite a YouTube Video or Website
• Reference Page
• Sample APA Paper
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Cite a  YouTube Video , a  Website  or a Journal Article

(Remember ALL citations are formatted in APA 7th edition)

Cite a Web Page With No Author

How do you reference a web page that lists no author?

From the  APA Style Blog .

When there is no author for a web page, the title moves to the first position of the reference entry like this:

All 33 Chile miners freed in flawless rescue. (2010, October 13). MSNBC.  Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/-id/39625809/ns/world_news-americas/

Cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title.: ("All 33 Chile Miners," 2010).

Note:  Articles found on the web, like the example above, are not italicized in the reference entry and are not italicized but enclosed in quotations in the in-text citation, just like a newspaper or magazine article.

Other APA Style Resources

APA Basics  LibGuide

APA Formatting   at Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) - 

Everything you ever wanted to know about APA formatting (from the famous Purdue OWL ).

• APA Style Blog The APA Style Blog is the official companion to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition.
• BibMe How to Cite Anything in APA Format
• EasyBib General Rules for APA Style References

Cite a YouTube Video

Use the name of the account that uploaded the video as the author.

—---------------

Full Citation (for the References page):

Jidenna. (2020, June 3). The Lit Review: Qualified Immunity [Video].

           YouTube. https://youtu.be/V0_3HTc0NCU  

---------------

In-text citations (when you refer to the video in the text of your paper) :

Parenthetical in-text citation:  A special episode of The Lit Review was dedicated to the doctrine of qualified immunity (Jidenna, 2020).

Narrative in-text citation:

The panelists interviewed attorney Kristen Clarke, who enumerated three tools to combat the abuse of qualified immunity: 1.) local police departments holding individual officers accountable; 2.) criminal prosecution of officers who murder citizens by local government agencies; and 3.) civil investigation and prosecution of officers who abuse their power (Jidenna, 2020).

For more info, visit the official APA Style Blog here:  How to Cite an Online Video (YouTube) in APA 7 Format

Citing Journal Articles, Websites & Videos, and Creating In-Text Citations

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APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Films/Videos/TV Shows

• Introduction
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & Ebooks
• Government & Legal Documents
• Biblical Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Films/Videos/TV Shows
• How to Cite: Other
• Additional Help

Table of Contents

Film or Video

Streaming Video From a Website (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)

Streaming video from a subscription media website (netflix, amazon prime, hulu, etc.), streaming video from a library database, television series episode.

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

This Microsoft support page contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.

Who to Credit - Film or Video

The director should be credited as the author of a film. If the director is unknown, someone in a similar role, such as a producer and/or writer, can be credited. To clarify what role the person has in the production, their job title such as Director is put after their name in round brackets if the job title is known.

Who to Credit - Streaming Video from a Website

For videos from websites such as YouTube or Vimeo, credit the person who posted the content. If a real name is provided, use that followed by the person's user name in square brackets. If the real name of the person who posted the content is not known, just use their user name without brackets.

Note : It is not necessary to specify how you watched a film or video (e.g. motion picture, DVD, streaming online). 

In the Body of a Paper

Books, Journals, Reports, Webpages, etc.: When you refer to titles of a “stand-alone work,” as the APA calls them on their APA Style website, such as books, journals, reports, and webpages, you should italicize them. Capitalize words as you would for an article title in a reference, e.g., In the book Crying in H Mart: A memoir , author Michelle Zauner (2021) describes her biracial origin and its impact on her identity.

Article or Chapter: When you refer to the title of a part of a work, such as an article or a chapter, put quotation marks around the title and capitalize it as you would for a journal title in a reference, e.g., In the chapter “Where’s the Wine,” Zauner (2021) describes how she decided to become a musician.

The APA Sample Paper below has more information about formatting your paper.

• APA 7th ed. Sample Paper

Film or Video

When the Director, Producer and/or Writer is known:

Director/Producer/Writer's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Job Title). (Year film was produced).  Title of film: Subtitle if any  [Film]. Production Company.

Note: If not produced in the United States, list the city name and the country.

Hallam, J. (Producer, Writer), & Lam, K. (Producer, Director). (2010).  Staff relations in healthcare: Working as a team  [Film]. Insight Media.

• When you have more than one producer, writer and/or writer to credit, separate the names with a comma and put an ampersand (&) before the last person's last name.
• Serling, R. (Executive Producer). (1959–1964). The twilight zone [TV series]. Cayuga Productions; CBS Productions.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Producer/Director/Writer's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Hallam & Lam, 2010)

Note: This example has two people to credit, so both last names are given)

In-Text Quote:

(Producer/Director/Writer's Last Name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Hallam & Lam, 2010, 2:30)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

When the Director, Producer and/or Writer is not known:  Start the citation with the film title.

Title of film: Subtitle if any  [Film]. (Year film was produced). Production Company if Known.

Era of viruses  [Film]. (2006). Films for the Humanities and Sciences.

( Title of Film , Year)

Example: ( Era of Viruses , 2006)

Note: Italicize the title of the film and capitalize the words for the in-text citation.

( Title of Film , Year, Timestamp)

Example: ( Era of Viruses , 2006, 40:00)

When the Poster's Name is known: 

Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. of person who posted the video if known. [User name that posted the video]. (Year video was posted, Month Day).  Title of video  [Video]. Website Name. URL

Note: According to APA, for citing purposes the person who posted the video is credited as the author.

Nye, B. [TheRealBillNye]. (2009, April 8).  Bill Nye the science guy on energy  [Video]. YouTube. http://youtu.be/0ASLLiuejAo

(Creator's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Nye, 2009)

(Creator's Last Name, Year, timestamp)

Example: (Nye, 2009, 0:55)

When the Poster's Name is not known: 

User name that posted the video. (Year video was posted, Month Day).  Title of video  [Video]. Website Name. URL

All Aces Media. (2012, January 19).  Often awesome the series  [Video]. Vimeo. http://vimeo.com/35311255

(User name, Year)

Example: (All Aces Media, 2012)

Example: (All Aces Media, 2012, timestamp)

Producer's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Producer). (Year of Publication).  Title of Video  [Video]. Website Name. URL

Note:  When you have one producer (Producer) is used after the producer's name. If you have more than one producer use (Producers) instead.

Allen, T., et. al. (Producers). (2017). The story of Diana  [Video]. Netflix. http://www.netflix.com

(Producer Last name, Year)

Example: (Allen, et. al., 2017)

(Producer Last name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Allen, et. al., 2017, 6:45)

Name of Company/Organization that Provided Content or Creator's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. if known. (Year video was created, Month Day if known).  Title of video  [Video]. Database Name.

National Film Board of Canada. (2014).  Making movie history: The women  [Video]. NFB Campus. 

(Name of Company/Organization, Year)

Example: (National Film Board of Canada, 2014)

(Name of Company/Organization, Year, Timestamp)

Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Job Title) if known. (Year the episode was originally aired). Title of episode (Season No., Episode No.) [TV series episode]. In Executive Producer's First Initial. Last Name (Executive producer) if known,  Television series name . Production Company.

Note: For other countries, list the city name and the country.

Young, R. (Writer, Producer, Director). (2010). Flying cheap (Season 2010, Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In  Frontline . American University School of Communication's Investigative Reporting Workshop.

(Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Young, 2010)

(Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Young, 2010, 15:38)

Television Series Episode Viewed on a Subscription Media Website 

Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Job Title) if known. (Year the episode was originally aired). Title of episode (Season No., Episode No.) [TV series episode]. In Executive Producer's First Initial. Last Name (Executive producer) if known,  Television series name . Streaming Video Site. URL

Attenborough, D. (Writer). (2001). Ocean world (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In A. Fothergill (Executive producer),  Blue planet: A natural history of the oceans . Netflix. http://www.netflix.com

Example: (Attenborough, 2001)

 (Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Attenborough, 2001, 10:12)

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Q. how do you cite youtube videos in apa format.

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Answered By: Aaron Dobbs Last Updated: 2020.Oct.30     Views: 81370

Citing videos from online sources can be tricky. Arguably, YouTube is a video blog hosting service -  each user posts individual items which APA treats like blog posts. There are some tricky italics exceptions for these, so pay attention to the details...

From the Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide - Reference List: Electronic Sources page: (source link below, scroll down to "YouTube or other Streaming Video" near the bottom of the page) 

Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. Link [note: no end punctuation]

TEDx Talks. (2015, November 9). The complexities of being a multiple minority | Ruth Marimo | TEDxOmaha [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZR_PO8NtJc

(If you watched a TED Talk on the TED website: 

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of talk [Video]. TED. URL

Al-Mutawa, N. (2010, July). Superheroes inspired by Islam [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/naif_al_mutawa_superheroes_inspired_by_islam#t-4909

[remember to format your hanging indents]

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Audiovisual Recordings and Other Multimedia

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource explains how to cite film, television, and other audiovisual materials. Citations for such recorded media usually include some or all of the following information: name of the person primarily responsible for the content of the recording (composer, writer, performer, etc.),a title, recording company or publisher’s name, identifying number, an indication of medium (DVD, videocassette, etc.), and a copyright and/or production/performance date. Entries for recorded material found online should also include a DOI or URL.

For audiovisual materials that are Internet-based, like YouTube videos or podcasts, see the OWL's page on citing Web Sources in CMOS.

Note that the examples below are in the Notes and Bibliography (NB) format.

General Model for Citing Film, Television, and Other Recorded Media in Chicago Style

The order of the elements listed—and whether or not they will be included—depends not only on the nature of the source, but also whether a part or the whole source is cited, and whether a particular contributor is the focus of the citation.

Footnote or Endnote (N):

Entire Work:

• Firstname Lastname,  Title of Work , directed/performed by Firstname Lastname (Original release year; City: Studio/Distributor, video release year), medium.
• Title of Work , episode number, “Episode Title,” directed/written/performed by Firstname Lastname, aired Month day, year, on Network Name, URL. 

Corresponding Bibliographical Entry (B):

If you want to cite a specific moment in the film, like you would cite a page number in a print source, you can do so by citing the scene, as below. This need not be done in the bibliography, where you can cite the whole film, only in the note. Use the scene title as given on the medium in which it is accessed; if scene titles are not available (such as on a VHS), you cannot cite in this fashion.

The format for citing a television show is similar to citing a film, but sufficiently different that it is worth providing some extra guidance. You must specify the number and title of the episode to which you are referring, of course. In addition, since television shows are serialized rather than released all at once, you should cite by date aired rather than year released.  

Note: If you are accessing the show via a streaming service rather than on physical media, you can replace everything after the airing information with the relevant URL. For instance, in the above television example, if you are working from Netflix instead of a Blu-Ray recording, you would replace “Paramount, 2012, Blu-Ray” with “https://www.netflix.com/watch/70177897”. This is sometimes necessary information, in both television shows and films, especially if there are extended or remastered editions in circulation.

Musical Recordings    

General audiovisual guidelines apply to music recordings. If no date can be located, CMOS recommends consulting a library catalog or another source. Usually, musical citations without a date are unacceptable, but if they must be used, “n.d.” (for no date) can be substituted. You may choose not to cite “year of release” if it is the same year as the recording date.   If you have a rough idea of the date, “ca.” (for circa) can be used, e.g. “ca. 1935”. Note that some musical recordings have writers who are not the primary performer(s) on the song, and that this affects the citation; see example #2.

Recorded Speeches

A recording of a speech, lecture, or other similar content should be cited as follows:

Audiobooks or Recordings

Citing an audiobook, a published recording of a poetry reading, or anything along those lines requires information familiar from the guidelines both for musical recordings and print media. The format is as follows:

Note: If the author and the reader are the same, then replace “read by Firstname Lastname” with “read by the author.”

Live Performances

Live performances of content, such as plays, concerts, or similar, obviously cannot be consulted by your reader, and therefore need not be given a bibliographical entry. However, if for whatever reason you need to use one as a source, you should include a citation in note form, as follows:

Obviously, this will vary widely based on what kind of live performance you are citing, so here are two different examples to show the potential range – a play and a music festival.

Note that who you cite under “contributors” depends entirely on the focus of your paper. The first example above assumes that you are discussing the play as a whole, rather than, for example, focusing on the lighting design or the acting – if you were discussing other aspects, you would want to cite different people (such as the lighting designer or some of the actors). Likewise, the second example assumes that you are focusing primarily on the performance of one specific band at the festival; if you were attaching this note to a discussion of the festival as a whole, you might want to cite multiple bands, and possibly some of the people responsible for organizing the event.