Answered By: Norma Drepaul
Last Updated: May 07, 2021     Views: 696

For online videos, start the citation with the name of the uploader as the author.  Then add the date of the upload in parenthesis.  Then add the title of the video in italics, and use "sentence-style capitalization" as opposed to "title capitalization" rules.  In brackets add the description of the source as [Video].  Add the site name, which is YouTube (do not italicize it), then add the URL. 

References List Examples

 

Key:

Uploader Name. (date of upload year, month day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL

Examples:

Big Think. (2012, July 3). Game and productivity [Video]. YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E

theatrecorner. (2008, June 18). Elaine Maye and Mike Nicholes freeze each other 

out [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DNoNj8JzX4 

Note* Normally, you would capitalize the first letter of the author's name, however, according to APA style, "retain the author's preferred capitalization" (APA, 2020, p. 287).  In this example, the username from this YouTube video has listed their username in all lowercase.

Identify the Citation Elements from the YouTube Video

  1. name of the account that uploaded the video
  2. date of the upload (year, month day format)
  3. title of the video
    • use sentence-style capitalization
    • italicize it
  4. source description in brackets: [Video]
  5. site name: YouTube (do not italicize)
  6. URL

Example with elements numbered:

 

number onetheatrecorner. number two(2008, June 18). number threeElaine Maye and Mike Nicholes freeze each other out number four[Video]. number fiveYouTube. number sixhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DNoNj8JzX4

illustration of APA citation elements in a YouTube video

 

In-Text Citation

When paraphrasing from a video in your essay, in the in-text citation, use the name of the uploader followed by the year of upload.  If you are using direct quotations from the video, add the relevant timestamp as shown in the video player.  Give the numbers in hours, minutes, and seconds as displayed in the media player, use colons to separate the numbers.

Example of the video cited within the body of your essay:

Paraphrase
Your sentence containing the paraphrase (Big Think, 2012).
 
Your sentence containing the paraphrase (theatrecorner, 2008).
 
 
Direct Quote
Your sentence containing "the direct quotation" (Big Think, 2012, 0:26).
 
Your sentence containing "the direct quotation" (theatrecorner, 2008, 0:06).
Time Range from Video Player
 
illustration identifying the location of the timestamp from the video player
 
For more details see:
  • YouTube Video References from the APA Style Blog
  • In-text citation for Audiovisual Works: APA Publication Manual 7th edition page 274
  • Reference page for Audiovisual Works: APA Publication Manual 7th edition page 344

 

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