With more and more information beingness provided on platforms like YouTube, citing sources for your research projects can exist tricky. Whether you're using MLA or APA, the entire format tin can change if the uploader is different from the author, or if yous are citing an interview on Youtube versus a regular video.

Here's how to cite a YouTube video in APA and MLA formats, so y'all never have to worry about improper bibliographies again.

MLA and APA Citation Nuts

Before we get started, it's of import to understand the contents of MLA and APA citations for online videos. Fortunately, these types of MLA and APA citations both largely contain the same information.

Here's a breakdown of the information included in both MLA and APA citations for YouTube videos:

  • Name: The total name refers to the actual person who uploaded the video—this is not necessarily the aforementioned every bit the person who is depicted in the video. If you were watching a Lady Gaga video, but it was uploaded by GagaFanatic20, y'all would desire to apply the screen name for GagaFanatic20, or their real name (if available).
  • Date: The year, calendar month, and twenty-four hours the video was published. Keep in mind that this is not the date you establish the video or the date you are writing your article.
  • Title : Use the title of the video.
  • URL: The site where y'all found the video—YouTube, in this example—and the URL of the video. Don't include whatever tracking parameters in your URL if you plant it through some other site, similar Facebook.

How to Cite a YouTube Video in APA

Citing a YouTube video isn't much different than citing other sources like PowerPoint presentations. You demand to include equally much information every bit possible, and so the reader can discover the video at a later fourth dimension.

Your citation will include the full name and/or channel name of the uploader, the publication appointment, the title of the video, the hosting website (YouTube in this example), and the URL for the video.

Follow the format below for APA citations:

          Full Name [Screen Name]. (year, month day).            Championship of video            [Video]. YouTube. http://youtube.com/XXXX

Case: 

          Miles Beckler. (2019, August v).            What Is SEO & How Does Information technology Work? 100% Free Beginner's Guide To SEO. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n66BZKC9Ibo

If you lot're quoting or referring to a specific part of a video, you will demand to include a timestamp in your in-text citation, pointing to the exact moment of the video you are referencing. For example, "(GagaFanatic20, 2016)" or "(GagaFanatic, 2016, 0:45)"

Citing a YouTube Channel in APA

If you want to cite a YouTube channel instead of an private video, you lot volition follow a slightly different format:

          Last proper noun, Initials [Channel name]. (due north.d.).            Abode            [YouTube channel]. YouTube. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Example: 

          Becker, M.B. [Miles Beckler]. (n.d).Home            [Youtube channel]. Youtube. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7RZRFCrN4XKoMsy5MgJKrg

As you tin can encounter, yous don't need to include the appointment that the aqueduct was actually published. Instead, you'll just write northward.d. (no engagement).

"Habitation" refers to the aqueduct's homepage. And instead of including "video" to let people know well-nigh the media type, merely write "YouTube channel" in its place. You'll likewise want to add the engagement that yous found the channel, followed by the URL of the channel's homepage.

How to Cite a YouTube Video in MLA

Fifty-fifty though MLA citations will follow a slightly different format, the information will mostly remain the same. In your citation, include the title of the video, the website y'all found the video on, the screen proper noun of the uploader, the publish date, and URL:

                      "Title of video."            YouTube,            uploaded by Screen Proper name, day month year, www.youtube.com/xxxxx.

Example: 

                      "What Is SEO & How Does It Work? 100% Gratuitous Beginner's Guide To SEO."            YouTube, uploaded by Miles Beckler, v Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=n66BZKC9Ibo.

Yous'll also follow this format if the uploader was the same person every bit the author of the video. If the person who authored the video is not the same every bit the person who uploaded information technology, you will need to put their full proper noun before the title of the video, as shown below:

          Author terminal name, Kickoff Name.            "Championship of video."            YouTube,            uploaded past Screen Proper name, twenty-four hours month yr, world wide web.youtube.com/xxxxx.

Example: 

          Smith, Elliot.            "Elliott Smith - Between The Bars."            YouTube, uploaded past Joe Mullan, 25 Sept. 2006, www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4cJv6s_Yjw.

Dissimilar APA way, which requires you to italicize the name of the video, you lot volition have to italicize "YouTube" in MLA format. The date yet refers to the publish date and not the date yous wrote the commodity or found the video.

When writing your in-text citations, write the author'south concluding name followed by the timestamp of the video. If the author is the same as the uploader, or if you don't have the author'due south last name, only use the title of the video:

  • (Last name, 00:01:15 - 00:02:00)
  • ("Title of video," 00:01:15 - 00:02:00)

Citing a YouTube Interview in MLA

If you are citing an interview on YouTube, employ the interviewee's name as the author, while also including the YouTube channel's proper noun.

Instance: 

          Lady Gaga.            "73 Questions With Lady Gaga."            YouTube, uploaded by Faddy, 17 Dec. 2016, https://world wide web.youtube.com/watch?v=q9qZveIjXp4.

If you're citing a whole motion-picture show or Boob tube prove that was uploaded to YouTube, use the MLA movie citation format instead. If you lot're still a little confused, Google Docs has add-ons that make your citations and bibliographies easier to write.

Where Yous Tin Find YouTube Commendation Information

Lady Gaga on Youtube citation information

All the information that y'all need for your YouTube citations tin can be found directly below the video yous are citing.

The championship, publish date, and author name will be on the left side, directly under the video. Write the name of the aqueduct exactly every bit it appears on screen, simply make sure the YouTube title follows APA and MLA capitalization rules.

To find the URL, click on the Share push under the video on the right side. Click on the Re-create push button to re-create the URL direct to your clipboard. So, paste the URL straight into the citation. This will go along you from copying improper URLs that contain actress tracking parameters.

Hands Write YouTube Citations in MLA and APA Format

YouTube citations need to include relevant information to help your readers find the video you referenced. Citations tin can exist a lot of work, and if you're tired of doing everything by manus, just employ an automatic commendation app instead.