YouTube is a major video-sharing platform. It is a source of many things. We watch YouTube videos for entertainment, learning, and many things. YouTube has become such a major platform that it is unavoidable as an academic source. That is why it is important to know how to cite a YouTube video. YouTube has content for everything. You can find videos about almost anything. There is even a side called the ‘Dark Side of YouTube’ where you can find absurd videos on any topic.
Although YouTube is an entertainment platform, there is a lot of educational information as well. YouTube was indeed seen as insignificant regarding academic sources. However, it has come a long way and got over it.
Everyone is on YouTube nowadays. There are online courses, seminars, and documentaries. All of these videos and others can be cited as sources. If you are writing a thesis on something non-scientific, for example, Makeup, you can use makeup videos as a source. It is related to your thesis, after all.
Academic Writing Formats
There are many formats for writing an academic article. The most used formats are the APA style and MLA style. Usually, students meet these formats at university. Some of the universities want their students to use these formats on the Bachelor’s Degree. Yet, most universities want their students to write their academic articles in these formats on the Master’s Degree and Ph.D. There are editions of these writing formats, such as the 8th edition of the 6th edition, but we will explain the latest edition of the date.
Let’s take a closer look at these formats and how to cite a YouTube video on them.
How to Cite a YouTube Video in APA
APA stands for American Psychological Association. It is common to use this format when you are writing a scientific paper. Many of the Social Sciences and Behavioral Sciences studies use this as the general format. It is possible to cite almost anything on APA, and there is a structure for it. Learn APA citation YouTube video and also APA citing a website with us easily!
Remember to follow the structure completely because citation mistakes are not forgiven in academic studies. There are two types of citations in APA. In-text citations and references. As you can guess from the name, in-text citations are the citations you write inside your text. They are shorter than the references and always contain dates.
References are the citations you write on the References page of your paper. They are longer and more detailed. Let’s take a look at the Reference structure of how to cite a YouTube video APA style:
Last name, First initial. Middle initial. [YouTube channel name]. (Year, Month Day of posting). Title of YouTube video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL
Example: Bissett, A. [Ariel Bissett]. (2018, March 30). How to Write an Essay: Thesis Statements [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TotaRoYh60Y
In-text citations:
(Last Name, Year)
Example: (Bisset, 2018)
How to Cite a YouTube Video in MLA
MLA stands for Modern Language Association. It is an organization that developed the MLA format used by researchers, scholars, and students. It was mostly used in language and literature areas, but nowadays, it is used in all kinds of academic research.
The structure is different than the APA format, and following the structure is very important as well. Modern Language Association released the final edition of the format, the 8th edition, in their Handbook in 2016. You can purchase this Handbook for $15 from the MLA website.
Like in APA, there are two types of citations in MLA. In-text citations and references. Let’s take a look at how to cite a YouTube video in MLA.
References: Last name, first name. ‘Title of Video.’ YouTube, uploaded by Uploader Name, date of publication, URL.
Example: Bisset, A. ‘How to Write an Essay: Thesis Statements.’ Youtube, uploaded by Ariel Bisset, March 30, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TotaRoYh60Y
In-text citation: (Last name, 00:02:24 – 00:04:00)
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MLA format requires a specific time in the videos.
In-text citation without an author or the same author and uploader: (‘Title of the video,’ 00:02:24 – 00:04:00).
Example: (Bisset, 00:02:24 – 00:04:00).
Example: (‘How to Write an Essay: Thesis Statements,’ 00:02:24 – 00:04:00).
If you liked this article, check our other similar articles of ours. You may also like to learn about how to cite Google Maps.
Conclusion On How to Cite a YouTube Video
In the digital world, YouTube is a rising star of social media. The sources it provides are unavoidable. YouTube is pretty popular in academic research. That is why many wonder how to cite a YouTube video in their papers. We have explained it by touching upon two of the most common writing formats in academic research.
3 Comments
I was unable to cite a YouTube video for some time. The post really helped with the process. Thank you.
Really helpful article, thanks! I always struggle with citing YouTube videos in my work, and this guide made it so much clearer.
Great tips on citing YouTube videos! This is exactly what I needed for my research project. Thanks for making it easy to understand!