You know all that time you’ve spent doing ‘research’ online when you’ve actually been watching endless Minecraft videos? Well, it turns out you could have been doing research after all, as YouTube is full of useful educational content these days.
But if you plan to cite a YouTube video in an essay, you need to know how. In this post, we explain the rules for citing an online video using APA referencing (7th edition).
The basic format of ‘author’ plus ‘year’ used in APA citations remains the same when citing a YouTube video. The difference is that the ‘author’ in this case is the uploader:
For one player, posting videos online even led to a book deal (Middleton, 2016).
Here, the video cited is from the channel DanTDM, but we cite the uploader (Dan Middleton) by name. If the uploader’s name is unknown, their username can be used instead:
Middleton has also spoken to the BBC news about the game (TopTellyFan, 2014).
In this case, although the video features Middleton, it’s uploaded to a channel belonging to an anonymous user, so we use the screen name in the citation.
The other main difference in citations comes when quoting a video. Since YouTube doesn’t have page numbers (imagine trying to print it out!), APA suggests giving a timestamp instead:
Middleton (2016) promised viewers that his book would be ‘super awesome’ (1:47).
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Here, the timestamp (1:47) shows that the quote comes from one minute and forty-seven seconds into the video.
As with all sources, online videos cited in your work should be added to a reference list at the end of your document. When the uploader’s name is known, this format is used:
Surname, Initials. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. http://www.URL.com
In practice, this would look like the following:
Middleton, D. [DanTDM]. (2016, May 24). MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! [Video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nktHCVVKD6k
But if the uploader’s name isn’t known, the screen name is used instead:
TopTellyFan. (2014, April 11). Dan Middleton from Minecraft talks about his YouTube videos (BBC News, 11.4.14) [Video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itavzkKy3qw
In either case, the reference must clearly correspond to the name (or username) used in citations of the source.
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