On this page
Updated . Example details checked against YouTube oEmbed for 5MuIMqhT8DM (title and channel); upload date June 3, 2019.
The APA format
Pattern
Channel or Uploader. (Year, Month Day). Title of video in sentence case [Video]. YouTube. URL
- Author is whoever posted the video, written as the channel name. APA puts the uploader first even when someone else speaks in it (APA 7, 10.12).
- Title in italics and sentence case, as written on YouTube. Here it carries the speaker’s name, so the speaker is still findable.
- [Video] in square brackets describes the format.
- YouTube is the publisher, in plain text, before the URL.
A real example
Reference entry
TED. (2019, June 3). Sleep is your superpower | Matt Walker | TED [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM
In-text citation
(TED, 2019, 3:42)
If you want the speaker in your sentence, name them there: Walker argues that sleep protects memory (TED, 2019).
When details are missing
- Channel and speaker differ: keep the channel as author and name the speaker in your sentence.
- A real name behind a username: APA lets you give both: Real Name [Username]. Use only what the channel shows.
- Quotations: give the time stamp where the quoted words start: (TED, 2019, 3:42).
Common mistakes
- The speaker as author when the channel posted it. APA treats the uploader as the author. Name the speaker in your sentence instead.
- Title case. Video titles take sentence case in the reference list.
- Leaving out [Video]. The bracketed description tells the reader what kind of source it is.
Or let Format do it.
Paste the video’s link and Format looks it up and picks Online video; check the title, channel and date against the video page. Format writes the References entry and the in-text citation in APA 7, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Is YouTube italicized in APA?
No. The video title is italic; YouTube is plain text, in the publisher position.
How do I cite a TED talk from ted.com?
The speaker becomes the author and TED Conferences the publisher, with [Video] after the title: APA treats the TED site differently from YouTube.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in APA
Every source kind is on the APA page, and every style is on How to cite.