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Updated . Example details checked against YouTube oEmbed for 5MuIMqhT8DM (title and channel); upload date June 3, 2019.
The Chicago format
Pattern
Last name, First name. “Title of Video.” YouTube video, Month Day, Year. URL.
- Creator is the person responsible for the content. A channel can stand in when no person is named.
- Title in quotation marks, in title case.
- “YouTube video” describes the medium. Chicago allows the running time after it when it helps.
- A specific moment goes in the note, as a time: Walker, “Sleep Is Your Superpower,” at 3:42.
A real example
Bibliography entry
Walker, Matt. “Sleep Is Your Superpower | Matt Walker | TED.” YouTube video, June 3, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM.
First footnote
Matt Walker, “Sleep Is Your Superpower | Matt Walker | TED,” YouTube video, June 3, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM.
Later footnotes
Walker, “Sleep Is Your Superpower.”
When details are missing
- No person named: start with the channel, or with the title if the channel is just a username.
- No date visible: add “accessed” and the date you watched it.
Common mistakes
- Italicizing the video title. Short online videos take quotation marks; italics are for films and series.
- Leaving out the medium. Chicago tells the reader it is a video: “YouTube video.”
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 notes and bibliography in Chicago, exactly as shown above, and builds the bibliography page when you export to Word or PDF. Chicago is part of Pro, $4 a month or $29 a year; MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Do I need the channel name?
Chicago allows “posted by” and the channel after the title when it adds something. When the creator is named, the medium and URL are usually enough.
How do I cite a time in a video?
In the note, after the title: Walker, “Sleep Is Your Superpower,” at 3:42.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in Chicago
Every source kind is on the Chicago page, and every style is on How to cite.