How to Cite a YouTube Video in APA, MLA, and Chicago Style

Citing a YouTube video trips people up because the standard formats were built around books and journal articles, and a video's "author" and "publisher" don't map cleanly onto that. Here's the actual format for the three styles you're most likely to need, plus the judgment calls each one requires.

APA (7th edition)

APA treats the channel or uploader as the author, in the format: Uploader. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL.

“Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. (2021, March 4). The last time we almost died [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example.”

APA example

If the person speaking isn't the channel owner (a guest lecture uploaded by a university channel, for instance), APA still lists the channel as the author. You can name the actual speaker in your in-text discussion instead.

MLA (9th edition)

MLA's works-cited format: "Title of Video." YouTube, uploaded by Uploader Name, Day Month Year, URL.

“"The Last Time We Almost Died." YouTube, uploaded by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, 4 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=example.”

MLA example

Note the different emphasis from APA: MLA leads with the video's title, not the uploader, and the phrase "uploaded by" is used rather than treating the channel as a traditional author.

Chicago (17th edition, notes-bibliography)

Chicago's bibliography entry: Uploader. "Title of Video." YouTube video, [duration]. [Month Day, Year]. URL.

“Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. "The Last Time We Almost Died." YouTube video, 9:29. March 4, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example.”

Chicago example

Chicago is the one style of the three that asks for the video's duration, so you'll need to note the runtime shown on the video itself.

Common judgment calls

• •No clear upload date visible: check the video's description or "more" panel. The exact date is almost always listed there even when it's not obvious on the page itself.
• •The channel name isn't a person's name: that's fine and normal. All three styles accept an organizational or channel name as the author/uploader.
• •You're citing a specific moment, not the whole video: add a timestamp after the URL (most styles accept this informally, e.g., "...watch?v=example&t=4m30s" or a parenthetical "(4:30)") so a reader can verify the exact claim.
• •The video has since been deleted or made private: note the access date you originally viewed it, and if possible, keep your own archived transcript as a record of what it said.

One habit worth building regardless of style

Whichever format you're using, save the transcript or a screenshot of the video's description at the time you cite it. YouTube videos get edited, re-uploaded under new titles, or removed entirely more often than academic sources do, and a citation pointing at a video that no longer exists is far less useful than one backed by your own saved copy of what it actually said.