APA Referencing †How to Cite a YouTube Video

APA Referencing – How to Cite a YouTube Video APA Referencing – How to Cite a YouTube Video Not that long ago, the idea of citing a YouTube video in an academic paper would have sent some old-fashioned college professors into fits of outrage about how young people don’t understand what proper research is all about (i.e., dusty old books). WHATS A YOUTUBE? I DONT LIKE CHANGE! These days, however, there’s no denying that YouTube and other online videos can be crucial academic sources in many subject areas. As such, knowing how to cite an online video source is increasingly useful. Herein, we look at how to do this with APA referencing. Citing a YouTube Video Citing an online video involves giving the uploader’s name and the year that the video was uploaded in parentheses. For instance, a video uploaded in 2016 by the cultural critic Anita Sarkeesian to her Feminist Frequency YouTube channel would be cited as follows: The trope of the sinister seductress is pervasive in video games (Sarkeesian, 2016). Here, we cite the â€Å"author† of the video because it’s hosted on her own channel. If you’re quoting part of a video directly, the citation should also include a time stamp: In the video, Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins discuss the â€Å"capacity to convey and understand ideas non-verbally† (TEDx Talks, 2013, 3:37). You’ll notice here that, despite the talk being by Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins, â€Å"TEDx Talks† is the name given in the citation. This is because the â€Å"TEDx Talks† channel hosts videos by numerous speakers, so Clayton and Wilkins are not the uploaders. Reference List As with other sources, full publication information should be included in the reference list for any online videos you cite in your work. For a YouTube video, this involves providing the following: Surname, Initials. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL.com You’ll notice that this includes both a name and a screen name. This helps readers find the video when the uploader’s real name is different to their username. In the case of the Anita Sarkeesian video cited above, for example, you’d need to provide both: Sarkeesian, A. [Feminist Frequency]. (2016, September 28). Sinister seductress tropes vs women in video games [Video file].   Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oXzWzMqarU If a channel doesn’t provide the uploader’s real name, only the screen name is required: TEDx Talks. (2013, August 19). Conversation without words: Nicky Clayton Clive Wilkins at TEDxOxbridge [Video file].   Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iavquY2OFo It’s important to remember that the name you should cite in the main text of your work is the same one used to list the source alphabetically in the reference list.