APA Citation Generator for YouTube Videos
The generator below is preset to APA (APA 7th edition) for a YouTube or online video.
Check your reference against your institution's guidelines — lecturers sometimes vary the style.
Need a second pair of eyes on the whole assignment? RozContent’s Assignment Support checks referencing, proofreading and structure — first sample free.
Paste a URL, DOI, ISBN or title, or fill in the form yourself — the citation updates as you type, and you can copy it formatted, with italics and hanging indent intact, or as plain text. Under the tool you will find the APA rules for this source type, worked examples, and the mistakes students make most often.
The rules: APA format for youtube videos
Template: Author, A. A. [Username]. (Year, Month Day). Title of video in sentence case [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxx
- The author is the person or group who uploaded the video. Give their real name if you know it, followed by their channel name in square brackets.
- If only the channel name is known, use the channel name on its own as the author, with no brackets.
- Use the full upload date — year, month and day.
- The video title is italicised and in sentence case, followed by [Video] in square brackets (not italicised).
- Then name the platform, YouTube, and give the video’s full URL, with no full stop after it.
- In text: (Lindqvist, 2024). For a quote, add a timestamp instead of a page: (Lindqvist, 2024, 4:15).
Examples
Lindqvist, S. [Data in Focus]. (2024, May 8). How to read a research paper in 20 minutes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1B2c3D4e5F
StudyLab. (2023, November 2). APA style basics: Reference list essentials [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6G7h8J9k0L
Common mistakes
- Crediting the person who appears in the video when someone else uploaded it — APA credits the uploader.
- Leaving out the [Video] label after the title.
- Using the date you watched the video instead of the upload date.
- Shortening the URL with a link shortener — give the full watch URL.
Need this in MLA or Chicago instead? MLA version of this page · Chicago version of this page
From the RozContent Study Blog: read the matching study guide on the blog.