How to Quote and Cite a YouTube Video (APA & MLA)

Lectures, interviews and documentaries on YouTube are legitimate sources for essays and articles, as long as you quote them accurately and cite them properly. The hard part is usually getting the exact words and the exact time. This guide shows how to do both quickly, with APA and MLA examples you can adapt.

Step 1: Get the exact words and time

1. Paste the video link into our YouTube Video Transcript Generator.
2. Type a word you remember into the search box to jump to the quote.
3. Press play on that line to check the captions match what is actually said.
4. Copy the line with its timestamp using the copy icon next to it.

Always listen before quoting. Auto-generated captions can mishear words, and a misquote is worse than no quote. If the video has creator-uploaded captions, choose that track from the language menu, as it is usually more accurate. More on this in auto-generated vs. manual captions.

Step 2: Collect the citation details

You will need:

• Creator: the person or organisation, or the channel name if no person is named.
• Upload date: shown under the video title (expand the description on mobile).
• Title of the video, exactly as written.
• URL: a clean link, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID, without playlist or tracking parameters.
• Timestamp of the quote, from the transcript.

APA 7th edition

Reference list format:

Author/Channel. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL

Example:

3Blue1Brown. (2017, October 5). But what is a neural network? | Deep learning chapter 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk

Italicise the video title in your document. If the uploader is a different person from the channel name, APA allows Real Name [Channel Name].

In-text citation with a quote: include the timestamp in place of a page number, for example (3Blue1Brown, 2017, 4:12).

MLA 9th edition

Works Cited format:

"Title of Video." YouTube, uploaded by Channel Name, Day Month Year, URL.

Example:

"But What Is a Neural Network? | Deep Learning Chapter 1." YouTube, uploaded by 3Blue1Brown, 5 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk.

If the speaker is clearly the author, you can start the entry with their name instead. MLA usually leaves out https://.

In-text citation: give a time range in hours, minutes and seconds, for example ("But What Is" 00:04:12–00:04:20).

Quoting tips

• Keep spoken words exact inside quotation marks. You may drop filler such as “um”, but mark other cuts with an ellipsis (…).
• Use square brackets for words you add for clarity: “It [the model] learns from examples.”
• Paraphrase long passages rather than quoting them in full, and still cite the timestamp.
• Prefer primary sources. If a YouTuber summarises a study, cite the study itself where possible.
• Check your style guide. Your teacher, university or publication may have its own rules, which take priority over general advice.

Keep a source log while researching

When you use many videos, keep a simple table with the title, channel, date, link, timestamps and the quote. Download each transcript as a text file with timestamps so you can find quotes again later without rewatching. Students can find more workflows in how students can use YouTube transcripts.

Frequently Asked Questions