PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/YouTube video

How to Cite a YouTube Video in APA 7

An APA 7 YouTube reference lists the account that uploaded the video as the author, the upload date in parentheses, the video title in italics and sentence case, the label [Video], the site name YouTube, and the video's URL. When you know the real name behind a channel, it goes first, with the channel name in square brackets: Varshavski, M. [Doctor Mike]. The in-text citation is the author and the year, plus a timestamp when you quote: (Varshavski, 2024, 37:35).

The format

Last, A. A. [Channel Name]. (Year, Month Day). Title of the video [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the video's link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the video's details from YouTube and fills in the channel, the title, the upload date, YouTube as the platform, and the URL. The finished reference goes on your references page with [Video] in place and the hanging indent done.

Then give the author and the title a quick look. PERRLA brings in the channel name the way YouTube displays it. If the channel belongs to a person whose real name you know, type their first and last name in the name fields and leave the channel name where it is: PERRLA prints the real name first and the channel in square brackets. If the channel is an organization, change the role to Group or Organization, type the full name, and put an abbreviation like CDC in the Abbrev. box, so it shows up in your citations and stays out of the reference. For the title, compare it with YouTube's: keep anything after a vertical bar, like a guest's name, and capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.

Adding one by hand? Choose Videos (online), then A streaming (online) video and A video posted on a streaming site (e.g., video on YouTube). Add the uploader, type the title, pick the upload date, and type YouTube as the Platform. If a title is in title case, PERRLA points it out and offers a sentence-case version. Read it over before you accept it.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author: the account that uploaded the video

The author of a YouTube video is whoever posted it, which isn't always the person on screen. How you write it depends on what you know about the account.

  • A person whose real name you know: last name, initials, then the channel name in square brackets, then a period. The real name usually comes from the channel's About section.

Varshavski, M. [Doctor Mike].

  • A channel name with no real name you can confirm: write the channel name exactly as it appears, with no brackets. Square brackets only ever follow a real name.

RegisteredNurseRN.

  • An organization: spell out its full name. If the channel shows an abbreviation, like Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leave the abbreviation out of the reference and use it in your in-text citations instead.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Someone else speaks in the video? They still aren't the author unless they posted it. Name them in your sentence and cite the video by its uploader.

2. Upload date

Use the date the video was posted, shown under the video: the year, a comma, the month spelled out, and the day, in parentheses, then a period. It's the upload date, not the date the video was filmed or the date you watched it.

(2024, December 18).

3. Video title and [Video]

Italicize the title and put it in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. YouTube titles are often in title case, so you'll usually need to lower some letters. Keep everything else in the title as YouTube shows it, including a guest's name after a vertical bar.

Right after the title, add the label [Video] in square brackets. The label isn't italic, and the period goes after it.

Uncomfortable questions about vaccines | Dr. Paul Offit [Video].

4. Site name

Write YouTube, not in italics, followed by a period. It's the site that hosts the video, so it goes here and never in the author position.

YouTube.

5. URL

End with the link to the video itself, not to the channel or a search page. Don't put a period after it, and don't write "Retrieved from" in front of it. A youtu.be short link works too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A27ameSqcQs

Copied the link from a playlist or at a certain time? Trim extras like &list= or &t= off the end, so the link opens the video from the start. Put the moment you mean in your in-text citation instead.

Examples

A YouTube video from an organization

A short CDC video on how and when to wash your hands. The channel calls itself Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the reference spells the name out with no abbreviation. CDC appears in the in-text citations instead.

  • Parenthetical citation(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022)
  • Narrative citationCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2022)
  • Later citations(CDC, 2022)

A YouTube video from a person with a channel name, quoted at a timestamp

A long interview on the Doctor Mike channel, run by family medicine physician Mikhail Varshavski, whose name is on the channel's About tab. The guest is pediatrician Paul Offit, but Varshavski's channel posted the video, so Varshavski is the author. The citation points to 37:35, where the video's chapter on colds, flu, RSV, and measles begins.

  • Parenthetical citation(Varshavski, 2024, 37:35)
  • Narrative citationVarshavski (2024, 37:35)

A YouTube video with only a channel name

A nursing skills video from RegisteredNurseRN. The channel introduces its creator only as Nurse Sarah, with no last name, so there's no real name to invert. The channel name stands alone as the author, with no square brackets.

  • Parenthetical citation(RegisteredNurseRN, 2014)
  • Narrative citationRegisteredNurseRN (2014)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a YouTube video gives the author from the reference and the year. The channel name in square brackets stays in the reference and never goes in the citation.

  • A person with a channel name: the last name only: (Varshavski, 2024) or Varshavski (2024)
  • A channel name only: the channel name as it's written: (RegisteredNurseRN, 2014)
  • An organization with an abbreviation: spell the name out the first time with the abbreviation in square brackets, then use the abbreviation: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022), then (CDC, 2022). In a narrative citation it's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2022), then CDC (2022).
  • A quote or a specific moment: videos have no page numbers, so add a timestamp for the point where the quote starts: (Varshavski, 2024, 37:35). Past the hour mark, add the hours: (Varshavski, 2024, 1:14:34).
  • Someone in the video who isn't the uploader: name them in your sentence and cite the video: Pediatrician Paul Offit discussed measles in an interview posted by Doctor Mike (Varshavski, 2024, 37:35).
  • Two videos from the same channel in the same year: add a lowercase letter after the year in the reference and the citation: (RegisteredNurseRN, 2014a) and (RegisteredNurseRN, 2014b). PERRLA adds the letters for you when both videos are on your references page.

More on timestamps and other ways to point to a spot in a source without pages: APA Obscura: citing material without page numbers.

Common mistakes

  • YouTube. (2024, December 18). Uncomfortable questions about vaccines | Dr. Paul Offit [Video].Varshavski, M. [Doctor Mike]. (2024, December 18). Uncomfortable questions about vaccines | Dr. Paul Offit [Video]. YouTube.YouTube is the site, not the author. The author is the account that posted the video, and YouTube goes after the title.
  • Offit, P. (2024, December 18). Uncomfortable questions about vaccines | Dr. Paul Offit [Video]. YouTube.Varshavski, M. [Doctor Mike]. (2024, December 18). Uncomfortable questions about vaccines | Dr. Paul Offit [Video]. YouTube.The guest didn't post the video. Cite the uploader, and name the person who spoke in your sentence.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2022, September 30).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, September 30).A group author's abbreviation never goes in the reference, even when the channel name includes it. Use it in your in-text citations.
  • [RegisteredNurseRN]. (2014, June 3).RegisteredNurseRN. (2014, June 3).Square brackets go around a channel name only when a real name comes before it. A channel name on its own takes no brackets.
  • What You Need to Know About Handwashing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpXh2XHwMmEWhat you need to know about handwashing [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpXh2XHwMmE[Video file] and "Retrieved from" are left over from APA 6. APA 7 uses [Video], names YouTube, puts the title in sentence case, and gives the URL on its own.
  • (Varshavski, 2024, at 37 minutes)(Varshavski, 2024, 37:35)Give the timestamp the way the player shows it, in minutes and seconds (or hours, minutes, and seconds), with no extra words.

Quick checklist

  • The account that uploaded the video as the author
  • A real name first, with the channel name in [square brackets], or the channel name alone
  • Organizations spelled out, with any abbreviation saved for the citations
  • The full upload date: (Year, Month Day)
  • Title in italics and sentence case, then [Video]
  • YouTube, then the video's own URL
  • A timestamp in the citation when you quote: (Author, Year, 37:35)

Questions students ask

Who is the author of a YouTube video in APA 7?

The person or group whose account uploaded it. If you know the real name of the person behind the channel, write it first with the channel name in square brackets, like Varshavski, M. [Doctor Mike]. If you only have a channel name, use that by itself, and for an organization, use its full name.

What if the channel didn't make the video?

Cite the account you watched it on, and if it matters to your reader, say in your sentence who really made it. A reupload from an unknown account can look unreliable, though, so check whether the original creator posted the same video on their own channel or website, and cite that version instead.

How do I cite a specific part of a YouTube video?

Add a timestamp to the in-text citation, where the page number would go: (Varshavski, 2024, 37:35). Use the time where the quote or the point you're describing starts. The reference itself doesn't change.

How do I cite a YouTube Short or a livestream?

A Short is a YouTube video, so it takes the same format, with its own link (the address with /shorts/ in it). A livestream that was saved to the channel is cited like any other video, with the date it was streamed. A livestream that wasn't saved and can't be watched anywhere else is a personal communication: cite it in your text only, and leave it off your references page.

How do I cite a whole YouTube channel?

Use the channel name as the author, (n.d.) for the date, the name of the tab you're citing as the title (Home, Videos, or Playlists) followed by [YouTube channel], YouTube, and a retrieval date before the URL, because a channel changes all the time. In PERRLA, choose Webpage, type YouTube as the Website Name and YouTube channel in the Format field, and fill in the Retrieval Date.

Do I italicize a YouTube video title in APA 7?

Yes. A YouTube video stands on its own, so its title is italic and in sentence case. The [Video] label after it is not italic.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.19, 8.21, 8.28, 9.8, 9.11, 9.14, 9.19, 9.21, 9.34–9.36, and 10.12, and the APA Style website's YouTube reference examples. Each example video was opened on YouTube on October 21, 2026, to confirm the channel, title, upload date, and URL; Mikhail Varshavski's name comes from the Doctor Mike channel's About tab, and the 37:35 timestamp from the chapter list in the video's description.

PERRLA builds the YouTube reference from the video's link, with the channel, the upload date, and [Video] in place.

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