When citing YouTube videos, you must give a full attribution. This allows your readers to find and watch the quoted video themselves.

If you’re quoting from an interview, start your attribution with the name of the person you’re quoting, not the name of the YouTube channel.

Quote YouTube video with channel name

• APA Standard

• Harvard citation style

• German citation style

• Reference in text
• The most important part of an exposé is the presentation of the research concept (

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021 p>).

• “The concept is the heart of your synopsis” (

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021

  ,

  01:56 – 01:59

  ).

• Bibliography

• Scribbr

  . (

  2021, May 06

  ).

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ? [Video]

  . YouTube.

• Reference in text
• The most important part of an exposé is the presentation of the research concept (cf.

  Scribbr

  2021:

  01:56 – 01:59

  ).

• “The concept is the heart of your synopsis” (

  Scribbr

  2021

  :

  01:56 – 01:59

  ).

• Bibliography

• Scribbr

   (

  2021

  ):

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ?

  [YouTube],

  .

• This example illustrates the Full Receipt1 and the Short Receipt2 of a YouTube video in the footnote. Followed by a literal quote: “Citation is fun!”3.
• ___________________________________________________
• 1

  Scribbr

  :

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ?

  ,

  2021

  , [YouTube]

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

  ,

  01:56 – 01:59

  .

• 2 Cf.

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021

  ,

  01:56–01:59

  .

• 3

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021

  ,

  01:56–01:59

  .

Use a YouTube video as source

In order to use a video from YouTube for your own research, you should question its scientific relevance.

Always reflect on whether the statements in the video have sources or whether you can find an original source.

In these cases, you can use YouTube videos as a source:

• You use the YouTube video as an example because e.g. B. a certain social trend emerges.
• You use YouTube videos as your primary source for your work.
• You use a quote from a lecture published in a YouTube video.

In these cases, you should better cite the original source instead of a YouTube video:

• A complex scientific model is explained in a video.
• The YouTube video is a copied version of a video or film.

Quote a YouTube video in the text

At the point in your body text where you paraphrase from the video, type orquote, a short reference to the YouTube video.

The channel and the year are given in the reference in the text. Direct quotes also contain the exact time of what was said.

Depending on the citation style, the reference in the text can be placed directly in brackets in the body text (APA, MLA and Harvard citation style) or in a footnote (German citation style) must be placed.

Quote YouTube video in text

• APA Standard

• Harvard citation style

• German citation style

• Reference in text
• The most important part of an exposé is the presentation of the research concept (

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021 p>).

• “The concept is the heart of your synopsis” (

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021

  ,

  01:56 – 01:59

  ).

• Reference in text
• The most important part of an exposé is the presentation of the research concept (cf.

  Scribbr

  2021:

  01:56 – 01:59

  ).

• “The concept is the heart of your synopsis” (

  Scribbr

  2021

  :

  01:56 – 01:59

  ).

• This example illustrates the full receipt1 and the short receipt2 of a YouTube video in the footnote. Followed by a literal quote: “Citation is fun!”3.
• ___________________________________________________
• 1

  Scribbr

  :

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ?

  ,

  2021

  , [YouTube]

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 2aktyVwt01M

  ,

  01:56 – 01:59

  .

• 2 Cf.

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021

  ,

  01:56–01:59

  .

• 3

  Scribbr

  ,

  2021

  ,

  01:56–01:59

  .

You can find all the information you need under the quoted YouTube video.

Find the source of the reference in the text on YouTube

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YouTube video in bibliography

The complete reference is given in the Bibliography. This enables the reader to find the YouTube video and, if necessary, watch it themselves.

The reference in the bibliography consists of:

• Channel

• Release date/year

• Title of video

• URL

In the reference in the bibliography, the time does not have to be given again.

Specify YouTube video in bibliography

• APA Standard

• Harvard citation style

• German citation style

• Bibliography

• Scribbr

  . (

  2021, May 06

  ).

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ? [Video].

  YouTube.

• Bibliography

• Scribbr

  (

  2021

  ):

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ?

  [YouTube],

  .

• Bibliography

• Scribbr

  :

  Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ?

  ,

  2021

  , [YouTube]

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

  .

You can find all the information on the page of the quoted YouTube video.

Find full credits on YouTube

channel

You can find the channel name below the video. Match the exact spelling of the name in your attribution.

Find a YouTube video creator

Different real name

If the real name of the creator is known in addition to the channel name, you should use that in your attribution.

In this case, enter the channel name in square brackets in the Bibliography.

Example different real name

• APA Standard

• Harvard citation style

• German citation style

• Reference in text
• The most important part of an exposé is the presentation of the research concept (

  Weinhardt

  , 2021).

• “The concept is the heart of your synopsis” (

  Weinhardt

  , 2021, 01:56-01:59).

• Bibliography

• Weinhardt, M.

  [

  Scribbr

  ]. (2021, May 06). Write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCqgErJbeXY

• Reference in text
• The most important part of an exposé is the presentation of the research concept (cf.

  Weinhardt

  2021: 00:49-00:51).

• “The concept is the heart of your synopsis” (

  Weinhardt

  2021: 01:56–01:59).

• Bibliography

• Weinhardt, Mirjam

  [

  Scribbr

  ] (2021) : write an exposé – with a real example | Scribbr ? [YouTube], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCqgErJbeXY.

• This example illustrates the full receipt1 and the short receipt2 of a YouTube video in the footnote. Followed by a literal quote: “Citation is fun!”3.
• ___________________________________________________
• 1

  Weinhardt, Mirjam

  [

  Scribbr

  ]: Writing an exposé – with real example | Scribbr?, 2021, [YouTube] hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCqgErJbeXY, 01:56-01:59.

• 2 See

  Weinhardt

  , 2021, 01:56-01:59.

• 3

  Weinhardt

  , 2021, 01:56-01:59.

Different speaking person

Sometimes the person you want to quote is not the person who made the video. This can e.g. This could be the case, for example, during an interview.

In this case, you should identify the different person in your text. The author is still the person who uploaded the video.

Example of different speakers according to APA

According to

Böhmermann

, the city of Cologne is not dissimilar to the district of Vegesack in Bremen (

DER MIRROR

, 2020).

Bibliography
THE MIRROR. (2020, September 24). Jan Böhmermann on “Spitzentitel” about Twitter, satire and cancel culture. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT1ZnXb0uWI

Release date

You can find the video’s release date under the channel name.

Find YouTube video release date

In the Bibliography, provide the full date of publication. In the reference in the text the year is enough.

Title of video

You can find the title just below the YouTube video. Accept the exact spelling of the title.

Add ‘YouTube’ in square brackets after the title.

Find the title of a YouTube video

URL

Provide the exact URL in your citation. You can find this in the URL field of your browser.

Find the URL of a YouTube video

Alternatively, you can use the URL shortened by YouTube. You can access these with the ‘Share’ function.

Since the YouTube video cannot be modified after publication, it is sufficient to enter the URL without access date.

However, if your quote refers to a variable, such as the number of reactions or comments, the access date must also be specified.

TipCreate your complete citation with our Scribbr generators.