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Citing Media

Direct comments to cboyce@nvcc.edu

Citation examples: DVD, Blu-ray, Streaming

Note: If you are citing a direct quote from a film, you can use the time stamp in place of a page number within the in-text citation.

Template

Director, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of video [Film]. Production Company.

  • Provide the director name in the author element of the reference, followed by the notation "(Director)."

  • Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple companies with a semicolon.

  • If the original title of the work is in a language different from that of the paper you are writing, provide a translation of the title in square brackets ([ ]) after the title and before the bracketed description and period. e.g., Lat den ratte komma in [Let the right one in] [Film].

Examples

Bier, S. (Director). (2018). Bird box [Film]. Netflix; Chris Morgan Productions; Dylan Clark Productions.

(Bier, 2018, 16:30)

Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2006). An inconvenient truth [Film]. Lawrence Bender Productions; Participant Productions.

(Guggenheim, 2006, 23:13)

Haggis, P. (Director). (2004). Crash [Film; director's cut on DVD]. Bob Yari Productions; DEJ Productions; Blackfriars Bridge; Harris Company; ApolloProScreen Productions; Bull's Eye Entertainment.

(Haggis, 2004)

Note: If the edition of the film you used is important, such as a special extended edition, include that in the brackets.

Source: Film and Television References [APA Style]

Citing examples: Television Series

Template

Producer, A. A. (Executive Producer). (Year-Year). Title of series [TV series episode]. Production Company.

  • Provide the executive producer(s) in the author element of the reference.

  • When there is one executive producer, use the notation  "(Executive Producer)." When there are multiple executive producers, provide the notation once after all the producers' names, with the notation "(Executive Producers)."

  • Provide the year(s) during which the series aired in the date element. If the series is still airing when the paper is written replace the ending year with "present", e.g. (2017-present)

  • Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference.

Example

Serling, R. (Executive Producer). (1959-1964). The twilight zone [TV series]. Cayuga Productions; CBS Productions.

(Serling, 1959-1964)

Source: Film and Television References [APA Style]

Citing examples: Episodes of TV series

Template

Writer, A. A. (Writer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (Season X, Episode X) [TV series episode]. In C. C. Producer (Executive Producer), Title of tv show. Production Company.

  • Include the writers and directors for the episode. Include the contributor's role in parentheses after each name.

  • If one person has multiple roles, combine the descriptions with an ampersand (&).

  • Provide the season number and episode number after the title in the parentheses.

Example

Moffat, S. (Writer) & Macdonald, H. (Director). (2007, June 9). Blink (Season 3, Episode 10) [TV series episode]. In R. T. Davies (Executive Producer), Doctor who. BBC Studios.

(Moffat & Macdonald, 2007)

Source: Film and Television References [APA Style]

Citing example: Online videos

Use this for videos posted on websites or blogs, such as YouTube/Vimeo, TED, a news website, etc. If you are citing a direct quote from a video, you can use the time stamp in place of a page number within the in-text citation (see Example 1).

YouTube video

Asian Boss. (2020, June 5). World’s leading vaccine expert fact-checks COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy: Stay curious #22 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQdLDMLrYIA

(Asian Boss, 2020; Harvard University, 2019)

Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs

  • Use the name of the account that uploaded the video as the author.

  • To cite the words of individuals featured in a video, name or describe the individual(s) in your sentence in the text and then provide a parenthetical citation for the video. For example, the Asian Boss video is an interview with the director general of the International Vaccine Institute; you should provide details about who spoke and what they said in the text of the sentence and then cite the video using the parenthetical citation shown.

  • Provide the specific date on which the video was uploaded.

  • Italicize the title of the video.

  • Include the description “[Video]” in square brackets after the title.

  • Provide the site name (YouTube) and URL of the video.

Sources: Publication Manual, 9.8 and 10.12 (examples 88 and 90); YouTube Video ReferencesTED Talk References [APA Style]

YouTube channel

APA Publishing Training. (n.d.). Home [YouTube channel]. YouTube. Retrieved February 20, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/user/PsycINFO/

(APA Publishing Training, n.d.; Wallker, n.d.)

Walker, A. (n.d.). Playlists [YouTube channel]. YouTube. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/user/DjWalkzz/playlists

  • YouTube channel pages begin on the “Home” tab by default. If you want to cite one of the other tabs (e.g., “Videos,” “Playlists”), use the name of that tab rather than “Home” in the title element of the reference (as in the Walker example).

  • Italicize the title of the channel.

  • Include the description “[YouTube channel]” in square brackets after the title.

  • Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived.

TED Talk from TED website

Cuddy, A. (2012, June). Your body language may shape who you are [Video]. Ted Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who_you_are

(Cuddy, 2012)

  • When the Ted Talk comes from Ted’s website, use the name of the speaker as the author.

  • Provide as specific a date as possible; in the example, only the year and month are available.

  • Include the description “[Video]” in square brackets after the title of the talk.

  • Credit Ted Conferences as the publisher of the Ted Talk and then provide the URL.

TED Talk from YouTube

Ted. (2019, November 13). The danger of AI is weirder than you think | Janelle Shane [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhCzX0iLnOc

(Ted, 2019)

  • When the Ted Talk is on YouTube, list the owner of the YouTube account (here, Ted) as the author to aid in retrieval.

  • Provide as specific a date as possible.

  • Include the description “[Video]” in square brackets after the title of the talk.

  • Credit YouTube as the publisher of the Ted Talk and then provide the URL.

  • When the speaker is not listed as the author, integrate their name into the narrative if desired:

    • Shane explained that the artificial intelligence technically “did what they asked it to do—they just accidentally asked it to do the wrong thing” (Ted, 2019, 8:51).