How to Cite a YouTube Video in MLA 9th Edition

Video content has become an indispensable primary and secondary source in modern academic writing. Whether you are analyzing a political speech, a documentary, a video essay, or a recorded lecture, citing multimedia effectively requires a distinct set of rules. The Modern Language Association (MLA) uses a flexible "Container System" that applies perfectly to video streaming platforms.

In MLA 9th edition, YouTube acts as the digital container holding the specific video source. Understanding how to format the creator, the video title, the uploader, and the timestamps is essential for avoiding plagiarism in humanities, arts, and literature research papers. In this extensive guide, we will explore exactly how to build these citations from scratch.

The MLA 9 Container Formula for Video

MLA’s framework asks you to locate the core elements of your source and place them in a specific order with distinct punctuation. For a standard YouTube video, the formula generally looks like this:

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Identify the Creator or Author

Determining the author of a video can sometimes be tricky. If the video is a lecture or speech given by a prominent figure (e.g., a known author or scientist), use their real name (Last Name, First Name). If the content is produced by a specific YouTube channel or a corporate entity acting as an overarching creator, use the channel's exact handle or organization name.

Step 2: Format the Video Title

Because the video is a short-form piece of media housed inside a larger platform, its title must be placed in double quotation marks. Ensure the title is formatted in Title Case, and place a period immediately inside the closing quotation marks (e.g., "The History of Digital Media.").

Step 3: Define the Container and Uploader

The name of the platform is the container. Write YouTube in italics, followed by a comma. If the channel that uploaded the video is different from the primary creator you listed in step one, you must specify them by writing "uploaded by" followed by their exact channel name. If the creator and uploader are exactly the same, you can skip the "uploaded by" segment to avoid redundancy.

Step 4: Publication Date and URL

Provide the precise date the video was posted. MLA requires dates to be formatted as Day Month Year (e.g., 14 Aug. 2023), abbreviating months with more than four letters. Finally, paste the URL of the video, making sure to omit the "https://" prefix, and end the entire citation with a period.

Original Bibliographic Example

Example of a video where the creator and channel name are identical:

Example of an in-text parenthetical citation using a timestamp:

Common Mistakes in MLA Video Citations

• Italicizing the video title: Remember, the video itself is a small piece of media. It goes in quotation marks. Only the container (YouTube) is italicized.
• Using page numbers for in-text citations: Since video is a time-based medium, writing (Smith 4) makes no sense to a reader. You must provide timestamps like (Smith 01:23).
• Failing to invert the date format: Students often write "June 21, 2012" instead of the required MLA European style "21 June 2012".

Frequently Asked Questions