How to Quote a YouTube Video in MLA

To quote a YouTube video in MLA 9, start the Works Cited entry with the video’s title in quotation marks, then YouTube in italics, the channel that uploaded it, the upload date, and the URL. The in-text citation pairs the title with a timestamp, like (“Boiling Water” 00:04:15), because a video has no page number. Below is the exact template with the pieces in order, plus what changes when a specific creator, rather than a channel, is the real author.

The MLA Works Cited template

MLA builds a citation from a list of core elements. For a standard YouTube video where the channel is the source, the order is: title, container, contributor, date, location.

• “How to Boil Water Perfectly.” YouTube, uploaded by America’s Test Kitchen, 14 Mar. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcd1234.

Reading it in order: the title of the video goes in quotation marks; YouTube is the container, italicized; “uploaded by” credits the channel; the date is day-month-year with the month abbreviated; and the URL drops the “https://” per MLA style. That is the whole entry. The broader MLA method is collected in how to quote in MLA.

When a creator differs from the uploader

If the video has a clear author who is different from the channel, name the author first and keep the uploader as a contributor:

• Sagan, Carl. “The Pale Blue Dot.” YouTube, uploaded by Cosmos Archive, 2 Jan. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxyz5678.

Do this only when the person is genuinely responsible for the content, such as a lecturer or a named filmmaker. For most channel uploads, the title-first version is correct.

The in-text citation with a timestamp

MLA replaces the page number with a timestamp in hours:minutes:seconds. Use whatever begins your Works Cited entry, then the timestamp, with no comma between them.

The host warns that “salt should go in before the water boils, not after” (“How to Boil Water” 00:04:15).

Shorten a long title to the first meaningful words in the parenthetical, matching the start of the full entry. If you began the entry with an author, use the author’s last name instead: (Sagan 00:03:22). To point at a span, give a range: 00:04:15–00:04:40. The general rules for MLA in-text citations are in MLA quote citation.

Transcribe the words exactly

Quote what is actually said, word for word, inside quotation marks. Do not tidy up grammar or drop filler in a way that changes the meaning; use an ellipsis for anything you leave out. YouTube’s auto-captions are a starting point, not a source, since they mishear names and terms, so confirm the wording by listening. If the spoken passage runs longer than four lines of your prose, format it as a block quote with no quotation marks.

YouTube versus other video sources

The template above is specific to YouTube because YouTube is named as the container. A clip on a different platform swaps in that platform’s name, and a commercially released film follows the movie pattern. If your video is actually a webpage’s embedded player, decide whether you are quoting the video or the page and cite accordingly; the page version is covered in how to quote a website in MLA. A theatrical film is handled in how to quote a movie.

FAQ

Does the in-text citation for a YouTube video need a comma before the timestamp?

No. MLA puts no comma between the title or author and the timestamp: (“How to Boil Water” 00:04:15). The comma only appears inside APA-style citations, which MLA does not use.

Do I start the citation with the title or the channel?

Start with the title for most channel uploads, since the channel is credited with “uploaded by.” Start with a person’s name only when that person is the clear author of the content, such as a named lecturer or filmmaker.

What if the YouTube video has no upload date?

Give as much of the date as YouTube displays. If none is shown, omit the date and keep the rest of the entry, especially the URL, so the reader can still find the video.

How do I write the timestamp?

Use hours:minutes:seconds as the player shows it, such as 00:04:15. Point to where the quoted words begin. For a longer passage, give a range separated by an en dash.