Suppose you want to cite a YouTube video like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI (shown on the right). It’s a song performed by Talking Heads which was uploaded by “MadFranko008” on Jun 19, 2013.
Using the MLA 8 Template from the official MLA Style website, we can construct a bibliography entry like this:
Talking Heads. “Once In A Lifetime (Full Length Version) (1980/ 2013) (HD).” YouTube, uploaded by MadFranko008, 19 June 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI . Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
- AUTHOR: Talking Heads.
- TITLE OF SOURCE: “Once In A Lifetime (Full Length Version) (1980/ 2013) (HD).”
- TITLE OF CONTAINER: YouTube,
- OTHER CONTRIBUTORS: uploaded by MadFranko008,
- PUBLICATION DATE: 19 June 2013,
- LOCATION: www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI
- DATE OF ACCESS (optional in MLA 8): Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
Note that MLA 8 doesn’t require the date of access, but the IBO requests students include it.
In the body of a piece of writing, the video could be cited like this:
David Byrne was filmed singing and performing “Once in a Lifetime” in 1980 (Talking Heads).
If you wanted to cite a YouTube channel as a whole, e.g., Historia Civilis, the bibliography entry might look like this:
Historia Civilis channel. YouTube, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/historiacivilis. Accessed 2 Feb. 2018.
The publication date of 2018 is because that is the date of the most recent video posted on the site (like finding a copyright date on a website).
