The Android world continues to evolve on a daily basis, with new trends regularly discussed on social media, newsletters, and streaming services. YouTube online videos can be a useful resource for consuming information and as part of academic or other types of work where citations are recommended or required.

If you use a YouTube video as part of your academic work on, say, a Chromebook designed for students, you must properly cite it. This will save you time down the line and help you avoid issues connected with plagiarism.

Do you need to cite a YouTube video? Look no further. Here's our step-by-step guide showing how to reference credible sources properly in your work.

Locate the needed information

The first thing you need to do when quoting a YouTube video is to find the necessary information. To do so using the YouTube Android app:

  1. Open the YouTube app.
  2. Search and open the video you want to reference.
  3. Click the downward arrow next to the title.
  4. Make a note of the video's title, channel name, and date.
    Click the downward arrow next to the title
    Make a note of the video's title, channel name, and date
  5. Go back one step and tap the Share icon.
  6. Select Copy link.
    Go back one step and tap the Share icon
    Select Copy link
  7. Paste the link in a note-taking app and note it down.

After gathering the information you need to cite your chosen video, you'll select a citation style. Here's how to do that.

Pick a citation style

There are several citation styles, and we don't cover all of them here. However, a few pointers apply to all or most of them. This guide covers the citation styles commonly used in publishing and academia. For each style, we provide an example based on the YouTube link used above.

Citation styles are established by specific universities, publishers, and academic associations. They are commonly compiled into official handbooks that contain instructions and examples.

When it comes to videos, there are a few key pieces of information that need to be referenced regardless of the citing style used. These are:

  • Title of the video
  • Creator's name or author's name (usually the name of the website)
  • Upload or publication date
  • Web address of the video (URL)
  • Timestamp (optional, but recommended for long videos)

The way this information is organized can vary based on different citing styles. This applies to both in-line citations and reference entries. Here are a few examples of citing styles and when it's appropriate to use them.

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

The author-date APA citation style is usually adopted by individuals studying or working on social and behavioral subjects. The APA style features a mix of in-text citations and a reference page. Here is how you would use the APA format for the YouTube channel and video cited above:

  • In-text citation: (Android Police, 2022)
  • Reference list entry: Android Police. (2022, September 30). Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style

One of the most used citation styles, the MLA style, is used in the academic field for humanities disciplines, including language and cultural studies. The MLA format uses a combination of in-text citations and reference list entries. To correctly use MLA citations, follow this format:

  • In-text citation: (Android Police, 2022)
  • Reference list entry: Android Police. (2022, September 30). Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine [Video]. YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

American Medical Association (AMA) Style Guide

This style is used in the medical and healthcare industry. AMA relies on a documentary-note style, which translates to placing numbers in the text to cite a source. The associated reference list should then be in numerical order:

  • In-text citation: ¹
  • Reference list entry: 1. Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine. Android Police. Accessed March 27, 2023. YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

Associated Press (AP) Stylebook

Mainly used by journalists, the AP citing style is the go-to for the publishing industry. Because of this, the 56th version of the Stylebook includes over 300 new or revised entries. This is the basic format of the AP citing style:

  • In-text citation: (Android Police, 2022)
  • Reference list entry: Android Police. (2022, September 20). Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

The AP style is a subgenre of the Harvard style, a generic term for various author-date citation styles. While AP is mainly used in journalism, other Harvard-based citation styles are used in different academic disciplines.

Council of Science Editor Documentation Style (CSE)

The CSE citation style is mainly used in scientific fields, particularly physics, biological sciences, chemistry, and astronomy. This is how you can use this numeric citation-sequence system:

  • In-text citation: (Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine)
  • Reference list entry: Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine. Android Police. YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

The Bluebook

An Airtag next to a gavel
Photos by Tingey Injury Law Firm and Jonas Elia

This style is specific to the law industry in the United States and is used for citing legal sources, including cases and statutes. It is similar to AMA as it uses a system of superscript numbers and footnotes:

  • In-text citation: ¹
  • Reference list entry: 1. Android Police, Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: making it mine, Android Police (Sept. 29, 2022). YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

The Chicago Style

Possibly the most used style in the publishing industry worldwide, the Chicago Manual of Style offers two ways to reference sources. The notes-bibliography system is usually employed in literature, history, and the arts, while the author-date is used in the physical, natural, and social sciences. Since we are citing a video about Android customization, we are going to use the first style:

  • In-text citation: ¹
  • Reference list entry: 1. "Customizing the Galaxy Z Flip 4: Making It Mine." Android Police (Sept. 29, 2022). YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9A0NH9KGg.

Applying finishing touches

After choosing a citation style (and citation format) and referencing your YouTube videos, review your work. Different citation styles use specific formatting requirements, including capitalization, punctuation, italics for certain elements, and the order in which the information displays. The citation styles mentioned in this article have extensive guides, so have the right one at hand while organizing your sources.

Did you finish citing your YouTube videos and looking for a new challenge? Look at how to delete or pause your YouTube watch and search histories.