Parenthetical citation
Use the author or responsible creator and year.
(Nguyen 2026)
(Patel 2025)
Chicago Author-Date YouTube Citation
Generate Chicago Author-Date citations from YouTube video URLs.
Journal article
Example result
Chicago Format for YouTube Video References
17th (Author-Date)
Author Last, First. Year. “Title of Video.” Posted Month Day, Year, by Channel Name. YouTube, duration. URL Speaker Last, First. Year. “Title of Talk.” Event or Series. Streamed live on Month Day, Year. YouTube, duration. URL Director Last, First. Original Year. Title of Film. Posted Month Day, Upload Year, under the title “YouTube Title,” by Channel Name. YouTube, duration. URL Start with the source itself
- Use the person, speaker, director, or organization chiefly responsible for the item you watched.
- YouTube belongs later in the entry as the platform, not in the author slot.
- If the upload is carrying an older film, documentary, lecture recording, or public address, describe that work first rather than treating the platform as the source.
Year
- In Chicago Author-Date, the year follows the author immediately.
- For most creator uploads, that year will match the video you are citing.
- If the important source is an earlier work that was later uploaded to YouTube, the original year may belong in that position, with the later posting date stated farther into the entry.
Title and identifying detail
- Ordinary videos, talks, and addresses normally use a quoted title.
- Add identifying details such as moderator, lecture name, interview role, or public address wording when those facts help readers tell one video from another.
- If the upload is really a stand-alone work such as a film, let the title treatment match that work instead of forcing every upload into the same quoted video pattern.
Posted and live wording
- Use Streamed live on when the live event itself matters to the source you are citing.
- Use Posted when the page functions as the uploaded recording you consulted.
- If the uploader is different from the creator, speaker, or original maker, name that uploader in the posted detail instead of moving it to the author position.
Platform, duration, and URL
- Name YouTube near the end of the entry. In author-date examples, Chicago often uses the platform name by itself. Add video only when it helps.
- Include the running time from the video page. It helps readers confirm the exact item.
- Use the exact video URL or the official youtu.be share link, not a channel or playlist page.
- If the video has disappeared, keep the original link and add an access date. For a previously published text, Chicago also allows a short bracketed note after the original citation.
Chicago Author-Date YouTube Citation Examples
Creator upload on a named channel
Use this pattern when one creator is clearly responsible for the video and the YouTube page functions as the version you actually watched.
Reference list entry
Nguyen, Elena. 2026. “How I Keep Field Notes Searchable During Drafting.” Posted February 18, 2026, by Elena Nguyen Studio. YouTube, 14:22. https://youtu.be/8mQ2tL4vP7R Public address streamed live
When the live event matters, keep that live status visible in the entry instead of flattening it into a plain webpage citation.
Reference list entry
Reyes, Clara. 2026. “State of the Waterfront Address.” Harbor City Mayor’s Office. Streamed live on January 12, 2026. YouTube, 58:41. https://youtu.be/K3vN2dP8sQ1 Lecture posted after the event
A posted lecture often needs both the event detail and the later upload detail. Without both, readers may not know whether you used the live event itself or the recording that appeared later.
Reference list entry
Patel, Arjun. 2025. “Why Search Fails in Small Archives.” Moderated by Mina Cole. Center for Digital History lecture, March 11. Posted March 18, 2025, by Eastlake University Library. YouTube, 47:09. https://youtu.be/W3p6D8kT1Vu Older film with a different YouTube title
If YouTube is carrying an earlier film, the first element is usually the director or other responsible creator. Keep the film and its original year first. If the upload page uses a different title, move that later in the entry instead of letting it replace the work itself.
Reference list entry
Hassan, Leila. 2018. Low Water. Posted June 6, 2025, under the title “Low Water Remastered,” by North Shore Archive. YouTube, 1:27:44. https://youtu.be/N6rP5mV2qKs In-Text Citations
Chicago Author-Date in-text citations for YouTube sources still point back to the first element and year in the reference list.
When you send readers to a precise moment in the video, use a time locator rather than a page number. On this page, that locator is written with at before the timestamp.
Basic citation styles
Narrative citation
Put the name in the sentence and keep the year in parentheses.
Nguyen (2026)
Patel (2025)
When you cite a precise moment
Parenthetical citation
Add the time locator after the year when readers need a specific moment or range.
(Patel 2025, at 12:14)
(Reyes 2026, at 24:10–32)
Narrative citation
Keep the same locator when the author is already part of the sentence.
Patel (2025, at 12:14)
When the reference follows the underlying work
If your reference list entry is built around an older film or other earlier work, the in-text citation follows that work’s year rather than the later YouTube posting year.
The restored upload is useful, but the citation still points to the film itself (Hassan 2018, at 1:14:03).
Before You Cite the Video
How This Differs from a Website Citation
A Chicago website citation usually gives an author, year, page title, site name, and URL. A YouTube citation often needs more identifying detail because the source is audiovisual and versioned.
Official Chicago examples add information such as streamed live on, posted, uploader, event detail, and running time when those facts are part of how readers identify the source.
The other major difference is source focus. If the video page is carrying an older film, lecture, or public address, Chicago wants the citation to reflect that item first and YouTube second.
Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them
Mistake 1
Using YouTube as the author
YouTube is the platform. The author slot belongs to the person or entity responsible for the item.
Wrong
✕ YouTube. 2025. “Why Search Fails in Small Archives.” YouTube, 47:09. https://youtu.be/W3p6D8kT1Vu
Correct
✓ Patel, Arjun. 2025. “Why Search Fails in Small Archives.” Moderated by Mina Cole. Center for Digital History lecture, March 11. Posted March 18, 2025, by Eastlake University Library. YouTube, 47:09. https://youtu.be/W3p6D8kT1Vu
Mistake 2
Letting the upload title replace the work itself
When an older film is posted to YouTube, cite the film first. The opening position usually goes to the director or other responsible creator. If the page uses a different upload title, move that title later in the entry.
Wrong
✕ North Shore Archive. 2025. “Low Water Remastered.” YouTube, 1:27:44. https://youtu.be/N6rP5mV2qKs
Correct
✓ Hassan, Leila. 2018. Low Water. Posted June 6, 2025, under the title “Low Water Remastered,” by North Shore Archive. YouTube, 1:27:44. https://youtu.be/N6rP5mV2qKs
Mistake 3
Using the upload year in text when the entry is built around the older work
In-text citations follow the year in the reference list entry you actually wrote.
Wrong
✕ (Hassan 2025)
Correct
✓ (Hassan 2018)
Mistake 4
Flattening a live event into a plain webpage entry
If the source is a streamed address or talk, keep the event wording that tells readers what kind of video they are looking at.
Wrong
✕ Reyes, Clara. 2026. “State of the Waterfront Address.” Harbor City Mayor’s Office. https://youtu.be/K3vN2dP8sQ1
Correct
✓ Reyes, Clara. 2026. “State of the Waterfront Address.” Harbor City Mayor’s Office. Streamed live on January 12, 2026. YouTube, 58:41. https://youtu.be/K3vN2dP8sQ1
Mistake 5
Using a channel URL instead of the exact video URL
A channel page or playlist points to a broader container, not to the single video you used.
Wrong
✕ Nguyen, Elena. 2026. “How I Keep Field Notes Searchable During Drafting.” Posted February 18, 2026, by Elena Nguyen Studio. YouTube, 14:22. https://www.youtube.com/@ElenaNguyenStudio
Correct
✓ Nguyen, Elena. 2026. “How I Keep Field Notes Searchable During Drafting.” Posted February 18, 2026, by Elena Nguyen Studio. YouTube, 14:22. https://youtu.be/8mQ2tL4vP7R
Mistake 6
Using a page number instead of a time locator
Videos are cited by time, not by page. Add the locator only when you need a precise moment.
Wrong
✕ (Patel 2025, 12)
Correct
✓ (Patel 2025, at 12:14)
Official Chicago References Used for This Page
We built this page from official Chicago material that discusses YouTube videos, older films uploaded to YouTube, title differences between a work and its upload page, unavailable video links, and the author-date treatment of audiovisual citations.
Where this page adapts a Chicago YouTube example from notes style into an author-date reference list entry, the adaptation is limited to the standard author-date shift that places the year immediately after the author.
- CMOS Q&A Documentation FAQ 359 about citing a YouTube video
- CMOS Q&A Documentation FAQ 426 about citing a classic film on YouTube
- CMOS Q&A Documentation FAQ 281 about citing a YouTube video that is no longer available
- CMOS Q&A Documentation FAQ 452 about adding a bracketed note when a cited YouTube video has vanished
- Chicago Manual of Style Online Author-Date sample citations for audiovisual sources
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
This page is scoped to individual YouTube video pages. Channel pages, playlists, and whole websites need a different Chicago treatment.
Chicago Author-Date YouTube Citation FAQ
Usually no. Chicago asks you to identify the item itself first and the platform second.
That means a lecture, address, interview, or older film uploaded to YouTube should still be described as that kind of source, with YouTube later in the entry.
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