How to Cite a Video in Harvard Style

Videos, documentaries, and online multimedia have become important academic sources. Harvard referencing accommodates various video types with clear formatting that distinguishes creator, platform, and access information. This guide covers video citations.

Online Video Format

In-Text Citation

(Creator Year)
(Chen 2024)

Reference List Format

Creator, A. (Year) 'Video title', Platform. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Chen, S. (2024) 'Quantum physics explained', YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example123 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

YouTube Videos

In-text:

(Park 2024)

Reference list:

Park, J. (2024) 'The history of artificial intelligence', YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example456 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Documentary Films

Director, A. (Year) Title of Documentary. Available at: Platform. URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Herzog, W. (2005) Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Available at: Criterion Collection. https://criterion.com/films/1234

Podcast Episodes

Host, A. (Year) 'Episode title', Podcast Name, episode number. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Adams, S. (2024) 'Climate science deep dive', Science Weekly, episode 45. Available at: https://scienceweekly.podcast.com/episode45 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Lecture Videos

Lecturer, A. (Year) 'Lecture title', Institution or Platform. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Park, J. (2024) 'Introduction to neuroscience', Stanford Online. Available at: https://online.stanford.edu/neuroscience-lecture (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Conference Presentations (Video)

Presenter, A. (Year) 'Presentation title', Paper presented at Conference Name, Location. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Video with Timestamp

Include time in citation:

(Creator Year, at minutes:seconds)
(Chen 2024, at 5:23)

In reference list, add after URL: at [timestamp]

Television Programs

Creator/Network (Year) 'Episode title', Season X, episode X, Television Program Name. Available at: Platform. URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

History Channel (2023) 'The internet's founding', season 3, episode 2, Modern Marvels. Available at: https://www.historychannel.com/modern-marvels (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Videos Without Clear Author

Start with title:

'Video title' (Year) Platform. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Organization Videos

Use organization as author:

Organization Name (Year) 'Video title', Platform. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Key Points

• Cite content creator, not platform (YouTube is the platform)
• Video title in single quotation marks
• Platform (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) identified
• Complete URL with protocol
• Access date in (Accessed: date) format
• Include timestamps if citing specific moments
• Alphabetize by creator in reference list

Step-by-Step Process

1. Identify video creator/filmmaker
2. Note exact video title
3. Identify platform (YouTube, Netflix, etc.)
4. Record year uploaded/created
5. Copy complete URL
6. Note access date
7. Include timestamp if relevant
8. Format and alphabetize

Common Mistakes

1. Citing platform (YouTube) as author instead of creator
2. Omitting access date
3. Using shortened URLs
4. Inconsistent title formatting
5. Missing quotation marks around titles
6. Not specifying platform
7. Omitting protocol in URL

Practice Examples

Example 1: YouTube Educational Video

In-text: (Chen 2024)

Reference: Chen, S. (2024) 'The history of artificial intelligence', YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example123 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Example 2: Documentary Film

Reference: Burns, K. (2017) 'The Vietnam War', Documentary Film. Available at: PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/vietnam (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Example 3: Podcast Episode

Reference: Rodriguez, M. (2024) 'The future of climate policy', Climate Science Today, episode 78. Available at: https://climatesciencetoday.podcast.com/episode78 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

Mastering Video Citations

Videos provide valuable visual and audio content across academic disciplines. Citing them properly acknowledges multimedia sources while enabling readers to access and evaluate content. With these Harvard guidelines, your video citations meet academic standards.

Use our citation generator to verify video citations and explore guides for other source types.