How To Cite a Lecture In APA, MLA, and CHICAGO Style

Learning to cite your lectures is a crucial skill you should attain in the academic world. Whether writing a research paper or assignments, citing your classes ensures you give credit to your tutor and avoid plagiarism in your essay. If you lack knowledge of how to cite a lecture, you are at the right place. Here is a detailed explanation of how to cite a professor’s lecture in APA, MLA, and Chicago format:

How To Cite a Lecture in APA Format

The APA format is a standard writing style for academic research papers, dissertations, and reports. The 7^th edition APA formatting style is the most commonly used APA standard in higher learning institutions since it is simple and up-to-date. It does not require citing lectures attended in person; its citing rules apply only when the class has been transcribed or recorded.

If the lecture you are citing has yet to be transcribed or recorded, mention that it was simply a conversation with your professor. For example (Dr. Johnson, personal communication, July 7, 2022). You have to follow a specific format when the speech is in video format, live or transcribed into lecture notes. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to cite a lecture presented in video format, lecture notes or a live study:

Citing Live Lectures in APA

When citing a live lecture in APA format, include the author’s last name, the year of the lecture in parentheses, the title of the lecture in quotation marks, and the name of the organization or university that hosted the class. If a professor offered your lecture, include their title: Professor or Ph.D.  Here are examples of live classes cited using APA style:

Jackson, Y. (2023). “The Effects of Social Media on Teenagers.” Lecture Presented at the University of Texas.

Smith, H. (2018). “Economic Implications of Pollution.” Lecture Provided at Harvard University.

Citing Lecture Notes in APA

Citing lecture notes in APA includes providing the author’s last name, lecture year in parentheses, the title of the lecture notes in a quotation, the type of lecture and the organization or institution that hosted the event. Below is an example of how to cite lecture notes in APA:

Jackson, Y. (2023). “The Effects of Social Media on Teenagers.”. Lecture notes. University of Texas.

How To Cite a Lecture in-Text APA          

When writing your assignments or research papers, make sure to intext cite your lecturers; it helps you to credit your professor and prevents plagiarism in your essay. In-text citing in APA format is very simple; all you have to do is provide the author’s last name and the year with the lecture delivered in parenthesis. Below is an example of how you can in-text cite a class in APA;

(Jackson, 2023)

Social media negatively impacts teenagers’ self-esteem (Jackson, 2023).

Citing a Video Lecture in APA

In some cases, lectures are presented as videos, and you have to watch the video as part of your classes. If you need to cite such a video in APA format, provide the author’s last name, followed by the year the lecture was created in parenthesis. Also, give the video’s title, the website name where the video was posted, and the URL. Here are examples of how you can cite your video lecture in APA:

Jackson, Y. (2023). “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers,” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UcS8QkiRKc

Erick. J. (2017). The European Political Sphere.” TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/watch?v=1kkkicS8QkiRKc

How To Cite a Lecture in MLA

MLA is a standard formatting style used in higher learning institutions to cite documents. Citing a lecture using the MLA style is simple and makes your writing as straightforward as possible. It offers different citing options depending on whether you attended the course in person or it was transcribed or in video format. Here are the various MLA formatting requirements for citing different lecturers:

Citing A Live Lecture in MLA

When citing a live lecture in MLA, include the author’s name, the title of the course, and the name and location where the class was presented. Here are a few examples:

Jackson, Hill. “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers,” Lecture, University of Texas, Georgia, TX, 9 February 2023.

Lauryn, Jersey.” The Growth of Cryptocurrency Across the Globe”, Lecture, Briming University, California, CA, 8 July 2021.

How To Cite Lecture Notes in MLA

Here’s how to cite a professor’s lecture in MLA format. All you need is the speaker’s name, the lecture title, and the date it was written. Below is an example of how to cite professors’ lecture notes in MLA:

Jackson, Hill. “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers.” Lecture Notes, 9 February 2023.

Citing An Online Lecture in MLA

When citing an online lecture, provide the author’s name, the lecture’s title, the type of lecture, the website name, the date posted, and the URL. Here is how you can do it:

Jackson, Hill. “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers.” Online Lecture, YouTube, 9 February 2023, www.youtube.com/example.

London, Keith.” The Positive Contributions of Tourism in Dubai.” Online lecture. TedTalks. 10 July 2017, www.tedtalks.com/example.

How To Cite a Lecture MLA in-Text

Intext citing any data obtained from your lecturers in your assignments is vital in ensuring your paper is authentic. When intext citing lectures in MLA style, include the speaker’s last name in text or parentheses. Here is an example of how to in-text cite in MLA format:

(Johnson)

If you refer to a given PowerPoint presentation or handout page, you can add it to the in-text citation. Here is how to cite a lecture in MLA when you have slide or page numbers;

(Johnson slide 6)

How To Cite a Video Lecture in MLA

When citing a video lecture in MLA, provide the author’s name, the topic of the lecture, the type of lecture, the website name, the date the study was posted, and the URL. Here is an example:

Johnson, Hill. “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers.” Video Lecture, YouTube, 9 February 2023, www.youtube.com/example.

Citing a Lecture in Chicago

Chicago style provides two options to site your lecture, including using author-date or footnotes/endnotes citations. Here is a detailed explanation of how to use this formatting style when citing your lectures:

How To Cite a Live Lecture in Chicago

You use footnotes and bibliography entries when citing live lectures in Chicago style. A bibliography entry for a live class includes the speaker’s last name followed by their last name, the lecture’s title, a descriptive label of the lecture, the institution it was held, and the date. Here is an example of a bibliography entry when using the Chicago style:

Hill, Jackson. “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers.” Lecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, August 30, 2022.

Include footnotes when citing live lecture notes in Chicago style. Writing the footnotes is different for your first and subsequent lecture citations. Below are format guides and examples of 1^st citation footnotes and subsequent citation footnotes when citing lectures in Chicago style:

1^st Citation

Format:  First Name, Surname, “Title of the lecture,” (Type of lecture, Location of Lecture, Month, Day, Year).

Example: Jackson Hill, “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers” (lecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, February 2, 2022).

Subsequent Citations

Format:   Surname, “Lecture Title.”

Example:  Hill, “Social Media Impacts on Teenagers.”

How To Cite a Lecture in Chicago in-Text

One of the primary characteristics of the Chicago formatting style is that it offers two ways of intext citing lectures. You can either use the author-date style or the notes-bibliography style. Your instructor may specify the style to use, or you can choose whichever style you prefer. Here is a guide on how to in-text style using the two methods:

Author-Date In-Text Citation

When using this format, cite your sources in parentheses. Include the author’s last name and the year of publication without any punctuation. Here is an example:

(Hill, 2023)

If referring to a given part of the text, especially when paraphrasing or quoting, add a page number or page range to your intext. This ensures the reader can refer to the relevant passage for additional information. The page number follows a comma, and the last and first pages are separated using a dash. Below is an example of how to do it:

(Hill 2023, 52-54)

Include the in-text citation at the end of a relevant clause, quotation or sentence. However, if you are citing multiple sources, they could appear in the beginning, middle, or end of your relevant clause. Here is an example of this;

Previous studies argued that the obtained evidence is insufficient to confirm a correlation (Carol 2012), but new evidence suggests that the evidence is accurate for a conclusion (Hill 2023).

If your lecturer’s name is mentioned in your text, the citation should appear immediately after it and only include the date. When quoting something, the lecturer said to add the page number immediately after the quote. Below is an example:

Hill (2023) argues that social media” offers major opportunities for teenagers” (23), but Carol (2012) believes otherwise.

Notes-Bibliography in-Text Citation

When in-text citing using the notes-bibliography system, write the in-text citations with a superscript, followed by a footnote placed at the bottom of the page. Below is an example of a Chicago in-text citation example and how to format your footnotes:

In-text Citation Example: “Social media negatively affects teenagers’ self-esteem.”¹

Footnote Format: Speaker’s First and Last Name, “Lecture Title” (lecture, Institution, City,

State, date of lecture).

Footnote Example

1. Jackson Hill, “The Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers” (lecture, Agri University,

Willowbrook, WY, March 6, 2022).

 How To Cite a Video Lecture in Chicago

When citing a lecture in Chicago, locate as much data about the video as possible. Identify the name of the Lecturer, the date the video was posted, the title, and the URL. Include a short description of the lecture video after the date it was created; you can include the video duration. Provide the creator’s name as indicated in the video, even when it is a pseudonym. If the creator’s name can be identified, use it in parentheses.

The proper format for citing video lectures in Chicago includes the speaker’s last name followed by their last name, year of publication, the title of the video, lecturer series, University the lecture was held, filming date, length of the video, and URL. Here is an example of this:

Hill, Jackson. 2023. “Lecture 1: Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers” De Vane Lectures, Harvard University, Filmed February 23, 2023. Video Lecture, 45;14. https://youtu.be/BqvzFY72mg.

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Citing needs skills in different formatting styles such as APA, MLA and Chicago. Citing your lectures in your assignments prevents plagiarism in your paper and provides credit to your lecturer where necessary.

Although citing lectures seems complicated, it is straightforward with the proper guidance. Every formatting style has its citing requirements depending on the type of lecture (live lectures, video lectures, and lecture notes). You can excellently cite your lectures with the step-by-step guidance and examples provided above.

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