How to Cite a Lecture in APA, MLA and Chicago

To cite a lecture, identify which version you used: a live lecture you attended, notes or slides posted online, or a recording. In APA 7, an unrecorded lecture is usually a personal communication cited only in the text, while posted slides or recordings get a reference entry. In MLA 9 and Chicago, a live lecture gets a full entry with the speaker, title, event or course, date and location, followed by the word "Lecture."

All examples below use a fictional lecturer and course.

What information to collect

Before you start, note down:

• The lecturer's full name.
• The title of the lecture (or a short description if it had none).
• The course name and number, or the event or conference name.
• The institution and city.
• The date.
• For online versions: the platform (course site, YouTube, a university website) and the URL.

APA 7th edition

APA asks one question first: can your reader retrieve this source?

Live lecture with no recording or posted materials

If your readers can't access the lecture, APA treats it as a personal communication. Cite it in the text only, with the lecturer's initials and surname and the exact date. It doesn't go in the reference list.

(M. Ortiz, personal communication, February 14, 2025)

M. Ortiz (personal communication, February 14, 2025) explained that...

Lecture notes or slides on a course site

When you're writing for the same course, your instructor and classmates can access the learning platform, so you can give a reference entry. The format is:

Lecturer, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of lecture [Description]. Platform or Site Name. URL

Ortiz, M. (2025, February 14). Water rights in the arid West [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@Harlow University.

In-text: (Ortiz, 2025) or Ortiz (2025)

Use a bracketed description that matches the material: [Lecture notes], [PowerPoint slides], [Lecture recording]. Some instructors want the URL of the platform's login page at the end; others are happy without it. If the slides are posted on a public website, include that URL instead.

Recorded lecture online

If the lecture was published as a video, cite it like a video. The person or organization that posted it goes in the author position. If a university channel posted a lecture given by a professor, you can name the lecturer in your sentence and cite the channel, or check whether your instructor prefers the lecturer as author.

Harlow University. (2024, May 3). Water rights in the arid West: Lecture 6 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example123

In-text with a quotation: (Harlow University, 2024, 14:32)

The timestamp points readers to the exact moment you quoted.

MLA 9th edition

MLA uses its core elements: author, title of source, container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, date, location. For a live lecture, the container is usually the course or event, and you add the optional description "Lecture" at the end so readers know what kind of source it was.

Live lecture

Ortiz, Marisol. "Water Rights in the Arid West." Environmental History 210, 14 Feb. 2025, Harlow University, Denver. Lecture.

In-text: (Ortiz)

Since a live lecture has no page numbers, the in-text citation is usually just the surname. If you name the lecturer in your sentence ("Ortiz argued that..."), you may not need a parenthetical citation at all.

Lecture slides or notes online

Ortiz, Marisol. "Water Rights in the Arid West." Environmental History 210, Harlow University, 14 Feb. 2025. PowerPoint presentation.

In-text: (Ortiz, slide 7)

If the slides are on a public page, add the website title as a container and the URL. Labeling slide numbers in the citation helps readers find the point you're referring to.

Recorded lecture online

Ortiz, Marisol. "Water Rights in the Arid West: Lecture 6." YouTube, uploaded by Harlow University, 3 May 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=example123.

In-text with a timestamp: (Ortiz 00:14:32)

MLA usually drops "https://" from URLs, though some instructors prefer the full address. Follow your instructor's preference.

Citation GeneratorAPA, MLA, Chicago and more

Chicago style

Chicago's notes-and-bibliography system uses a footnote at the point of citation and an entry in the bibliography. The word "lecture" appears as a description before the course or event.

Footnote:

1. Marisol Ortiz, "Water Rights in the Arid West" (lecture, Environmental History 210, Harlow University, Denver, CO, February 14, 2025).

Shortened note for later citations:

2. Ortiz, "Water Rights."

Bibliography:
Ortiz, Marisol. "Water Rights in the Arid West." Lecture, Environmental History 210, Harlow University, Denver, CO, February 14, 2025.

For a recorded lecture, add the platform, the length if helpful, and the URL. If you use Chicago author-date instead, the in-text form is (Ortiz 2025). Our guide on how to do footnotes explains first and shortened notes in more detail.

Quick comparison

Common mistakes

1. Citing a lecture when you mean the study it described. If your professor summarized a published paper, find and cite the paper itself. Use the lecture for the professor's own analysis.
2. Putting a personal communication in the APA reference list. It belongs in the text only.
3. Missing the date. Lectures are events; the exact date matters in every style.
4. Treating slides as the lecturer's full argument. Slides are often fragments. Quote them carefully and avoid stretching a bullet point into a claim the lecturer didn't make.

Key takeaways

• First decide which version you're citing: live, posted materials or recording.
• APA: live and unrecorded means a personal communication; slides and recordings get reference entries with a bracketed description.
• MLA: author, title in quotation marks, course or event, date, place, and "Lecture" at the end.
• Chicago: note plus bibliography, with "lecture" placed before the course or event.

Citing the slides rather than the talk? See how to cite a PowerPoint for more slide-specific examples.