Online video: how to cite in Chicago Style – notes and bibliography (17th ed.)?

Create a spot-on reference in Chicago 18, 17 and 16

Select a source type:

Book Website Journal article Video (online)

Archival document Blog post Book Book chapter Complete reference Conference paper Copyright certificate Court case Dictionary Dictionary entry Disc Dissertation / Thesis Encyclopedia Encyclopedia article Extended abstract of dissertation Image Journal article Law / Act Newspaper article Patent Podcast Preprint Press release Religious text Report Social media post Software Standard Video (online) Video game Website

General rules

Chicago Style distinguishes between different types of video materials: movies (films), series, and other kinds of videos. This article explains how to reference a video published on online platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc.

The bibliographic reference to an online video should include the following data: author of the video (it may be the person who uploaded the video, the title of the channel, etc.), title of the video, title of the website where the video was published, date of publication, video duration, and the video’s URL address.

If you are citing a recorded concert, performance, etc., i.e. a video featuring another standalone work, the details about such a work should be provided after the title of the video. For example, if you are citing a concert, indicate the composer, the musicians, the title of the musical work, etc. The details about the recording can be presented in any format that complies with the general requirements of Chicago Style.

Bibliographic reference template:

Author. "Video Title." Recording details. Website Title, publication date. Video, duration. URL.

Full note template:

Author, "Video Title," recording details, Website Title, publication date, video, timecode (if needed), URL.

Short note template:

Author, "Abbreviated Video Title," timecode (if needed).

See in more detail about abbreviating the titles of sources in notes here.

The users of the bibliographic management service Grafiati can benefit from the automatic retrieval of video details. Just copy the link to the video from your browser and paste it into the appropriate field on the video addition form: our algorithms will retrieve automatically all the details about the video and generate the correct reference.

Examples of references in a bibliography

History Vids. "Battle of Waterloo in 2 Minutes." YouTube, 7 February 2015. Video, 2:08. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8c-VtXwBtI.

Atlas. "Barcelona Design Museum." Vimeo, 13 December 2016. Video, 0:54. https://vimeo.com/195432980.

Examples of notes

1. History Vids, "Battle of Waterloo in 2 Minutes," YouTube, 7 February 2015, video, 0:58, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8c-VtXwBtI.

2. History Vids, "Battle of Waterloo."

3. Atlas, "Barcelona Design Museum," Vimeo, 13 December 2016, video, 0:30, https://vimeo.com/195432980.

4. Atlas, "Barcelona Design Museum."