How to Cite a Webinar

Webinars often provide a lot of useful information in a format that's easy to understand. You can even use a webinar as a source for a research paper or article — the question is how you cite the source. While citation styles typically don't have a format specifically for webinars, you can generally use the same format you would for any other lecture or presentation. Your in-text citation and reference list entry will look a bit different depending on whether you're following Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago style.

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]MLA

1. Start your Works Cited entry with the name of the presenter. Type the presenter's last name first, followed by a comma, then type their first name. Place a period at the end of the presenter's name.^[1]
   
   • Example: Saylor, Julie.
2. Add the title of the webinar. Provide the complete title for the webinar using title case, in which you capitalize the first word plus all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Put a period at the end of the title. In MLA style, the title is written like a course title, without any quotation marks or italics.^[2]
   
   • Example: Saylor, Julie. Researching the History of a House.
3. List the name of the organization that sponsored the webinar. Type the name of the organization after the title, followed by a comma. The sponsoring organization is usually a school or university, but could also be a government agency, nonprofit organization, or business.^[3]
   
   • Example: Saylor, Julie. Researching the History of a House. Maryland State Library,
4. Provide the date the webinar happened or was posted. Use day-month-year format for the date, abbreviating all months with more than 4 letters. Place a period at the end of the date.^[4]
   
   • Example: Saylor, Julie. Researching the History of a House. Maryland State Library, 5 Dec. 2019.
5. Close with a URL if a recording of the webinar is posted online. If the webinar is publicly available on the internet, copy the URL and paste it to the end of your Works Cited entry. Leave off the "https//:" portion of the URL. Place a period at the end.^[5]
   
   • Example: Saylor, Julie. Researching the History of a House. Maryland State Library, 5 Dec. 2019. https://ift.tt/3i6CBd6.
   • If the webinar isn't posted online, use the word "Webinar" in place of the URL. For example: Saylor, Julie. Researching the History of a House. Maryland State Library, 5 Dec. 2019. Webinar.
6. Use the presenter's last name for your in-text citations. Whenever you paraphrase or quote from the webinar in your paper, add a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence with the presenter's name. Keep your citation inside the closing punctuation for the sentence.^[6]
   
   • For example, you might write: In an old home, the materials used in the building itself can provide clues about its history (Saylor).
   • If you're citing from a video of the webinar on the internet, include the range of hours, minutes, and seconds you're referencing in your in-text citation. For example, you might write: The research of the history of a house starts within the house itself (Taylor 4:30-4:32).

[Edit]APA

1. Type the name of the presenter to start your Reference List entry. Put the presenter's last name first, followed by their first initial. If there are several presenters (such as a panel of experts), separate each of the names with a comma, placing an ampersand (&) before the final presenter's name.^[7]
   
   • Example: Kane, J., Yasar, R., Carkenord, B., & McCoy, L.
2. Provide the date of the webinar. Type the date in parentheses after the name of the presenter. Use as precise a date as you have, putting the year first, followed by a comma, then the month and the day. Don't abbreviate the name of the month. Place a period at the end, outside the closing parenthesis.^[8]
   
   • Example: Kane, J., Yasar, R., Carkenord, B., & McCoy, L. (2020, March 6).
3. Add the title of the webinar along with a description of the medium. Type the title of the webinar in italics. Use sentence case, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns. Put the word "Webinar" in square brackets after the title as a description of the medium. Place a period outside the closing square brackets.^[9]
   
   • Example: Kane, J., Yasar, R., Carkenord, B., & McCoy, L. (2020, March 6). Women in business analysis [Webinar].
4. Include the name of the sponsoring organization. Type the name of the sponsoring organization as the "publisher" of the webinar. Add a period after the name of the organization. Typically, the organization will be a university, nonprofit, government agency, or business.^[10]
   
   • Example: Kane, J., Yasar, R., Carkenord, B., & McCoy, L. (2020, March 6). Women in business analysis [Webinar]. International Institute of Business Analytics.
5. Close with a URL for the recording of the webinar. If the webinar is available online, copy the direct URL for the recording and paste it at the end of your Reference List entry. Don't put a period at the end of the URL.^[11]
   
   • Example: Kane, J., Yasar, R., Carkenord, B., & McCoy, L. (2020, March 6). Women in business analysis [Webinar]. International Institute of Business Analytics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSD_g2jLLAQ
   • If a recording of the webinar isn't posted online, you only need an in-text citation, not a Reference List entry.
6. Use the presenter's name, year, and time-stamp for in-text citations. Whenever you paraphrase or quote from a recorded webinar in your paper, include a parenthetical at the end of the sentence, inside the closing punctuation. Type the presenter's last name, the year the webinar was presented, and the time-stamp where the material you referenced is located in the video. Separate these elements with commas.^[12] If there are multiple presenters, use only the last name of the first presenter listed in your Reference List entry, followed by the abbreviation "et al."^[13]
   
   • For example, you might write: The growing field of business analysis provides a lot of opportunities for women (Kane, 2020, 12:02).
   • If you include the presenter's name in the text of your paper, place a parenthetical with the year and the time-stamp immediately after the name. For example, you might write: Jodie Kane (2020, 12:02) noted that women in business analysis, globally, have a higher average salary than men.

[Edit]Chicago

1. Put the presenter's name first in your Bibliography entry. Type the presenter's last name, followed by a comma, then add their first name. Place a period at the end of the presenter's name.^[14]
   
   • Example: Fraser, Brytani.
2. Add the title of the webinar in quotation marks. Type the title of the webinar in title case, capitalizing the first word plus all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Place a period at the end of the title, inside the closing quotation marks. If the title has internal punctuation, copy it exactly as it is in the title.^[15]
   
   • Example: Fraser, Brytani. "Ditch Crafts. Make Art."
3. List the medium, sponsoring organization, location, and date. Since this is a webinar, type "Webinar from" followed by the name of the sponsoring organization. Place a comma after the organization's name, then add the location of the organization. Add a comma after the location, then type the date the webinar was presented in month-day-year format. Don't abbreviate the name of the month. Place a period at the end of the date.^[16]
   
   • Example: Fraser, Brytani. "Ditch Crafts. Make Art." Webinar from Maryland State Library, Baltimore, MD, October 24, 2019.
4. Add the URL to the end if a recording is available online. Copy the direct URL for the video of the webinar and paste it onto the end of your Bibliography entry. Add a period to the end of the URL.^[17]
   
   • Example: Fraser, Brytani. "Ditch Crafts. Make Art." Webinar from Maryland State Library, Baltimore, MD, October 24, 2019. https://ift.tt/3i6CBd6.
5. Use the same information in a different format for footnotes. At least your first footnote to the webinar in the text of your paper will include all the same information as the Bibliography entry. However, you'll reverse the order of the name and use commas instead of periods between the elements. Put the "publication" information (the medium, sponsoring organization, location, and date) in parentheses. The only period in your footnote comes at the end.^[18]
   
   • Example: Brytani Fraser, "Ditch Crafts. Make Art," (webinar from Maryland State Library, Baltimore, MD, October 24, 2019), https://ift.tt/3i6CBd6.
   • In subsequent citations, you can use a shortened form that includes only the presenter's last name and the title of the webinar. For example: Fraser, "Ditch Crafts. Make Art."

[Edit]Tips

• If the presenter's name isn't listed in the information for the webinar, they'll usually introduce themselves in the first few minutes.^[19] If the webinar doesn't include a slide with the correct spelling of their name, try searching it online along with the name of the sponsoring organization or the title of the webinar to get the spelling right.

[Edit]Warnings

• This article covers how to cite a webinar using the MLA 8th edition (2016), the APA 7th edition (2019), and the Chicago Manual 17th edition (2017). Check with your instructor or editor to confirm which edition you need to use.

[Edit]References

1. ↑ https://style.mla.org/citing-a-webinar/
2. ↑ https://style.mla.org/citing-a-webinar/
3. ↑ https://style.mla.org/citing-a-webinar/
4. ↑ https://style.mla.org/citing-a-webinar/
5. ↑ https://style.mla.org/citing-a-webinar/
6. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
7. ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/32858
8. ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/32858
9. ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/32858
10. ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/32858
11. ↑ https://writeanswers.royalroads.ca/faq/199138
12. ↑ https://writeanswers.royalroads.ca/faq/199138
13. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_author_authors.html
14. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/other/lecture
15. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/miscellaneous.html
16. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/miscellaneous.html
17. ↑ https://libguides.csuchico.edu/c.php?g=414275&p=2823092
18. ↑ https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/cite-write/citation-style-guides/chicago/lectures
19. ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/32858