Citations for Youtube videos

psycoperl
I have a video of a lecture that was uploaded onto YouTube. What is the best way to
1) Enter it into Zotero?
2) Cite it (do you use time stamps?)
  • bwiernik
    You can use the Save to Zotero button in your browser to import from YouTube. (see https://zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library). It will import as "Video Recording".

    When citing, insert a citation as normal. If you need to refer to a specific time point in the video, refer to a timestamp. You can enter the timestamp in the suffix field.
  • psycoperl
    Thank you, to follow up Zotero did not fully populate the fields (nor did I expect it to do so) could you please assist me with the fields and how it should be done.

    The video is of a lecture that was posted by the University of Chicago Center for International Studies from their series on Global Energies. The lecture was entitled Myths and Realities and was given by Anthony Ingraffea,

    In Zotero, the Save to Zotero tool populated the Title based on what the Center's Video title was, Director as the You Tube Channels' username (UChicagoCISSR) and the URL and running time.

    How would I format the remaining information. What field(s) should I use.
  • bwiernik
    Just the author (or username), title, posting date, and URL should be sufficient. The lecturer or series aren't really necessary. To what Zotero imports, just add the date of posting to Date if not already added.
  • marsh
    Just to follow up on this.

    I want to cite a YouTube clip from the movie "Animal House." It's the classic, but very short scene (https://youtu.be/zDAmPIq29ro) in which Kevin Bacon shouts "All is well."

    The video recording item type is oriented to an original work, but in this case the item is a short excerpt. In a circumstance like this, does the reference information (but not the link) (1) refer only to the original movie, (2) to the YouTube page with the poster as "Director," (3) combine an ad hoc hybrid between a web page and a video, or (4) use a different item type such as "web page"?
  • bwiernik
    I would cite the full film "Animal House" as a "Film" item and provide a timestamp for the clip referenced (enter this in the Suffix field in the Add/Edit Citation window in Word). Cite the director of the full film. You can provide the URL for the YouTube clip as a retrieval aid.

    If you do want to cite the clip from YouTube, you can still cite it using the "Video Recording" or "Film" item types. Enter the YouTube poster as "Director".
  • mimosinnet
    I am unable to produce a reference to a youtube video using APA. This is the reference in Zotero:

    What did Baudrillard think about The Matrix?
    Type Video Recording
    Director [Cuck Philosophy]
    URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9J35yzM3E
    Date 2019-09-11
    Format Video File

    This is Zotero's APA citation:
    [Cuck Philosophy]. (2019). What did Baudrillard think about The Matrix? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9J35yzM3E

    This should be the citation according to APA[1]:
    [Cuck Philosophy]. (2019, Sep 11). What did Baudrillard think about The Matrix? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9J35yzM3E

    [1] http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/apa-format/youtube-video/
  • adamsmith
    I'm afraid Zotero can't pick up APA's fine distinction between a video (just cite the year) and a video blog (cite the full year). I don't think we'll try to in the future, either.
  • bwiernik
    I suspect this is something that will also go away in APA 7th edition.
  • chezlouzo
    I’m having trouble getting Zotero to auto-populate fields for a youtube video.

    I had to manually enter the video’s username (author) and date.

    Then, when I copy/paste the bibliography for that item, it’s missing the month and day and the words “Video File”.

    For this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24d-FEptYj8 , I get this bibliography:

    Duncan, S. (2013). Carl Rogers and Gloria—Counselling (1965) Full Session. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24d-FEptYj8

    Also, the text is copying in two colors, white and black, so I have to manually change the color after copying it.

    Any suggestions to fix this? Thanks!
  • adamsmith
    Video File needs to be added as "Format"
    For full date, see my answer above.
  • chezlouzo
    Thanks. That helped with the Video File.

    Regarding date, shouldn't zotero be able to recognize a youtube url and then format it correctly? I don't know the mechanics, but Z does such a good job of recognizing types of sources in other ways, seems like it should be possible.
  • adamsmith
    No, citation styles can't change output based on the content of specific fields, sorry.
  • chezlouzo
    Ok, got it. Thanks.
  • kadewe
    Have a look at the APA examples for AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/youtube-references

    What Zotero Format should I use?

    Same with ONLINE MEDIA - SOCIAL MEDIA e.g. TikTok video https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/tiktok-references

    Please update the formats of ZOTERO to match apastyle…
    Or can I create my own formats?
  • adamsmith
    See https://www.zotero.org/groups/2205533/items/ME3MGWKF and https://www.zotero.org/groups/2205533/items/SA9BJLT6

    for entering YouTube videos into Zotero. I don't think there are TikTok videos in the manual, but they follow the exact same pattern.
  • Kchefa
    I'm having an issue with citation in word where it correclty shows me the short citation ([Channel name] [Date]), but when I enter the citation it switches the channel name to [Anon.], any idea why (It also does that for the bibliography at the end of my essay)? Thanks for any answers.
  • bwiernik
    What citation style are you using?

    Enter the channel name like this in Extra rather than in the Director field:

    Author: Channel Name


    @dstillman Would it be possible to set the default creator type for Video Recording to be one mapped to CSL author rather than director?
  • dstillman
    @bwiernik: Like a "Creator" creator type that mapped to Author?
  • bwiernik
    @dstillman Yes that would work
  • kymmeezdenka
    Following the examples given in this post:
    adamsmith October 17, 2020
    See https://www.zotero.org/groups/2205533/items/ME3MGWKF and https://www.zotero.org/groups/2205533/items/SA9BJLT6

    for entering YouTube videos into Zotero. I don't think there are TikTok videos in the manual, but they follow the exact same pattern.


    When I add a YouTube to Zotero, there is a difference when the bibliographic entry is generated by the desktop version, as opposed to the online synced library.

    From the desktop version, the following entry is created:
    Pierce, J. E. (Director). (2018, September 29). Unilateral upper motor neuron dysarthria—Example and tutorial [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdufr7pLQNU

    From the online version, this is created:
    Pierce, J. E. (2018, September 29). Unilateral upper motor neuron dysarthria - example and tutorial [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdufr7pLQNU

    As you can see, the online version is APA7 compliant, while my desktop version (current) is adding the (Director) element. Is there any way to get my desktop version to leave (Director) out?

  • AdeleEff
    In the item type Video recording, which is what I'm using for Youtube videos, there is no Author field. For the originator, you have a choice of Director, Cast Member, Contributor, Producer, Scriptwriter.

    Since I'm citing TV commercials, I've put the sponsor in the Producer field. However, this does not fill the Creator column in the main pane view, which makes the video items harder to find again.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5740425/u6dmb7yk0ywwskinz9z6.png

    The bibliography is formed properly:

    Pfizer (Producer). (2001, May). Original Zoloft Commercial [Youtube]. ABC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhvtzd6gXA&feature=emb_logo

    Can this be fixed so the Creator column is filled?


  • damnation
    The "Director" name variable was introduced last year with CSL 1.0.2. Therefore, a lot of citation styles don't include it yet.
    You'd need to tell us which style you're using to give you concrete help.
  • AdeleEff
    The bibliography is correctly formed, it's not a style problem.

    I was asking if the Zotero main pane column (Creator) could be populated with Director, Cast Member, Contributor, Producer, or Scriptwriter. It's a Zotero display problem.

    In general, we need more development in citation of non-print formats. A lot of activity is happening in video (as on Youtube) these days.
  • allisonmemmo
    Using the Video Recording entry does not allow for a proper APA YouTube entry. The best I have found is to enter a YouTube video as a webpage. When entering the title of the video, append "[Video]" to the end of the title. Use the Author option that allows for the full name as one entry for the channel name, and do not set it to reorder, which pulls out the last word as the last name to go first. Enter the full date of posting in the date and the direct URL for URL. Website title is "YouTube." That should give users the correct APA output for the bibliography (turn off the italics for [Video].).
    This is an example from the APA website of what is needed for a YouTube video:
    Asian Boss. (2020, June 5). World’s leading vaccine expert fact-checks COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy: Stay curious #22 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQdLDMLrYIA

    I hope this is helpful.
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