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- How to Cite a Lecture | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples

How to Cite a Lecture | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples
Published on March 19, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on June 28, 2022.
To cite a lecture or speech, you need an in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the speaker, the title of the lecture, the date it took place, and details of the context (e.g. the name of the course or event and the institution).
The exact information included varies depending on how you viewed the lecture and what citation style you are using. The main citation styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago style .
Table of contents
Citing a lecture in apa style, citing a lecture in mla style, citing a lecture in chicago style, frequently asked questions about citations.
In APA Style, you don’t provide a formal citation for a lecture unless it is recorded or documented in some way. This is based on the idea that it’s only useful to document sources your reader can actually access.
Instead, you should usually just cite the lecture as a personal communication in parentheses in the text. State the lecturer’s name (initials and last name), the words “personal communication,” and the date of the lecture.
For a talk at a conference, you do provide a full reference entry and APA in-text citation. For example, a paper presentation is cited in the following format.
A different format is used to cite information from the lecture slides themselves.
Recorded or transcribed speeches
When citing a speech or lecture that you accessed as a recording or transcript, the format follows that of the source type that contains the speech (e.g. book , website , newspaper ).
For example, the following is a citation of an audio recording of a speech hosted on a website.
In an MLA Works Cited entry for an in-person lecture , list the title in quotation marks, with headline capitalization, and include the word “Lecture” (or a more specific descriptive term) at the end of the entry.
The MLA in-text citation just lists the speaker’s last name.
A different format is used to cite information from lecture slides .
When a lecture or speech is recorded or transcribed within another source (e.g. a website , a book ), you should follow the format for the relevant source type, adding a descriptive phrase at the end of the Works Cited entry to clarify what kind of source it is.
For example, the following is a citation of a speech in audio form from a website.
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In Chicago notes and bibliography style, you cite sources using Chicago style footnotes and corresponding entries in the bibliography.
A bibliography entry for a lecture you viewed in person lists the title of the lecture and the event or institution that hosted it. It also includes a descriptive label (e.g. “Lecture”) to clarify the type of source.
A more specific label can be used if you’re citing information specifically from the slides or lecture handout:
Chicago also offers an alternative author-date citation style ; examples of lecture citations in this style can be found here .
When you’re citing a recorded or transcribed lecture (rather than one you saw in person), the format depends on the type of source that contains it (e.g. book , newspaper , website ).
For example, the following citation refers to an audio recording of a speech, hosted on a website.
The main elements included in a lecture citation across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the name of the speaker, the lecture title, the date it took place, the course or event it was part of, and the institution it took place at.
For transcripts or recordings of lectures/speeches, other details like the URL, the name of the book or website , and the length of the recording may be included instead of information about the event and institution.
When you want to cite a specific passage in a source without page numbers (e.g. an e-book or website ), all the main citation styles recommend using an alternate locator in your in-text citation . You might use a heading or chapter number, e.g. (Smith, 2016, ch. 1)
In APA Style , you can count the paragraph numbers in a text to identify a location by paragraph number. MLA and Chicago recommend that you only use paragraph numbers if they’re explicitly marked in the text.
For audiovisual sources (e.g. videos ), all styles recommend using a timestamp to show a specific point in the video when relevant.
Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.
- APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
- MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
- Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
- Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.
Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.
The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.
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Caulfield, J. (2022, June 28). How to Cite a Lecture | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-lecture/
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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Lecture/PPT
- General Style Guidelines
- One Author or Editor
- Two Authors or Editors
- Three to Five Authors or Editors
- Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
- Article in a Reference Book
- Edition other than the First
- Translation
- Government Publication
- Journal Article with One Author
- Journal Article with 2 Authors
- Journal Article with 3-7 Authors
- Journal Article 7 or more Authors
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- Basic Web Page
- Web page from a University site
- Web Page with No Author
- Entry in a Reference Work
- Government Document
- Film and Television
- Youtube Video
- Audio Podcast
- Electronic Image
- Twitter/Instagram
- Lecture/PPT
- Conferences
- Secondary Sources
- Citation Support
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Formatting Your Paper
How to cite from Blackboard?

If you retrieved lecture documents (not a journal article or an item available freely online) through a password protected portal such as Blackboard, you should not include the long URL from the Blackboard entry, instead use the homepage of Blackboard (i.e. Blackboard website: http://blackboard.gwu.edu).
NOTE: When citing online lecture notes, provide the file format in brackets after the lecture title (e.g. [PowerPoint], [PDF] documents).
WRONG: Frank, B. (2015). Lecture 4: Psychophysiology [PowerPoint slides]. https://blackboard.gwu.edu/webapps/blackboard/content listContent.jsp?course_id=_241832_1&content_id=_6002642_1
Important Note: This format would be used if you were citing a set of notes and/or documents from a lecture (e.g. PDF, Excel, Word document, or PowerPoint slides provided by your instructor).
Tip : Cite information from your own personal notes from a lecture as personal communication and refer to it only in the body of your essay. Follow the format examples for a personal communication available under the Interview section.
General Format
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Author Surname, Year)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Lecture title [Format]. URL of website.
(Smith, 2010)
Butera, G. (2017). Lecture 4: Demystifying APA citation [PowerPoint slides]. George Washington University Introduction to Public Health Services Blackboard: http://blackboard.gwu.edu
What are the APA rules for citing references in PPT?

APA has rules to support clear and concise writing and attribution of work but there are areas where they do not have a specific rule - and PowerPoint is one of them.
See: APA Blog " Dear Professor...Your Students Have Questions We Can't Answer"
So how to include references in PPT? Use the following best practices but please note you should ALWAYS check with your instructor on their APA citation style preferences for PPT.
Question : Should I include my references on each slide or at the end of the PPT?
- Answer: If you include your references on each slide your slide may become too busy with too much text. This can be distracting to your audience.
- Best Practice: Consider adding an in-text citation on the slide and include all of your references at the end of the PPT presentation.
Question: How do I cite an image, table and/or figure on a PPT slide?
- Answer: Use the same guidelines for citing images/tables/figures in APA in a paper and include your references at the end of the PPT presentation.
- Best Practice: Always include the proper citation directly under the table/figure following APA rules. Use a smaller text size to avoid distraction/too busy slide. (See APA Blog: Navigating Copyright: How to Cite Sources in a Table.
Question: Should my references be double spaced or single spaced?
- Answer: Although APA does require references to be double spaced you may exercise flexibility and single space the references.
- Best Practice: Use single space and a smaller font size but otherwise follow the APA citation format for references (i.e list in alphabetical order, indent
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- Last Updated: Jan 11, 2023 12:39 PM
- URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA

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Purdue Online Writing Lab College of Liberal Arts

General APA FAQs

Welcome to the Purdue OWL
This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.
Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6 th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , (7 th ed.).
Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here .
The following FAQs address issues in APA citation and/or formatting. The entries in this section are based on frequently asked questions received by our former OWL Mail Tutors. Further information on APA style and citation can be found via the Purdue OWL’s APA Style and Formatting resource.
Do I need to include a running head or not? How do I do this?
If you are writing a paper for publication in a journal, you should include a running head. The running head should be in the header of every page of the document, flush left, in all capital letters; no “running head” label is needed. The running head should be a 50 character or less abbreviated title that focuses on the main idea of the paper; it does not need to contain the same exact words in the same order as the full title.
If you are a student writing a paper for a class, you do not need a running head unless your instructor tells you to include one. If that’s the case, you should follow your instructor’s guidelines; if they have simply told you to include a running head, follow the advice above.
Using APA, how do I cite an author if their work is referenced more than once in a single paragraph?
Here’s what the 7 th edition of the APA manual says: "In general, include the author and date in every in-text citation... the year can be omitted from a citation only when multiple narrative citations to a work appear within a single paragraph" (pg. 265).
In other words, you should always give the year in a parenthetical citation, such as (Jones, 2020). If you are citing a work multiple times in the same paragraph in the narrative , you may omit the year. For instance:
Jones (2020) studied college students’ interest in various popular dog breeds. Jones brought puppies of six different breeds to a focus group and observed which breeds were most popular.
How do I cite a work that has no listed author in an APA-style paper?
According to the OWL’s resource on APA-style citations, “If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports are italicized; titles of articles, chapters, and web pages are in quotation marks.” For example, a parenthetical citation for an edition of a dictionary would be: ( Merriam-Webster’s 1993)." The bibliographical citation is as follows:
Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10 th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
What do I do if the source-type that I’m using doesn’t appear in any APA reference/style guides?
The APA manual models many specific templates for specific kinds of sources. If the source type you are using doesn’t appear in those templates, you should use the basic format for the category your source falls under:
- textual works , including journal articles, books, reports, dissertations, or entries in reference works;
- data sets, software and tests , including types like data sets, scales, inventories, apps, and equipment;
- audiovisual media , including types like television shows, films, and music;
- and online media , including social media posts, webpages, and websites.
Each of these reference groups includes several general templates for large categories such as books or websites. Pick the general template that is closest to what you are trying to cite and adapt the format using the elements in the template.
What do I do if a website is missing information required for an APA-style citation?
The APA Style website ’s table shows what to do when one or more pieces of information are missing. For example, if your website has no author, you can use the title in its place in the reference list and in-text. If the work has no date, you can use the abbreviation “n.d.” in its place in the reference list and in-text.
If I co-author a paper, how should the author’s names appear in an APA-style title page?
According to the 7 th edition of the APA manual, author names should be centered between the side margins. Names with suffixes like Jr. or III, use a space to separate the suffix rather than a comma. List the authors’ institutional affiliations on the next line, with different affiliations each having their own line.
Some examples include the following:
Two authors, one affiliation:
Jamie R. Clark and Owen B. Engel Jr. Harvard University
Three authors, one affiliation:
Andrea Ferris, Brian Atkinson, and Rebecca Schultz University of Michigan
Two authors, two affiliations:
Paul Jacobs 1 and Erin Gibson 2 1 Rhodes College 2 Vanderbilt University
Three authors, two affiliations:
Stacy Johnson 1 , Madeline Ramirez 1 , and Brandon James 2 1 Chicago Medical School 2 Columbia University
I’m including an image in my APA style PowerPoint presentation. How do I properly cite the image that I’m going to use?
The answer depends on how you are using the image and where the image comes from. In general, you can cite images using the template found on our resource here . Many images found online are specifically licensed for use by anyone, whether with restrictions (like a Creative Commons license) or without restrictions (public domain). Other images, however, are owned specifically by vendors who will sell you a license to use their property; you should not use these images unless you have purchased the license or they have a Creative Commons or public domain license. When you are giving a presentation in a class or using an image in academic, not for profit work, your use usually falls under fair use guidelines and you can cite it with a copyright attribution, as in this template from the APA 7 th edition manual, p. 390:
From Title of Webpage , by A.A. Author, year, Site Name (DOI or URL). Copyright [year] by Name, OR In the public domain., OR Creative Commons license such as CC BY-NC.
If your presentation will be published, you should obtain permission from the copyright holder as per the guidelines of the publishing organization you’re working with. You can learn more about copyright and use permission guidelines of the APA here .
How do I cite unpublished works in APA?
Here is the relevant format from the APA manual, 7 th edition, p. 336:
Unpublished or not-yet-published manuscript with a university cited:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2020). Title of work [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department, University . URL.
Blackwell, E., & Conrod, P.J. (2003). A five dimensional measure of drinking motives [Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
How do I cite pieces of software in APA?
You can find a template for citing software on our guide to citing electronic sources .
How do I cite my professor’s classroom PowerPoint presentations in APA? What about my lecture notes?
Your first choice is to follow the format for online slides on this page of the Purdue OWL , and to use the login page for the course management system where the slides are stored as the url. You would reference this source in-text as you normally would by the author’s last name and date. For lecture notes, you would write something like [Lecture notes on key Sophists] in place of the title.
Your second choice is to refer to the lecture as personal communication. For an example, please see this resource on the Purdue OWL .
Please note: personal communication is only cited in-text and not within your References list.
I created and administered my own survey for a project. How would I cite this survey in an APA-style paper?
Since a survey you conducted yourself is not published elsewhere by someone else, you do not cite it in the same way you cite other materials. Instead, in your paper you describe your survey and make it clear that the data you’re referring to is from the survey, usually by saying so in introductory sentences. In your paper, you should include a short overview of your survey method: whom the survey was administered to, how it was administered, how many responses you got, and what kind of questions you asked. You should include a copy of the survey instrument (the full set of questions asked) as an appendix to your paper. You do not need to include your survey in your reference list.
How do I cite state bills in APA?
APA follows the guidelines for legal citations in the United States as outlined in The Bluebook ® . You can access a version of The Bluebook by clicking here .
However, guidelines for references to legal materials can also be found on pages 355-368 in the 7 th edition of the Publication Manual of the APA .
The following template reference to a statute in a state code and its explanation can be found on page 361:
Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL
How do I cite artifacts in an APA-style paper?
You can use the citation that best matches the type of artifact; however, if the artifact is not accessible to readers, it may not need to be cited.
How do I cite a product's instructional guide (e.g., the Apple iPad user’s manual) in APA?
While the APA publication manual lists many different references, product instructions are not something that has a specific reference example. Since there is not a specific reference guideline for instructions, you could reasonably adapt the template for reports found on our "Other Print Sources" resource .
How do I cite genealogies in APA?
The APA does not seem to specifically address this issue. Here’s what we’ve been able to find from other sources:
Genealogy.com offers a method of citing birth/death certificates, which can be found by clicking here and scrolling down to the “Official Records” section of the page.
Archive.gov also offers suggestions on how to cite birth/death certificates, which can be accessed by clicking here .
Genealogy.com suggests some other considerations for genealogy-specific sources here .
Please note again that the APA has not explicitly endorsed these citation guidelines.
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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Presentations and Class Notes
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In-Text Citation or Reference List?
Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as PowerPoint should be cited both in-text and on the Reference list.
Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list.
Presentation Slides from a Website
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation [Lecture notes, PowerPoint Slides, etc.]. Publisher. URL
Kunka, J. L. (n.d.). Conquering the comma [PowerPoint presentation]. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html#presentations
Presentation Slides from WebCampus (Canvas)
Instructor, I. I. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. URL
Graham, J. (2013). Introduction: Jean Watson [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas
Note : The first letter of the word Watson is capitalized as it is part of a person's name.

Class Handouts from WebCampus (Canvas)
Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout [Class handout]. WebCampus. URL
Magowan , A. (2013). Career resources at the library [Class handout]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas
Class Handout in Print
Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout [Class handout]. University Name, Course code.
Wood, D. (2013). Laboratory safety overview [Class handout]. University of Nevada, Reno, BIO173.
Class Lectures (Notes from)
Note : Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content from the class lecture.
(I. I. Instructor who gave lecture, personal communication, Month Day, Year lecture took place)
"Infections are often contracted while patients are recovering in the hospital" (J. D. Black, personal communication, May 30, 2012).
- << Previous: Personal Communications
- Next: Social Media >>

PowerPoint Slide or Lecture Note References
This page contains reference examples for PowerPoint slides or lecture notes, including the following:
- PowerPoint slides available online
- PowerPoint slides from a classroom website
Use these formats to cite information obtained directly from slides.
If the slides contain citations to information published elsewhere, and you want to cite that information as well, then it is best to find, read, and cite the original source yourself rather than citing the slides as a secondary source.
Writers creating PowerPoint presentations in APA Style should present information clearly and concisely. Many APA Style guidelines can be applied to presentations (e.g., the guidance for crediting sources, using bias-free language, and writing clearly and concisely).
However, decisions about font size, amount of text on a slide, color scheme, use of animations, and so on are up to writers; these details are not specified as part of APA Style.
1. PowerPoint slides available online
Jones, J. (2016, March 23). Guided reading: Making the most of it [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/hellojenjones/guided-reading-making-the-most-of-it
- Parenthetical citation : (Jones, 2016)
- Narrative citation : Jones (2016)
- When the slides are available online to anyone, provide the site name on which they are hosted in the source element of the reference, followed by the URL of the slides.
2. PowerPoint slides from a classroom website
Mack, R., & Spake, G. (2018). Citing open source images and formatting references for presentations [PowerPoint slides]. [email protected] https://fnu.onelogin.com/login
- Parenthetical citation : (Mack & Spake, 2018)
- Narrative citation : Mack and Spake (2018)
- If the slides come from a classroom website, learning management system (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai), or company intranet and you are writing for an audience with access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its URL (use the login page URL for sites requiring login).
- If the audience for which are you writing does not have access to the slides, cite them as a personal communication .

This guidance is new to the 7th edition.

APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Class Handouts, Presentations, and Readings
- What Kind of Source Is This?
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On This Page
Presentation slides from moodle, presentation slides from cams, powerpoint presentation slides from a website, class handouts from moodle, class handouts from cams, class handout in print, class lectures (notes from).
Note : All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.
A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.
In-Text Citation or References List
Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as Powerpoint should be cited both in-text and on the References list.
Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the References list, since they are not a published source.
Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation: Subtitle if any [PowerPoint presentation]. Moodle. URL of Moodle login page
Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation: Subtitle if any [PowerPoint presentation]. CAMS. URL
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation: Subtitle if any [PowerPoint presentation]. Name of Website if given. URL
Note about h yperlinks:
It is acceptable for hyperlinks to be blue and underlined (live) or black without underlining.
All hyperlinks must include https://
Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. Moodle. URL of Moodle login page
Note: To cite other readings , follow the model for that type of document: eg a chapter from a book with an editor, an article from a library database, etc.. You do not need to identify Moodle as the source. If the instructor has not provided details that are necessary to to cite the reading, contact them to ask for these.
Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. CAMS. URL
Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. Columbia College, Course code.
Note : Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the References list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content from the class lecture.
(First Initial of Faculty Who Gave Lecture. Second Initial if known. Last Name, personal communication, Month Day, Year lecture took place)
- << Previous: Book Reviews
- Next: Encyclopedias & Dictionaries >>
- Last Updated: Jan 6, 2023 4:37 PM
- URL: https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/apa
APA 7th referencing style
- About APA 7th
- Printing this guide
- In-text references
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- Using headings
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Lecture notes and slides eg. Powerpoint - Blackboard
Lecture notes and slides eg. powerpoint - online.
- Legal sources
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- Secondary source (indirect citation)
- Social media
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- Works in non-English scripts, such as Arabic or Chinese
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- Last Updated: Mar 3, 2023 12:32 PM
- URL: https://guides.library.uq.edu.au/referencing/apa7
How to Cite a Lecture in APA (7th Edition)
Published by steve tippins on june 23, 2020 june 23, 2020.
Last Updated on: 29th August 2022, 08:24 am
When writing your dissertation or other academic papers, you may have to cite a lecture in APA. Keep these guidelines handy and you will have no problem citing a lecture that your professor delivers.
Personal lecture notes
The easiest guideline to remember is how to cite a lecture in APA from your own personal notes.
Lecture notes you take in a live online or face-to-face class are considered personal communication. They are personal communication, because they do not exist in any other recorded or print format.
In-text citation
(Professor’s first initial. Last name, personal communication, date of lecture)
(S. Graham, personal communication, June 17, 2020)
S. Graham (personal communication, June 17, 2020) explained six ways that one can distinguish between interpretation and evidence.
According to S. Graham (personal communication, June 17, 2020), “there are six ways that one can distinguish between interpretation and evidence.”
Note: You only need to cite personal communication in-text, and do not have to put it in the References list.
Lecture in online learning management system (LMS) course

A professor’s lecture in a course conducted in an LMS platform may be recorded. To cite a lecture in APA for this type of format, you will need to put the source in the References list.
In-text citation
(Professor’s last name, date of lecture, if no date, n.d.)
(Jimenez, June 17, 2020)
Paraphrase
According to Jimenez (2017), the first Kuru epidemic occurred in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea among the Fore tribespeople.
Jimenez (2017) stated symptoms of the Kuru disease were “involuntary movements or tremors, difficulty eating that results in malnutrition, personality changes, and dementia.”
Reference list
Professor’s last name, Initial of first name. year, month and day of lecture. Lecture title in italics [Lecture recording]. Type of LMS platform. URL of LMS login page.
Jimenez, S. (2020, June 17). The Kuru pandemic [Lecture recording]. [email protected] University. https://classes.CRUniv.edu
Lecture on PowerPoint

To cite a lecture in APA when your professor delivers it via PowerPoint is easy once you have mastered the previous two guidelines.
(Professor’s last name, year)
(Hayward, 2020)
The epidemic known as “dancing mania” or the dancing plague broke out during the Middle Ages (Hayward, 2020).
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According to Hayward (2020), “there are many chronicles written about scourges of uncontrollable dancing among the population living along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.”
Professor’s last name, Initial of first name. Year, if no date, then n.d. Title of the PowerPoint presentation in italics [PowerPoint slides]. Type of LMS platform. URL of LMS login page.
Hayward, D. (2020). Dancing mania epidemic [PowerPoint slides]. [email protected] University. https://classes.CRUniv.edu
PowerPoint slides online
Your professor may post the PowerPoint lecture online, rather than on the course website. To cite a lecture in APA for this type of lecture, you will follow the guidelines for citing a PowerPoint lecture above, but with a minor difference in how it is written in the References list.
Last name of professor, Initial of first name. Year of publication, if no date, then n.d. Title of PowerPoint in italics [PowerPoint slides]. URL of PowerPoint.
Knapp, G. (2020). Methylmercury poisoning in Japan [PowerPoint slides]. https://www. net/health-sciences-methylmercury-poisoning
Note: You can find more information about how to cite a lecture in APA 7 th edition in section 8.8 and page 347 of the Manual.
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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / How to Cite a Lecture in APA
How to Cite a Lecture in APA
Lecture and PowerPoint presentations are often great sources of information for specific papers. This guide will show you how to cite lectures and PowerPoint presentation slides following APA 7th edition guidelines. The type of lecture (e.g., classroom, conference, etc.) and format of the information (saw lecture, accessed slides, etc.) will determine what citation format you use.
Guide overview
Citing a conference presentation
Citing a classroom presentation/lecture slides.
- Citing a classroom presentation/lecture you watched
- Citing a recorded presentation (video)
Troubleshooting
Presenter #1 Last name, F. M., & Presenter #2 Last Name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of conference). Name of presentation [Presentation format]. Name of Conference, Location. URL

Jacobson, T.E., & Mackey, T. (2013, April 10-13). What’s in the name?: Information literacy, metaliteracy, or transliteracy [Panel session]. Association of College & Research Libraries, Indianapolis, IN, United States. https://www.slideshare.net/tmackey/acrl-2013
In-text citation structure & example:
(Lecture Last Name, Year)
(Jacobson & Mackey, 2013)
If you are citing a classroom presentation file you’ve viewed or accessed, use the following structure.
Lecturer Last name, F. M. (Year, month date). Title of lecture [Description of file type]. Department name, university name. URL
Prosser, M. (2021, October 18). Introduction to rhetorical forms [PowerPoint slides]. English and Modern Languages Department, California Polytechnic State University. https://https://english.calpoly.edu/
(Lecturer Last Name, Year)
(Prosser, 2021)
Citing a presentation/lecture you have watched
If you are citing information you learned through a presentation/lecture you attended, FIRST see if you can find the documented source (e.g., book, article, etc.) the presenter got the information from. If the information is original and the presentation was the primary source, treat the information as personal communication. This means you ONLY need to cite it in an in-text citation and no reference list entry is needed.
In-text citation structure & examples:
(Presenter First Initial., Last Name, personal communication, Month Day, Year of presentation)
(L. Koerte, personal communication, March 17, 2021)
L. Koerte (personal communication, March 17, 2021)
Citing a recorded presentation/lecture (video)
Cite the recording as you would cite a regular video. The person or channel who uploaded/published the video is credited as the “author” even if they did not conduct the presentation/lecture.
Uploader Last name, F. M. (Year, month date). Title of video [Video]. Website Name. URL
Stanford. (2002, January 13). Einstein’s general theory of relativity | Lecture 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbmf0bB38h0
(Uploader Last Name, Year)
(Stanford, 2002)
Solution #1: Citing a presentation that comes from a classroom’s website or learning management system (LMS)
If the slides you are citing come from a classroom website or learning management system (LMS) like Canvas or Blackboard, and you are writing for an audience that has access to the site, then provide the name of the site and the URL for the login page.
Reference page structure:
Last name, F. M. (Date). Presentation title in sentence case [PowerPoint slides]. LMS [email protected] name acronym. Link to login page
Reference page example:
Vincent, P. (2020). Recognizing rhetorical devices in visual rhetoric [PowerPoint slides]. [email protected] https://idp.quicklaunchsso.com/laverne
In-text citation structure:
Narrative citation: Last Name (Year)
Parenthetical citation: (Last Name, Year)
In-text citation examples:
Narrative citation: Vincent (2020)
Parenthetical citation: (Vincent, 2020)
APA Formatting Guide
APA Formatting
- Annotated Bibliography
- Block Quotes
- et al Usage
- In-text Citations
- Multiple Authors
- Paraphrasing
- Page Numbers
- Parenthetical Citations
- Reference Page
- Sample Paper
- APA 7 Updates
- View APA Guide
Citation Examples
- Book Chapter
- Journal Article
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- Website (no author)
- View all APA Examples
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In APA Style, you don't provide a formal citation for a lecture unless it is recorded or documented in some way. This is based on the idea
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Lecture title [Format]. URL of website. Example. In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):.
You would reference this source in-text as you normally would by the author's last name and date. For lecture notes, you would write something like [Lecture
Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry
If the slides contain citations to information published elsewhere, and you want to cite that information as well, then it is best to find, read, and cite the
Note: Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but
(Year, Month Day). Title of slides or lecture topic – italicised [PowerPoint slides]. Site name. Web address. In-text reference.
Professor's last name, Initial of first name. year, month and day of lecture. Lecture title in italics [Lecture recording]. Type of LMS platform
For more videos and examples on how to cite your sources, visit our citation guide: https://sheridancollege.libguides.com/apa.
the presenter got the information from. If the information is original and the presentation was the primary source, treat the information as personal