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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 name@University name acronym. Link to login page

Reference page example:

Vincent, P. (2020). Recognizing rhetorical devices in visual rhetoric [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard@ULV. 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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APA PowerPoint Slide Presentation

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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Presentations and Class Notes

Audiovisual Media
Books and eBooks
Dictionaries, Thesauruses and Encyclopedias
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Government Documents
Journal, Magazine and Newspaper Articles
Personal Communications
Presentations and Class Notes
Social Media
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In-Text Citation
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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 >>

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 1 Author
Journal Article with 2 Authors
Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
Journal Article 21 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
<< Previous: Interview
Next: E-mail >>

Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024 1:06 PM
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APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Class Handouts, Presentations, and Readings

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Personal Communication (Interviews, Emails)
Social Media
Videos & DVDs
Paraphrasing
Works Cited in Another Source
No Author, No Date etc.
Sample Paper, Reference List & Annotated Bibliography
Powerpoint Presentations

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: Oct 26, 2024 10:00 AM
URL: https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/apa

APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Class Notes, Class Lectures and Presentations

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Class Notes, Class Lectures and Presentations
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Indigenous Resources
Journal Articles
Magazine Articles
Newspaper Articles
Personal Communication (Interviews, Emails)
Social Media
Videos & DVDs
When Creating Digital Assignments
Works Cited in Another Source
Works by the same author with the same year
Paraphrasing
No author, no date etc
Annotated Bibliography

Class Handout In Print

Class lectures (notes from).

Hanging Indents:

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.

Hyperlinks:

Both blue underlined (live) hyperlinks and black without underlining are both acceptable.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

In-Text Citation or References List

Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as PowerPoint should be cited both in-text and in 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 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]. eLearn. URL

Powerpoint Presentation Slides from a Website

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.

Class Handouts from eLearn