How to Cite a Lecture? APA, MLA, and Chicago Styles

Adding citations to your content, whether it’s a presentation or an academic essay, is important to give credit to the original source and build your credibility. It also makes your arguments stronger and more reliable. However, citations aren’t just limited to research papers and journals. You can even cite a lecture, either transcribed or taken in person, to support your arguments. Now, you must be wondering how to cite a lecture.

If so, this article is your complete guide to different styles of citations and how to cite a lecture effectively in your content. Let’s start!

How to Cite a Lecture in APA Style?

APA, also known as the American Psychological Association, is a popular citing format that’s typically used for Education, Psychology, and Science lectures.

In APA, citation rules mainly apply to lectures that are recorded or transcribed and are accessible to readers. For in-person or live lectures, you don’t have to follow the citation rules; you can simply quote the information or source as a personal communication.

These personal remarks are added as in-text citations and don’t make it to the final reference list. Currently, the 7th edition of the APA style is being used, which provides clear guidelines on in-text citations, reference entry lists, and secondary citations. So, let’s discuss how to cite a lecture in APA style (7th edition):

Cite a Conference Lecture or Presentation in APA

If you are wondering how to cite a conference lecture or presentation that you recently attended or accessed online, APA has specific guidelines for such cases. Here’s the format you have to follow:

Presenter Last Name, First Name, (Year, Month, Day of Conference), Name of Presentation Topic, [Presentation Format], Name of Conference, Location, URL (If Available)

Examples 

The following are some examples that make it easy for you to understand how to cite a lecture or conference presentation using APA:

Smith, J. (2024, December 1). Advances in AI technology for Retail, [Conference presentation]. International Tech Conference, New York, NY.

In-Text Citation: (Smith, 2024)

If there were two presenters at the conference, don’t stress out and simply follow this given template to cite the lecture in your work:

Taylor, R., & Green, M. (2023, April 10). Exploring AI in modern education systems [Panel Discussion) International Education Forum, Sydney, Australia.

In Text Citation: (Taylor & Green, 2023)

Cite an In-Person Lecture in APA

For lectures that you took live or in-person, you should first find any documented source that you can link to. If you cannot find anything, cite them as personal communications or quotes in your own words instead of the general APA citation format. Here’s how you should do it:

Initial and First Name of the Lecturer, Personal Communication, Date of Presentation

Example

Dr. Sarah Thompson explained the importance of early diagnosis in cancer treatment. (S. Thompson, personal communications, December 15, 2024).

OR

(S. Thompson, personal communication, December 15, 2024)

Cite a Recorded Video or Audio Lecture in APA

If the lecture is recorded as a video or audio on a channel like YouTube, you should credit the person who uploaded the lecture as the author, even if they did not actually conduct the presentation.

Here’s the format:

Uploader Last Name, First Name, (Year, Month, and Date), Title of Video, Website Name, URL

Example

Johnson, L. (2023, October 20). Understanding quantum mechanics [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/examplevideo 

In-Text Citation: (Johnson, 2023)

How to Cite a Lecture in MLA Style?

MLA Style citations are most commonly used by students and academics working on Humanities. They follow the 9th edition, which is the most recent version of the MLA Handbook. It was published by the Modern Language Association in 2021.

MLA citations have nine core elements, including the author’s name, the title of the sources, and the title of the container, which actually represents the source of information, the publisher, the date, and the location. For in-text citations in MLA, the approach varies depending on whether the lecture was taken live or accessed in a recorded format.

For instance, if you took the lecture online, then the in-text citation will only have the author or presenter’s name. However, if it’s available in the record, transcribed, or pdf form, then you’ve to write the author’s name and the page number.

Now, let’s look at the different ways on how to cite a lecture in MLA Style:

Cite a Conference Lecture or Presentation in MLA

If the lecture you plan to cite was part of an online conference, then you can follow the given format:

Lecturer’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Presentation.” Conference Title, Organization, Day Mo. Year, Venue, City

Example

Alex Hales, “The Future of Renewable Energy.” Global Energy Summit, Green Energy Association, 15 Nov. 2024, International Convention Center, London.

In-Text Citation: (Hales, #23)

Cite an In-Person Lecture in MLA

To cite an in-person lecture in MLA, you just have to provide the lecturer’s name, event name, date, and institution. The actual format is given as:

Lecturer’s Last Name, First Name. “Lecture Title.” Event Name, Day Month Year, Institution, Location.

Example

Rhyne Shina. “Designing Biosensing Systems Using Microbes” Global Bioremediation Efforts, 23 Dec 2023, Harvard University, Cambridge.

In-Text Citation: (Rhyne)

Cite a Recorded Video or Transcribed Lecture in MLA

Sometimes, you may choose to cite a recorded or transcribed PDF lecture to add weight to your arguments. If so, you should opt for the following format:

Lecturer’s last name, first name. “Lecture Title.” Event Name, Day Month Year, Institution, Location. Lecture.

Example

Doe, Michael. “Artificial Intelligence in Modern Education” Technology to Revolutionize Education, 23 January 2024, Harvard University, Cambridge, Lecture.

In-Text Citation: (Doe #15)

How to Cite a Lecture in Chicago Style?

Chicago or Turabian Style citation is used by people working in Business, History, and Fine Arts.

It’s a writing style or formatting guide for American English published all the way back in 1906 by the University of Chicago Press, thus the name.

In this, you cite sources using Chicago Style Footnotes and corresponding entries in the bibliography. However, you have two choices: either cite a lecture using notes and a bibliography or go with the author-date style.

Let’s discuss how to cite a lecture in Chicago Style:

Cite an In-Person Lecture in Chicago Style

If you have attended an in-person lecture, then you can cite it as:

Speaker’s last name, First name. “Lecture Title.” Lecture, Institution Name or Event Name, Location, Month Day, Year

Example

Bibliography Entry: Smith, Jessica. “Understanding Clostridium Botulinum: Pathogenesis and Control” Lecture Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Cambridge, October 10, 2024.

Footnote: Jessica Smith, “Understanding Clostridium Botulinum: Pathogenesis and Control,” lecture, Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Cambridge, October 10, 2024.

Smith, “Understanding Clostridium Botulinum: Pathogenesis and Control”

Cite a Recorded Audio or Transcribed Lecture in Chicago Style

Let’s suppose you are citing a lecture that’s available in audio; then you should follow this format:

Speaker’s last name, First name. “Speech Title.” Recorded at Location, Month Day, Year. URL.

Example

Bibliography Entry: Horan, Niall. “The Future of Urban Sustainability.” Recorded at GreenTech Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2023. (Link)

Footnote: Niall Horan. “The Future of Urban Sustainability,” recorded at GreenTech Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2023, 2:30, (link).

(Horan, The Future of Urban Sustainability, 4:10)

Best Tool to Cite a Lecture!

If you are struggling with how to cite a lecture, Arvin has you covered. It’s an incredible tool powered by advanced AI integrations like GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, etc., making it easy for you to get an idea of lecture citations.

Whether you want to cite a lecture or presentation in APA, MLA, or Chicago Style, just give the prompt and share necessary data like topic, author name, date, and event, and you’ll have accurate citations in no time.

So, instead of wasting your time figuring out citation rules, let Arvin do the heavy lifting for you and make your academic and professional work efficient. Here’s an example of how you can use Arvin to cite lectures in your required citation style.

FAQs

What are the Basic Elements of Citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago Style?

The basic and common elements of lecture citation in all these styles include the author or presenter name, event name, date and year, and location. However, some formats may require you to provide additional information, like the type of lecture and URL, if available.

What to Do If You Can’t Find the Source Page Number?

If you can’t find the source page number to cite, don’t stress; simply use any other locator, like the chapter number or timestamp, if the lecture is in audio or video form.

What Should You Do If the Lecturer’s Name Is Unknown?

If the lecturer’s name is unknown, you can start the citation with the title of the lecture or presentation. Add the event name and other relevant details to make sure your citation is traceable even without the author’s name.

Conclusion

The whole process of how to cite a lecture is pretty straightforward if you know the different citation styles. It’s also important to understand the difference between citing a live and transcribed lecture for better accuracy. Worried about how you can cite lectures in your academic work? Arvin is the one-stop solution. Give Arvin all the details about the lecture and mention the citation style you want to cite to save time and enhance your work’s credibility.