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APA Style (7th ed.)

Multimedia

Basic structure for a standalone multimedia work: 

 

Author, A. A. or Director, A. A. (year, month day). Title of work [Description]. Production Company or Label. https://www.someurl.com/full/address

You will need to modify the above based on any parts that you don't have, like an exact date or a label name, or add parts that you need. Media sources vary widely, especially in who is considered the author. Use this table from p. 341 of the Manual to identify the author:

Media Type Include as Author
Film Director
TV series Executive producer(s)
TV series episode Writer and director of episode
Podcast  Host or executive producer
Podcast episode     Host of episode
Webinar     Instructor
Classical music album or song    Composer
Classical music album or song     Recording artist
Artwork     Artist
Online streaming video     Person or group who uploaded the video
Photograph     Photographer
Jump to more specific examples by using the table below: 
Film and Video Image  TV Episode
Streaming Video Podcasts or Vodcasts  Online Map
Music

Film and Video (p. 342+ in Manual)

Note: APA does not require format of the film to be specified in the reference, e.g. DVD, streaming, or in a movie theater. Provide information about the format viewed only if the version referenced includes special features (APA p.343).


Director's last name comma first initial period open parenthesis, the word director close parenthesis period. space open parentheses release year close parenthesis, title of the film italicized space open bracket the word film semicolon DVD close brackets period space. production company, or companies separated by a semicolon, period

In-text Citations

Parenthetical Citation: “Proceed in an orderly fashion to your nearest stairs and descend to level 40,” illustrates ableism in the architecture of District 13's bunkers (Lawrence, 2014).

Narrative Citation: Mockingjay—Part 1 (Lawrence, 2014) invites us to be appalled at the idea of children fighting to the death, while at the same time inviting us to be riveted to a screen showing us just that.


 

Streaming Video, Subscription

Subscription database of video production companies, not freely available through other sources (p. 342 in Manual; see also APA Style Blog

Note: Films on Demand and Docuseek will not appear in references as they are providers and do not produce content. 

Main contributor last name comma first initial period ( role of contributor such as director close parentheses period open parenthesis year close parenthesis period video title in sentence case and italics Open brackets video or format information close brackets period publisher database title period

In-text Citation

Parenthetical Citation: The counselor needs to take into account that Latinos may consider themselves bicultural (Arredondo, 2018).

Narrative Citation: Arredondo states, “It’s absolutely primal - the family system” (2018, 1:12:05).
 

Streaming Video, Freely Available 

Freely available streaming video -- YouTube, TED Talks, Vimeo, etc. (p. 344 in Manual and APA Style Blog)
 

Person or group responsible for the upload period ( year comma month day close parentheses period video title in italics and sentence case Open brackets video close brackets period platform title such as youtube period URL period

In-text Citation

Parenthetical Citation: Since John Smith wrote the 1624 book recounting his tale after the principal characters were dead, only his perspective remains (Smithsonian, 2017).

Narrative Citation: The Smithsonian’s production casts doubts on the role of Pocahontas in Smith’s rescue (2017)


 

Music (see p. 344-345 in the Manual)

Entire Album 

Note: The year(s) of the original composition are only necessary if different than the release date.


 Composer comma space first initial period space middle initial period space open parentheses release date close parenthesis album title in italics and title case space open bracket media type and recording artist for example album recorded by Kronos quartet close brackets period space record label period space open parentheses years of original composition for example original Works published 1989 - 1991 close parenthesis

In-text Citation

Parenthetical Citation: Pieces of Africa include the basic ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello complemented by an exotic array of African instruments (Maraire, 1989-1991/1992).

Narrative Citation:  Abraham Dumisani Maraire (1989-1991/1992) brought together Western and African string instruments.
 

Single Song or Track

Notes: The year(s) of original composition, are only necessary if different than the release date. 
Omit the recording artist if same as the composer and include only [Song] in the media type.
Include a URL "if that location is the only means of retrieval” (p. 345).
 

Composer last name comma  space first initial period  middle initial period  space open parentheses year close parentheses song title in the sentence case Open Bracket media type and recording artist clothes bracket period  space on album title in italics and title case period  record label or production company period  space open parentheses year of original composition if necessary close parentheses

In-text Citation

Parenthetical Citation: SistaStrings recorded the anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (Johnson, 1900/2019).

Narrative Citation:  SistaStrings recorded their rendition of the poem by James Weldon Johnson (1900/2019) .


 

Images (see p. 346-347 in the Manual)

see also APA Style Blog, Creative Commons Best Practices for Attribution, and About CC Licenses
Notes: 

  • Use the following models to cite images. To reproduce artwork, infographics, or photographs, “permission and/or a copyright attribution may be necessary in addition to the reference”(p. 347).
  • “No citation [...] or attribution is necessary for clip art from programs like Microsoft Word…”(APA, p. 346).
  • When possible, use images with Creative Commons licenses or images that specify "no attribution is required" for simplicity.

Clip art or stock images, attribution required 

 

Creator or creator’s last name comma first initial period space open parentheses date close parenthesis title or description of image in italics sentence case space Open Bracket media type clothes bracket period space  site name period URL

Attribution (instead of in-text citation)

The copyright attribution is used instead of an in-text citation (See APA Style Blog

An image with the word figure and number above followed by title or description in quotes and title case period  below the image is the word note period  in italics title or description of the image in italics and title case space Open brackets media type clothes brackets comma space by name of creator  comma year comma site name space open parentheses URL close parentheses period  space creative comma license

Clip art or stock images, no attribution required

Notes:

If the image states that no attribution is required, then do not provide a reference entry, in-text citation, or attribution statement.

Sources for attribution-free images

clip art image above which shows an optional word Figure with number and title or description of image italicized

From a collection or museum, physical or online

Notes: If from a subscription database such as ArtStor, it is not necessary to indicate the database name. Use the physical location of the work of art in the reference. See also APA Style Blog.) 

Artist name period space open parentheses date close parentheses period space location period space URL if available

In-text citations

Parenthetical Citation: The shining city is seen in the distance in the painting “Grandma Moses Goes to the Big City” (Grandma Moses, 1946).
Narrative Citation:  The excitement of leaving the farm to visit the city is tangible in Grandma Moses’ painting (1946).


 

Podcasts (see p. 345 in the Manual)

 

Podcast hosts last name comma  space first initials period  space open parentheses roll such as hosts close parentheses release date close parentheses episode title in sentence case space open parentheses episode number close parentheses open brackets the words audio podcast episode close brackets period  space, The word In and then  the title in italics and sentence case period  space production company period  space URL

In-text citations

Parenthetical Citation: Mitski’s use of a pedal steel guitar is described as dreamy and lachrymose (Sloan & Harding, 2023).

Narrative Citation: Sloan & Harding (2023) don’t generally expect soft and introspective songs to be chart breakers on TikTok.


 

TV Episode (see p. 343 in the Manual)

 

contributor’s last name comma  space first initials period  space open parentheses role such as writer and directors close parentheses first-aired date close parentheses episode title in sentence case space open parentheses season number comma space episode number space close parentheses open brackets TV series episode close brackets period  space, the word “In” then the title in italics and sentence case period  space production company name period  space

In-text citations

Parenthetical Citation: There is often disagreement between “objective reality” and “subjective perception” (Bicks & Strachan, 2023).
Narrative Citation: Bricks & Strachan (2023) define and distinguish between “objective reality” and “subjective perception.” 


 

Online Maps

In-text citations


Parenthetical Citation: (U.S. Forest Service & U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2022) 

Narrative Citation: The U.S. Forest Service and Department of Agriculture (2022)
 

Dynamically created maps (e.g. Google Maps, Apple Maps) p. 347 in Manual


In-text citations

Parenthetical Citation: The drive from Whitewater to the destination will take between five and six hours (Google, n.d.).

Narrative Citation: According to Google (n.d.) it will take about five and a half hours to drive to the destination.


 
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