This post discusses different ways of citing a lecture in your research paper or thesis. Although it is more common to cite written & published works, there are times when it becomes necessary to cite an oral presentation. This article is produced as part of the Avidnote knowledge database. Avidnote is a free web-based application that makes it easier for researcher to write and organize their research notes online. You can read more about it by clicking here.
Lectures are the main teaching method in universities and other higher institutions all over the world. A lecture is mostly an organized voiced or oral communication aimed at presenting information or teaching about a particular subject matter. Lectures are, however, not restricted to higher institutions and can be used to liken any speech delivered by an individual to a sizable audience, especially one that is meant to educate and enlighten such an audience. Lectures are not new to man. They’ve been around since as far back as the 5th century and were then widely used by the Greeks. They were also popular among early Christian and Muslim universities mainly due to the paucity of books. The lecturing format was also used at the world’s oldest continually operating university, al-Qarawiyyin (est. 859 CE) in Morocco and has been a commonly used format by universities ever since.
In these modern times, the use of digital technologies has enabled institutions of higher learning to expand the scope of lecturing through the internet. It is now possible to develop virtual learning environments [VLE], learning management systems, and massive open online courses (MOOCs), to mention a few, as vehicles for disseminating knowledge and information. The scope of lecturing has also widened significantly with the use of multimedia presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint and others. Most universities now have online programmes that require lecturers to frequently interface.
With this plethora of new ways of lecturing comes the need to articulate citation/referencing formats for lectures. Some of these new formats (as well as the old ones) are discussed below with respect to the most widely used citation/referencing styles in the world.
APA style [7th edition]
Online course or MOOCs
| Format for references | Author Last name, Initials. (Date). Course code: Course title: Lecture title [Name of source]. Name of Institution. URL. |
| Example | John, C. L. (2019). ECO 101: Introduction to economics: Basic concepts in economics [MOOC lecture]. University of Nigeria. http.library.unn.edu/pg/lecture-notes |
| Format for in-text citations | Parenthetical: (Author Last name, Year) Narrative: John (Year) |
| Example | Parenthetical: (John, 2019) Narrative: John (2019) |
Offline university classroom lectures
| Format for references | Author last name, Date, (Year). Course code: Course title: Lecture title. [Format]. Publisher. |
| Example | John, C. L. (2019). ECO 611: Introduction to economics: Basic concepts in economics [PowerPoint slides]. University of Nigeria Press. |
| Format for in-text citations | Parenthetical: (Author Last name, Year) Narrative: Author Last name (Year) |
| Example | Parenthetical: (John, 2019) Narrative: John (2019) |
MLA style [8th edition]
Online lecture
| Format for reference | Presenter’s Last name, First name.”Title of the lecture.” Name of website, Date which the lecture was posted, URL. |
| Example | Rosling, Hans. “War stories.” TED: Ideas, Feb. 2006, https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen |
| Format for in-text citations | Parenthetical: (Presenter’s Last name) Narrative: Presenter’s Last name |
| Examples | Parenthetical: (Rosling) Narrative: Rosling |
Offline lectures
| Format for references | Lecturer’s last name, First name. Course code: Course title. Day Month Year, Name of institution, Location. |
| Example | Roger, Kyle. Math 704: Simultaneous equations. 27 May 2018, University of Essex, Colchester. |
| Format for in-text citations | Parenthetical: (Lecturer’s Last name) Narrative: Lecturer’s Last name |
| Examples | Parenthetical: (Roger) Narrative: Roger |
Chicago style [17th edition]
Author-date system
| Format for references | Lecturer’s Last name, First name. “Title of lecture.” Course code: Course title. Class lecture, Name of institution or Name of event, Location, Month Day, Year. |
| Example | Konstantinos, Nikolas. “Diversity and multiculturalism.” Psy 701: Social psychology, Class lecture, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, August 17, 2019. |
| Format for in-text citations | Parenthetical: (Lecturer’s Last name year) Narrative: Lecturer’s Last name (year) |
| Examples | Parenthetical: (Konstantinos 2019) Narrative: Konstantinos (2019) |
Notes and Bibliography
| Format for bibliography | Lecturer’s Last name, First name. “Title of lecture.” Course code: Course title. Class lecture, Name of institution or Name of event, Location, Month Day, Year. |
| Example | Konstantinos, Nikolas. “Diversity and multiculturalism.” Psy 701: Social psychology, Class lecture, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, August 17, 2019. |
| Format for notes | 1 Lecturer’s Last name, First name. “Title of lecture,” Course code: Course title. (Class lecture, Name of institution or Name of event, Location, Month Day, Year). |
| Example | Konstantinos, Nikolas. “Diversity and multiculturalism.” Psy 701: Social psychology, (Class lecture, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, August 17, 2019). |
Harvard style [in Cite them Right, 11th edition]
| Format for reference | Lecturer’s Last name, Initials. (Year) ‘Title of lecture’ [Medium]. Module code: Module title. Institution or venue. Day Month. |
| Example | Randy, J . (2021). ‘Introduction to printing.’ [Lecture] PT 721: Printing technology. New York University. 9 January. |
| Format for in-text citations | Parenthetical: (Lecturer Last name, Year) Narrative: Lecturer Last name (Year) |
| Examples | Parenthetical: (Randy, 2021) Narrative: Randy (2021) |
Note that in cases where the lecture has been recorded and is available to be viewed online, the medium should be “Recorded lecture.” This implies that the URL and date the lecture was accessed have to be included at the end of the citation after the day and month of the lecture presentation. The following format should be used – Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Conclusion
In-text citations/endnotes/footnotes and bibliography/reference lists/works cited are very important aspects of academic or scholarly writing. The styles highlighted above are very popular in academia. While the MLA style is mostly used in the humanities and liberal arts, the APA style is largely favoured by the behavioral and/or social sciences. The Chicago notes and biography style is popular in the humanities and arts while the Chicago author-date style is widely used in both the natural/physical and social sciences. The Harvard style is very popular across disciplines, especially in the humanities and social sciences as well as those in the natural sciences and business colleges.
This paper has tried to aggregate a few citations and references adapted from the above-mentioned styles. Note, however, that these formats can vary from one institution to another hence a student must strictly comply with the instructions provided by his institution or publisher when citing and referencing his or her sources.
Other resources
This post was produced as part of a research guide series by Avidnote which is a free web-based app that helps you to write and organize your research notes online. Click here to find out more.