IEEE style
How to cite a YouTube video in IEEE style
The person who uploaded a video is often not the person who made it, and styles disagree about whether the channel name, the real name, or both belong in the entry.
THE FORMAT
A YouTube video in IEEE, at a glance
[#] Creator or Channel Name, Title of the video. (Year, Mon. DD). Accessed: Mon. DD, YYYY. [Online Video]. Available: https://…
[4] Ferrite Core Labs, Measuring core loss without a wattmeter. (Jun. 14, 2023). Accessed: Mar. 1, 2025. [Online Video]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ7bK2mVn0E
A single-shunt measurement lands within 5 % of a calibrated wattmeter [4].
In prose: The demonstration in [4] uses a single current shunt and a two-channel scope.
[5] “Inside a 500 kV substation walk-through.” YouTube. (Nov. 2, 2022). Accessed: Feb. 27, 2025. [Online Video]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp3xR2kQm7A
In text: Bus-bar clearances are visible in a published walk-through [5].
Copyeditor formats APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE automatically — cite a source once and the references builds itself. See how citations work .
BEFORE YOU FORMAT
What IEEE needs from a YouTube video
Elements to collect
- Uploader — the channel name, plus the creator’s real name when it is known
- Full date the video was posted
- Title of the video, exactly as it appears
- Platform name
- URL of the specific video
Rules specific to this entry
- The media descriptor “[Online Video]” is what tells a reader this is not a text source. Keep it even when the URL obviously points at YouTube, because the entry may be read in a printed reference list.
- Use the channel as the author when no individual is credited on screen. When the creator’s real name is given in the video or channel description, treat it as any other author — initials, then surname — and let the channel occupy the site slot.
- IEEE publishes no dedicated YouTube template, so the general online-media pattern is the conservative choice: posting date in parentheses, then the access date, then the availability line. If your journal’s template shows a different order for online media, follow it.
- IEEE has no timestamp convention for video. If you need to point at a specific moment, name the time in your sentence rather than inventing a bracketed locator.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element IEEE needs for a YouTube video: Uploader — the channel name, plus the creator’s real name when it is known; Full date the video was posted; Title of the video, exactly as it appears; Platform name.
Build the references entry
Arrange those details in the IEEE order: [#] Creator or Channel Name, Title of the video. (Year, Mon. DD). Accessed: Mon. DD, YYYY. [Online Video]. Available: https://…
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as A single-shunt measurement lands within 5 % of a calibrated wattmeter [4]. — or work the same reference into your sentence as The demonstration in [4] uses a single current shunt and a two-channel scope..
Check it against the exceptions
The media descriptor “[Online Video]” is what tells a reader this is not a text source. Keep it even when the URL obviously points at YouTube, because the entry may be read in a printed reference list.
IEEE RULES
The conventions behind every IEEE entry
IEEE Reference Guide is the authority. Where a journal or department publishes its own house rules, those win — check your submission guidelines before the references is final.
The rules that apply across every source — author order, capitalization, how the references is sorted, and where IEEE entries most often go wrong — are collected on the IEEE style guide.
The same YouTube video in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about IEEE and online videos
What if the YouTube video has no author?
Start the entry with the title and keep the number you already assigned it. A numeric references never re-sorts for a missing author, so the entry stays exactly where it is.
What do I need before I can cite a YouTube video?
Uploader — the channel name, plus the creator’s real name when it is known, Full date the video was posted, Title of the video, exactly as it appears, and the rest of the elements listed above. The person who uploaded a video is often not the person who made it, and styles disagree about whether the channel name, the real name, or both belong in the entry.
Is there anything unusual about a YouTube video in IEEE?
The media descriptor “[Online Video]” is what tells a reader this is not a text source. Keep it even when the URL obviously points at YouTube, because the entry may be read in a printed reference list.
What else catches people out here?
Use the channel as the author when no individual is credited on screen. When the creator’s real name is given in the video or channel description, treat it as any other author — initials, then surname — and let the channel occupy the site slot.
Can I reformat this YouTube video in another style later?
By hand, you would retype the entry — the element order, punctuation and italics all differ between styles. In Copyeditor, sources are stored as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole reference list at once.
Cite it once
and never reformat it again
Copyeditor keeps sources as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole references at once.
