Keep the recording traceable
AMA Video Citation for YouTube and Recorded Webinars
Use real CDC recordings to separate the speaker from the uploader, check conflicting dates, and direct readers to the exact video passage you used.
An AMA video citation identifies the recording you watched, who is responsible for it, and where readers can find it. A YouTube upload and a recorded webinar can need different author and date choices. We checked UNE and USAHS guidance against the CDC records below. To cite a video in AMA, start with its description and title slide. Those two places may tell you different things.
Identify the creator and responsible organization
Start by deciding what you watched. A short institutional video, an individual lecturer's upload, and a webinar recording can all appear on YouTube. The platform alone does not settle the source type. Read the credits, description, and official event page, then record each person's role alongside their name.
USAHS uses the person or group that uploaded the recording as the responsible body in its YouTube format. Its webinar format starts with the author or presenter and includes the sponsoring body. UNE's broader video format separates the creator, medium, and producing organization. Choose the approach that fits the item and your assignment's instructions.
CDC's YouTube video CDC Updates on Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship appears on its verified institutional channel. The description names Melinda Neuhauser as the presenter. Her name also appears on the opening slide, with the Office of Antibiotic Stewardship and Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. That gives you a speaker and an institutional uploader with distinct roles.
The YouTube example below therefore starts with CDC. You can name Neuhauser in the sentence discussing her presentation. For an AMA webinar citation, verify the credited speakers and sponsor on the event record. Keep academic degrees out of the author field. The other attendees visible in a meeting recording are not automatically coauthors.
Choose the recording and publication date
Save the presentation date and the upload date separately. For an AMA YouTube citation, use the publication date displayed for that upload. A date inside the video describes when the presentation took place; it can be months earlier.
The CDC stewardship recording makes this difference visible. Its title slide gives March 18, 2024. Expanding the YouTube description reveals June 11, 2024. The reference below uses June 11 because it identifies that YouTube publication. Keep March 18 in your notes when the timing of the talk matters.
A webinar event page can contain still more dates. CDC's April 2024 ZOHU record gives April 3 as the event date, April 24 as the displayed page date, and May 7 as the start of its continuing-education availability. None of those labels establishes a separate video upload date.
| Field | Verified value | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Presentation date | March 18, 2024 | Event notes or a reference explicitly identifying the presentation |
| YouTube publication | June 11, 2024 | The YouTube reference's publication field |
| Access date | October 7, 2026 | The date we checked this online recording |
Cite a public video or recorded webinar
The first example follows USAHS's YouTube pattern. Copy the video's displayed title and use its direct watch URL. The second adapts its presenter-led webinar pattern to identify CDC's original event. If your assignment requires the recording's publication date, verify that date separately. Reference numbers 1 and 2 belong to these examples; use your manuscript's numbers in your paper.
The ZOHU event page credits Heather Brake, Anna Krueger, and G. Sean Stapleton. CDC hosts the recording and lists the event's presentation topics. Here, April 3 identifies the original webinar. We have not treated the April 24 webpage date as its verified upload date. That distinction should stay clear in your source notes.
If your instructions call for UNE's general video format, include the stated medium and producing organization, and italicize the standalone film title as its example does. Keep that format consistent within your assignment. A podcast episode or a separately downloaded slide deck needs the format for that specific item.
YouTube reference pattern
Uploader or responsible group. Video title. YouTube. Publication date. Accessed date. Direct video URL.
Use the upload's title and publication date, with the responsible body identified by the source.
Example reference 1 for the CDC YouTube recording
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC updates on hospital antibiotic stewardship. YouTube. June 11, 2024. Accessed October 7, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nODsZrC3aU
The institutional uploader leads this reference; Melinda Neuhauser is the credited presenter.
Example reference 2 for the original CDC webinar
2. Brake H, Krueger A, Stapleton GS. April 2024 ZOHU call/webinar. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. April 3, 2024. Accessed October 7, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/php/trainings-events/april-2024-zohu-call-webinar.html
This entry identifies the webinar by its event date and links to the official page containing the recording.
Point readers to the passage you used
Assign the video a superscript reference number in first-use order, then reuse that number whenever you cite the same recording. A timestamp helps a reader find the passage. You do not need a separate bibliography entry for every moment you discuss.
A practical locator is a time in the sentence, paired with the usual superscript. For example, the CDC video's opening slide, visible at 0 minutes 5 seconds, dates the presentation to March 18, 2024.¹ This points to a verified detail without inventing a universal AMA timestamp notation. Use your journal's or instructor's preferred locator convention when one is specified.
For a quotation, replay the relevant passage and check the words against the audio. Automatic captions can mishear names or technical terms. Record the timestamp from the version you actually watched, since an edited upload can shift it. If the video discusses a study you intend to use as evidence, read and cite that study too.
AMA Cite currently has no dedicated video form. Its Website form can help organize an uploader, title, platform, publication date, access date, and URL for a YouTube-style draft. It does not determine speaker roles or supply all the medium and sponsor details needed by other video formats.
- Open the exact recording and expand its description. Compare the credited names with the title slide or official event record.
- Keep the recording date and upload date in separate notes. Put the date appropriate to your chosen format in the reference.
- Check that the final URL opens the recording or its official viewing page. Remove temporary login or sharing parameters where possible.
- Review the finished entry manually, then match its number to the sentence and timestamp in your paper.