How to Cite an Online Course in APA
- Tomas Elliott (Ph.D.)
- Published on 05/09/2025
Online courses, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), are found online through websites like Coursera, edX, or Udemy. They can be in the form of independent lectures, video episodes, or readings which can be used in citing for research papers or academic essays. APA allows two types of citations that could be used: one for the whole course and another for a specific lecture of the course.
Citing the Entire Online Course
In citing the entire online course, APA handles the course as a webpage or learning module. The citation should have the instructors’ names, the year (or “n.d.” if no date is provided), the title of the course in italics, a description such as “[MOOC]” in square brackets, the name of the platform, and the course URL.
| Citation |
Zhou, M., & Lane, H. C. (2021). Artificial intelligence in education [MOOC]. FutureLearn. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ai-in-education
|
| Structure |
Author(s). (Year). Title of course [MOOC]. Platform. URL
|
Citing a Lecture or Episode from an Online Course
When describing a single lecture or video episode within a course, APA style must list the title of the lecture, publication date (if available), a descriptor such as “[MOOC lecture],” the title of the course overall, the creators or authors of the course, the platform, and the URL.
| Citation |
Lowe, A. (2022). Module 4: Understanding neural networks [MOOC lecture]. In B. Patels & R. Zach, Deep learning foundations. Udacity. https://www.udacity.com/course/deep-learning-foundations
|
| Structure |
Lecturer(s). (Year). Title of lecture [MOOC lecture]. In Course creators, Title of course. Platform. URL
|
 |
Use Italics Correctly: Make the course title italic, not the lecture title. Only a full course title should be written in italics. When No Date Is Available: Use (n.d.) which is “no date” if the course has no publication date mentioned. Use Hanging Indents in the Reference List: All references must be set with a hanging indent, with the first line being flush left and all other lines indented 0.5 inches. Alphabetize References by Author’s Last Name: The references in the reference list should be listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author, not by title or year. Double Space the Entire List of References: Double space the entire list of references and include no other spaces between entries. Use Sentence Case for Titles: Use sentence case for the titles of lectures and courses when writing in APA style. This includes capitalizing the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. |
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Tomas Elliott (Ph.D.)
Tomas Elliott is an assistant Professor of English at Northeastern University London. His research specialisms include the history of theatre and film, European modernism, world literature, film adaptation, transmedia studies and citation practices. He read English and French Literature at Trinity College, Oxford, before completing a PhD in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania.