This page contains reference examples for PowerPoint slides or lecture notes, including the following:
Use these formats to cite information obtained directly from slides.
If the slides contain citations to information published elsewhere, and you want to cite that information as well, then it is best to find, read, and cite the original source yourself rather than citing the slides as a secondary source.
Writers creating PowerPoint presentations in APA Style should present information clearly and concisely. Many APA Style guidelines can be applied to presentations (e.g., the guidance for crediting sources, using bias-free language, and writing clearly and concisely).
However, decisions about font size, amount of text on a slide, color scheme, use of animations, and so on are up to writers; these details are not specified as part of APA Style.
Jones, J. (2016, March 23). Guided reading: Making the most of it [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/hellojenjones/guided-reading-making-the-most-of-it
- Parenthetical citation: (Jones, 2016)
- Narrative citation: Jones (2016)
- When the slides are available online to anyone, provide the site name on which they are hosted in the source element of the reference, followed by the URL of the slides.
Mack, R., & Spake, G. (2018). Citing open source images and formatting references for presentations [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@FNU. https://fnu.onelogin.com/login
- Parenthetical citation: (Mack & Spake, 2018)
- Narrative citation: Mack and Spake (2018)
- If the slides come from a classroom website, learning management system (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai), or company intranet and you are writing for an audience with access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its URL (use the login page URL for sites requiring login).
- If the audience for which are you writing does not have access to the slides, cite them as a personal communication.
PowerPoint slide references are covered in Section 10.14 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
This guidance is new to the 7th edition.