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how to cite a powerpoint in apa

To cite a PowerPoint in APA (7th ed.), you mainly need: author, year (and sometimes month/day), title in italics, a bracketed description like [PowerPoint slides], and where it can be found (site, department, URL).

Below is a friendly guide you can skim or follow step by step.

Basic APA formats for PowerPoint

1. Public PowerPoint online (anyone can access)

Reference list format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of presentation in sentence case [PowerPoint slides]. Site Name. URL

Example:

Johnson, C. (2020). Literature in retrospect [PowerPoint slides]. Slideshare. [https://www.slideshare.net/johnson/literature3]

In-text citation:

  • Parenthetical: (Johnson, 2020)
  • Narrative: Johnson (2020) explains that …

2. PowerPoint from a university/organization site

If the slides are posted on a department, course, or organization site and your reader can access them, use a similar pattern but include the department/university or organization.

Reference format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of presentation in sentence case [PowerPoint slides]. Department, University. URL

Example:

Smith, G. (2019). Ownership structures in mass communications [PowerPoint slides]. Department of Communication, University of Guelph-Humber. [http://www.onlineguelphhumber.ca/2]

In-text citation:

  • (Smith, 2019)
  • Smith (2019) argues that …

3. Professor’s PowerPoint on a public platform (e.g., SlideShare)

If your professor posts the slides publicly, treat them as an online slideshow, same as above.

Reference format:

Lastname, A. A. (Year). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Platform Name. URL

Example:

Johnson, C. (2020). Literature in retrospect [PowerPoint slides]. Slideshare. [https://www.slideshare.net/johnson/literature3]

4. PowerPoint in a learning management system (Canvas, Moodle,

Blackboard) – not public

If only your class can see the slides and there is no public link, APA treats this as personal communication.

In this case:

  • In-text only , no reference list entry.
  • Use the date of the presentation or the year if that’s all you have.

In-text formats:

  • Parenthetical: (A. B. Smith, personal communication, March 5, 2025)
  • Narrative: A. B. Smith (personal communication, March 5, 2025) stated that …

No entry in the reference list for these nonrecoverable slides.

5. Live PowerPoint presentation at a conference or talk

If you are citing the presentation itself and not online slides, you cite it as a conference or presentation.

Reference format:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Conference Name, Location.

Example:

Bailey, S. (2017, June 10). Taming the Facebook market [PowerPoint slides]. Strata Conference, New York, NY.

If slides are also posted online and accessible, add the site and URL:

Bailey, S. (2017, June 10). Taming the Facebook market [PowerPoint slides]. Strata Conference, New York, NY. Slideshare. [https://www.slideshare.net/Bailey/taming-the-facebook- market/2017[3](https://www.slideshare.net/Bailey/taming-the-facebook- market/2017%5B3)]

Quick HTML table of common cases

Here’s an HTML table you can reuse directly if needed:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Situation</th>
      <th>Reference list format (APA 7)</th>
      <th>In-text citation</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Public PowerPoint online</td>
      <td>
        Author, A. A. (Year). <i>Title of presentation in sentence case</i> [PowerPoint slides]. Site Name. URL
      </td>
      <td>(Author, Year) or Author (Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>University / organization slides with URL</td>
      <td>
        Author, A. A. (Year). <i>Title of presentation in sentence case</i> [PowerPoint slides]. Department, University. URL
      </td>
      <td>(Author, Year) or Author (Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Professor’s PowerPoint on SlideShare (public)</td>
      <td>
        Author, A. A. (Year). <i>Title of presentation</i> [PowerPoint slides]. Slideshare. URL
      </td>
      <td>(Author, Year) or Author (Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Slides only in LMS (Canvas, Moodle, etc.)</td>
      <td>No reference list entry (treated as personal communication)</td>
      <td>(A. A. Author, personal communication, Month Day, Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Live conference PowerPoint (no public slides)</td>
      <td>
        Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). <i>Title of presentation</i> [PowerPoint slides]. Conference Name, Location.
      </td>
      <td>(Author, Year) or Author (Year)</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Mini step-by-step: decide how to cite

You can think of this like a tiny decision tree.

  1. Can your reader access the slides?
    • Yes, there is a public URL → Make a full reference + in-text citation.
 * No, only in LMS or shown live → Treat as personal communication, in-text only.
  1. Fill in the pieces in this order (for accessible slides):
    • Author (person or organization)
 * Year (and month/day if relevant)

 * Title in sentence case and italics

 * [PowerPoint slides] in brackets

 * Site name or department/university

 * URL (no period after the URL)
  1. Match the in-text citation to the author and year you used in the reference list.

Tiny example story (to make it stick)

Imagine you watched a lecture called Climate change and urban planning and your professor posted the slides publicly on your university site. You would build your reference like this:

Rivera, L. M. (2024). Climate change and urban planning [PowerPoint slides]. Department of Urban Studies, City University. [https://cityu.edu/urban/climate_planning_slides.pdf4]

Then in your paper you might write:

Cities must redesign transportation networks to adapt to climate change (Rivera, 2024).

SEO-style extras (for your “Quick Scoop” post)

If you’re turning this into a blog or forum-style article around “how to cite a PowerPoint in APA” , you can safely weave in notes like:

  • It’s a trending pain point for students juggling online lectures and LMS-only slides in 2025–2026.
  • Many guides stress deciding whether slides are “recoverable” before choosing between a full reference and personal communication.
  • Tools like citation generators and AI writing helpers now offer built-in patterns for APA PowerPoint citations, but they still recommend checking against official APA examples.

TL;DR:
Use this core pattern for accessible slides:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title in sentence case [PowerPoint slides]. Site or Department, Organization. URL

If the slides are not publicly accessible (only in class or LMS), cite them as personal communication in-text only and skip the reference list.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.