You may have seen or received a PowerPoint presentation containing relevant information. You would like to use the information from the PowerPoint in your own paper or article. To do this, you must cite the source.
It is possible that you know how to cite websites, books, or journal articles. But citing a PowerPoint presentation may be something new for you. In reality, citing a PowerPoint presentation is not very different. You only must be careful about the academic style of the paper you are writing.
There are three major academic styles — APA, MLA, and Chicago. For each, you must format the paper and citations in specific ways. This is not difficult and referencing in each style only takes a few minutes.
We will help you with the process of citing a PowerPoint presentation. This is our stepwise guide for the three commonly used academic styles — APA, MLA, and Chicago.
Let’s begin.
Step #1: Collect the relevant information
For citing a PowerPoint presentation, you will need the following information:
- Author/Authors of the presentation
- Title of presentation
- Date when the presentation was first published
- Place where the presentation was published
- URL (for locating the presentation online)
Let us consider an example PowerPoint presentation —
Open the browser and locate the PowerPoint presentation.
The URL of the presentation is available in the address bar at the top of the browser.
Open the presentation.
The first page of the presentation is important. It will usually have the author’s name, date of publication, and the location where the author first revealed the presentation. If this information is not present, you may have to look in file information.
In the top menu bar, click on the File tag to open the File menu.
On the left side of the File menu, click on Info. Information about the presentation will open on the right side.
On the right side, the Title of presentation is available just below Info.
On the right side, the date of creation of the document is available under Related Dates.
Authors name is available under Related People.
Now that we have all the information, let us proceed for citations in individual formats.
Step #2: Cite a PowerPoint presentation in APA format
Reference structure for the APA format must be as follows:
Author last name, Middle initial, First initial, (Year of Publication), Title of presentation [PowerPoint presentation], Conference name, Location, URL
Accordingly, the actual citation for APA format will be:
Gettym, (2012), Presentation Title [PowerPoint presentation], Sample PowerPoint Presentation Conference, Dickinson College, PA, United States, https://www.dickinson.edu/downloads/download/520/sample_powerpoint_slides
Step #3: Cite a PowerPoint presentation in MLA format
Reference structure for the MLA format must be as follows:
Author Last Name, First Name. Presentation Title. Month Year, URL. PowerPoint Presentation
Accordingly, the actual citation for MLA format will be:
Gettym, Presentation Title, Feb, 2012, https://www.dickinson.edu/downloads/download/520/sample_powerpoint_slides, PowerPoint Presentation
Step #4: Cite a PowerPoint presentation in Chicago format
Reference structure for the Chicago format must be as follows:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Presentation Title.” Lecture, Location of Lecture, Month Day, Year.
Accordingly, the actual citation for Chicago format will be:
Gettym, “Presentation Title.” Feb, 2012, Sample PowerPoint Presentation Conference, Dickinson College, PA, United States, February 03, 2012
Conclusion
That’s all there is to it. Follow our guide to cite your reference PowerPoint presentation.