Online Course Citation Generator
Cite a MOOC or online course — Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, Khan Academy, LinkedIn Learning — or a single lecture or module from one. Enter the instructors, the course, the platform and the URL, and get APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18 citations, including what to do when the material sits behind a class login. Free, no sign-up.
Course details
One per line, in the order the course lists them. Name the instructors only if they created the course.
Type it in sentence case: capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon and proper nouns. MLA and Chicago get title case automatically.
The site that hosts the course. For your school's learning management system, write it as APA does, such as Canvas@Your University.
Leave blank if the course page gives no date; APA then writes n.d.
MLA and Chicago add it when the course is undated, because course pages change.
The course's main page if lectures sit behind a login. For a learning management system, the login page.
For class materials behind your school's login, written for readers outside the class.
Your citations
Enter the course title to see your citations.
How to Use the Online Course Citation Generator
- 1. Choose the whole course or one part. Cite the course when you draw on it as a whole; cite a lecture, video or module when you quote or paraphrase that part.
- 2. Enter who made it. The instructors as the course lists them. For one lecture, add the person who gives it as well as the course faculty.
- 3. Add the platform, institution, date and URL. Most MOOCs carry no date: APA then writes n.d., and MLA and Chicago add the date you accessed the course.
- 4. Tick the login box if your readers can't open it. Material inside your school's learning management system is cited differently when your readers are not in the class.
MOOC, Online Course or Class Materials?
All three styles cite an open online course as a published work: who made it, what it is called, where it lives and a link. What changes the citation is who can reach it.
| Where the course is | APA 7 | MLA 9 | Chicago 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open to anyone: Coursera, edX, Khan Academy | A reference with [MOOC] or [Online course] | A Works Cited entry with the platform | Notes and bibliography |
| In your class's LMS, for your instructor | A reference naming the site, such as Canvas@Your University, with its login page | A Works Cited entry with the LMS as container | Notes and bibliography |
| In your class's LMS, for outside readers | A personal communication, in the text only (§8.9) | A Works Cited entry with the LMS as container | A note only |
APA 7 has an online-course template: the instructors, the year or n.d., the course title in italics, [MOOC], the platform and the URL. A lecture is cited like a podcast episode — its title in plain type with [MOOC lecture], then In, the course faculty and the italic course title. For class material, APA names the site and its login page when your readers can sign in, and treats the material as a personal communication when they can't. MLA 9 capitalizes a course title but sets it in plain type, names the platform as a container in italics and adds an access date to an undated course. Chicago 18 has no MOOC example; the generator follows the Chicago Manual's Quick Guide for web content — the title in quotation marks, the site, and the date accessed.
Online Course Citation Examples
A whole MOOC
Game Theory on Coursera, taught by Matthew O. Jackson, Kevin Leyton-Brown and Yoav Shoham of Stanford University and the University of British Columbia — APA's own example — whose page gives no date, accessed October 5, 2026:
APA 7th edition
Reference list:
Jackson, M. O., Leyton-Brown, K., & Shoham, Y. (n.d.). Game theory [MOOC]. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1
In-text (parenthetical):
(Jackson et al., n.d.)
MLA 9th edition
Works Cited:
Jackson, Matthew O., et al. Game Theory. Stanford University and the University of British Columbia. Coursera, www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.
In-text citation:
(Jackson et al.)
Chicago 18th edition (notes and bibliography)
Footnote:
Matthew O. Jackson et al., “Game Theory,” online course, Stanford University and the University of British Columbia, Coursera, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1.
Shortened note:
Jackson et al., “Game Theory.”
Bibliography:
Jackson, Matthew O., Kevin Leyton-Brown, and Yoav Shoham. “Game Theory.” Online course, Stanford University and the University of British Columbia, Coursera. Accessed October 5, 2026. https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1.
One lecture from a MOOC
Episode 2 of The Science of Everyday Thinking, a 2016 edX course from the University of Queensland, given by Jason Tangen — APA's lecture example:
Lecture in three styles
APA reference:
Tangen, J. (2016). Episode 2: I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before [MOOC lecture]. In E. MacKenzie, J. Tangen, & M. Thompson, The science of everyday thinking. edX.
MLA Works Cited:
Tangen, Jason. “Episode 2: I Heard a Tapping Somewhat Louder Than Before.” The Science of Everyday Thinking, taught by Emma MacKenzie et al., University of Queensland, 2016. edX.
Chicago footnote:
Jason Tangen, “Episode 2: I Heard a Tapping Somewhat Louder Than Before,” lecture, The Science of Everyday Thinking, University of Queensland, edX, 2016.
Common Mistakes
- Making the platform the author. Coursera and edX host the course; the instructors made it.
- Linking straight to a lecture behind a login. Readers can't follow it. Link to the course's main page instead, as APA advises.
- Citing class slides on Canvas or Blackboard as if they were published. If your readers can't sign in, APA wants a personal communication, not a reference.
- Using the year you took the course. The date is when the course or lecture was published. If the page shows none, APA writes n.d. and MLA and Chicago give the date you accessed it.
- Italicizing the course title in MLA. MLA capitalizes course titles but keeps them in plain type.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you cite a Coursera course in APA?
- List the instructors, the year (or n.d. when the course shows no date), the course title in italics with [MOOC], the platform and the URL: Jackson, M. O., Leyton-Brown, K., & Shoham, Y. (n.d.). Game theory [MOOC]. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1. In text: (Jackson et al., n.d.).
- How do you cite a lecture from an online course?
- Credit the person who gives the lecture and cite it like a podcast episode. In APA: Tangen, J. (2016). Episode 2: I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before [MOOC lecture]. In E. MacKenzie, J. Tangen, & M. Thompson, The science of everyday thinking. edX. MLA puts the lecture title in quotation marks and the course after it.
- How do I cite class materials from Canvas, Moodle or Blackboard?
- It depends on who will read your paper. Writing for your instructor, who can sign in, APA names the site and its login page, as in Canvas@FNU. https://fnu.onelogin.com/login. Writing for anyone else, cite the material as a personal communication in the text only. MLA always gives a Works Cited entry with the learning management system as the container.
- What date do I use if the course has none?
- APA writes n.d. in place of the year. MLA leaves the date out and adds Accessed with the day you used the course at the end of the entry. Chicago writes accessed and the date in its place, as it does for undated web pages.
- How do you cite a MOOC in MLA?
- Name the instructors, give the course title in plain type, the institution if the course credits one, then the platform in italics and the URL: Jackson, Matthew O., et al. Game Theory. Stanford University and the University of British Columbia. Coursera, www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.
- How do you cite an online course in Chicago style?
- The Chicago Manual has no MOOC example, so cite the course like web content: Matthew O. Jackson et al., “Game Theory,” online course, Stanford University and the University of British Columbia, Coursera, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-1. Material your readers cannot open goes in a note only.
Related Tools
How to cite an Online Course in each style
Format rules, templates, and worked examples for the styles most often required.