Reddit Post Citation in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard

Style rules checked October 23, 2026 · Next check by January 21, 2027 · AI-assisted source and citation checks; not human review

Examples in every style

Real book-review post, not the book itself

Reddit displays reggiew07's post reviewing Adam Hochschild's book; MLA's own 2021 guide independently identifies the post and dates it October 31,2020. This example cites the online review, not a reading of Hochschild's book.

Synthetic pseudonymous forum post

Illustrative post with a short title and a username only. It is not a real Reddit post and has no fabricated permalink. The source details in this example are made up to show the format.

How the styles differ for this source

Edge cases

• Only a username is known. APA says to use the screen name alone without brackets when a real name is unknown. Do not infer identity from a username. Style guide. Applies to APA Style 7th edition.
• You quote a comment rather than the post. A comment needs its own identity and, for APA, a comment description naming the parent post. Copy the comment's date-stamp permalink rather than a generic subreddit URL. Style guide. Applies to APA Style 7th edition.
• The post is a review whose heading is the book title. MLA's Reddit guide describes the reviewed book within a review title. Do not cite the book's author as if that person wrote the Reddit review. Style guide. Applies to MLA Handbook 9th edition.
• A livestream has not been archived. APA treats an unrecoverable livestream as personal communication, not a retrievable forum post. Style guide. Applies to APA Style 7th edition.

Common mistakes

Making Hochschild the author of the Reddit review

The post is by reggiew 07, while Hochschild wrote the book discussed.

Not this: Hochschild listed as Reddit post author

Do this (APA Style 7th edition, reference list entry): reggiew07. (2020, October 31). “King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa” by Adam Hochschild [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/jlbrs4/king_leopolds_ghost_a_story_of_greed_terror_and/

Using r/books as the complete location

The subreddit contains many posts; use the particular post or comment permalink.

Not this: Only reddit.com/r/books supplied

Do this (Cite Them Right 12th edition (author-date/Harvard), reference list entry): reggiew07 (2020) “‘King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa’ by Adam Hochschild,” Reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/jlbrs4/king_leopolds_ghost_a_story_of_greed_terror_and/ (Accessed: October 23, 2026).

Guessing the poster's real name

APA permits the screen name alone when the real name is unknown.

Not this: An invented full name substituted for reggiew 07

Do this (MLA Handbook 9th edition, reference list entry): fieldnotes_reader. “How do you keep track of corrected source dates?” Online forum post. Reddit, 6 Mar. 2025.

Check before you cite

• Decide whether you used a post, comment or archived recording.
• Preserve the displayed account name without guessing identity.
• Open the permalink for the exact item cited.
• Use a verified date, not a guessed date from relative age.
• Check the assigned style's title or description rule.
• Do not treat a review as proof that you consulted its reviewed book.

Is this the right source type?

Choose the specific Reddit item you actually used before filling in a reference. A post, a reply and a comment nested inside a discussion have different authors and locations. APA supplies separate formats for forum posts and comments, including a way to identify the parent post in a comment reference. If you only know a username, use it rather than inventing or investigating an unnecessary real identity. The real example is a review of King Leopold's Ghost, not the book itself. The original post identifies reggiew 07, while MLA's own guide describes the review and supplies its exact 2020 date. That distinction matters when a platform shows only a relative age to a visitor. MLA also demonstrates a descriptive review title here instead of treating the book title alone as a complete reference to the review. A reference helps readers locate material; it does not establish that the post's claims are correct or that the underlying book was independently read. If your evidence is one particular reply, keep the comment's own permalink and date rather than linking readers to the top of the thread.

Frequently asked questions

More examples are listed in the how to cite hub.