Citing Images and Figures in Essays and Papers

author By Mary Boies
how-to-cite-figures-images-tables

A common question among students is whether to include a figure in academic writing and how to do it right. You can use a figure in your essay, research paper, report, or dissertation as long as you cite it correctly to avoid plagiarism. A figure may include a chart, photograph, image, drawing/illustration, concept map, flow chart, or other non-textual illustrations or depictions. When it is an illustration or image other than a table, it is referred to as a figure.

If you find it difficult to cite figures such as diagrams, charts, and tables in your assignments, you came to the right place. In this post, you will discover how exactly to cite these figures in your academic writings, whether you are using the APA, MLA, Harvard, or Chicago citation style.

Without further ado, let's begin.

General Rules for Citing Figures in Academic Writing

When writing an exegesis, journal, research and term papers, essays, reports, white papers, and other professional or academic papers, you must ensure to cite images, diagrams, and artistic works as you would cite any other type of work that is not your own. There are specific rules you need to consider:

1. How to cite figures in APA

Find out how to cite figures from different sources in APA below:

From a website

Note: Brief explanation for the information in the figure. Reprinted [or adapted] from Title of Website, by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year, URL. Copyright [year] by the Name of Copyright Holder. Reprinted [or adapted] with permission.

Note: An example of the cobra yoga position. Reprinted from List of Yoga Postures, In Wikipedia, n.d., Retrieved October 28, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_yoga_postures. Copyright 2007 by Joseph Renger. Reprinted with permission.

As shown in Figure 1,…

Department of Education. (n.d.). Ministry guidelines for post-covid school resumption. https://www.moe.gov/school_resumption

From a book

Note: Descriptive phrase that serves as title and description. Reprinted [or adapted] from Book Title (page number) by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year, Publisher. Copyright [Year] by the Name of Copyright Holder. Reprinted [or adapted] with permission.

Note: Short-term memory test involving pictures. Reprinted from Short-term Memory Loss (p. 73), by K. M. Pike, 2008, Mackerlin Press. Copyright 2008 by the Association for Memory Research. Reprinted with permission.

This is clearly shown in Figure 2, …

 

Rasmussen, E. J. (2009). Employment relations in New Zealand (2nd ed.). Pearson.

From a journal article

Note: Descriptive phrase that serves as title and description. Reprinted [or adapted] from "Title of Article," by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year, Journal Title, Volume(issue), page number. Copyright [Year] by the Name of Copyright Holder. Reprinted [or adapted] with permission.

Note: Schematic drawings of a bird's eye view of the table (a) and the test phase of the choice task (b). Numbers represent the dimensions in centimeters. Adapted from "Visual Experience Enhances Infants' Use of Task-Relevant Information in an Action Task," by S.-h. Wang and L. Kohne, 2007, Developmental Psychology, 43, p. 1515. Copyright 2003 by the American Psychological Association.

As shown in Figure 3, …

Jahan, N., & Rahman, S. (2016). Factors that obstruct tourism development in Bangladesh. CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 7(9), 48–55.

2. How to cite figures in MLA

Find out how to cite figures from different sources in MLA below:

From a website

Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

Fig. 5. Six Apple logos from 1976 to now from: "It All Started with a Fruit." Rob Janoff, contributions by www.fansofapple.com, robjanoff.com/applelogo/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.

(Fig. 5) or ("It All Started With a Fruit")

"It All Started with a Fruit." Rob Janoff, contributions by www.fansofapple.com, robjanoff.com/applelogo/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.

From a book

Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

Fig. 6. Man exercising from: Green, Annie. "Yoga: Stretching Out." Sports Digest, 8 May 2006, p. 22.

(Fig. #) or (Author's Last Name Page Number) or ("Title of Article" Page Number)

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Date of Publication, p. Page Numbers.

From a journal article

Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

Fig. 6. Man exercising from: Green, Annie. "Yoga: Stretching Out." Sports Digest, 8 May 2006, p. 22.

(Fig. 6) or (Green 22)

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Date of Publication, p. Page Numbers.

3. How to cite figures in Chicago

From a website

  1. James Estrin, "A Worshiper at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan," New York Times, November 27, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/nyregion/for-catholics-the-word-was-a-bit-different-amen.html?ref=us.&_r=0.

Estrin, James. "A Worshiper at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan." New York Times.

         November 27, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/nyregion/for-catholics-the-word-was-

         a-bit-different-amen.html?ref=us.&_r=0.

From a book

  1. Bob Gruen, "Madison Square Garden, July 1972," in Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010), color plate 12.

Gruen, Bob. "Madison Square Garden, July 1972." In Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox,

         color plate 12. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010

From a journal article

  1. David Talbot, "Saving Holland," Technology Review110, no. 4 (2007): 52, figure 3.

Talbot, David. "Saving Holland." Technology Review 110, no. 4 (2007): 52, figure 3.

Vermeer, Dura. "High and Dry Concept." Technology Review 110, no. 4 (2007): 56. Maxwell Museum of

         Anthropology. "An Arrowhead, Made from a Copper Nugget, Found at a Melting Alaskan Glacier."

         Miller-McCune 3, iss. 6 (2010): 23, figure 4.

4. How to cite figures in Harvard

From a website

Figure 1: Glass world (EnvironmentalScience 2018).

Format:

Author, AA year of publication, Title: subtitle, name, and place of source, viewed date, .

Example:

EnvironmentalScience.org 2018, Glass world, EnvironmentalScience.org, viewed 23 March 2018, <https://www.environmentalscience.org/careers>.

From a book

Artemisia Gentileschi's c.1618 painting 'Judith with Her Maidservant' (Chadwick 2007, p. 111)

 Format:

Author, AA year of publication, Title: subtitle, Publisher, Place of publication.

Example:

Chadwick, P 2007, Italian art, Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, N.S.W.

 

From a journal article

As shown in a diagram labeled, 'Storyboard for Ivan's morning routine' (Buggey 2007)              

Buggey. T. (2007) Storyboard for Ivan's morning routine. [Diagram] Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, 9 (3) p.151. Available at: Academic Search Premier, [Accessed 18 December 2013].

Conclusion

As you can see, different citation styles have different rules for citing illustrations from various sources. Therefore, it is crucial to cite various figures correctly according to the citation style you have been told to use. If, after reading everything in the post above, you still feel like you need help, do not worry. You can send your academic writing to an assignment help company like ours to get everything cited correctly.

We offer proofreading and citation services at competitive rates. We have helped many students worldwide polish their academic papers and get excellent grades, and we can do the same for you. Try us today to get your paper upgraded from ordinary to extraordinary.

 

FAQs

Can you use an image in a research paper or essay?

Yes, you can. You are allowed and encouraged to use images and figures in your research papers and essays; the only condition is that you must use them correctly. In other words, you must provide the correct in-text citation and reference page citation for each image you use.

How do you, Harvard, reference an image from a website with no author?

When you want to reference an image from a website with no author, you use the image title in the author's place. Doing this will enable you to appropriately refer to the image throughout your paper and make it easy for the reader to find the image reference on the references page.

How do you reference an image in Harvard style?

Creator Last name, Initial(s). (Year) Title of image/photograph. Available at: URL (Accessed Day Month Year).

How do you cite an image in APA?

This example shows how exactly to do it.

Jahan, N., & Rahman, S. (2016). Factors that obstruct tourism development in Bangladesh. CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 7(9), 48–55.

How do you reference a table in a research paper or essay?

You use the correct citation style, and different citation styles have different rules for citing tables from different sources.

Can you reference a graph in an essay or research paper?

Absolutely. As long as you cite it and reference it correctly. There is absolutely no problem.

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