Citing Images and Figures in Essays and Papers

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:

• The citation format you select should align with the bibliographic style used in your text. For instance, if you are writing a paper in APA 7, ensure that you follow the image in-text citation guidelines for APA 7. The same applies to Harvard, MLA, Chicago, Oxford, or Oscola.
• All figures and tables should be mentioned in the text by their unique number, i.e., figures 1, 2, 3… or table 1, 2, 3. Avoid referring to the figure or table by its order of occurrence, such as "the figure/table below."
• When placing figures on paper, you can do so in two places. You can place all the figures on separate pages after the reference list (under the appendices) or embed each figure or table within the text and provide the appropriate in-text citations.
• When you adapt or reproduce a figure from a source (book, website, journal, or blog), you must include the copyright attribution in the figure note. The figure note indicates the origin of the adapted or reproduced material. You also have to provide a list of reference entries for the piece of work. You must include a permission statement if you sought and obtained permission to adapt or re-use the material in your figure. However, a permission statement is not required for materials in the public domains (copyright-free) or those that are openly licensed. An example of the latter is when the figure is licensed under Creative Commons.
• If you are citing a figure within the body of your paper, do the following:
  • Write the "Table" or "Figure" in bold font, flush left, followed by the number. For example, Figure 1.
  • Write the figure or table title using an italic case below the figure/table number,
  • Double-space the table/figure number and title.
  • Embed the image
• Do this below the figure or table:
  • On a new line below it, flush left, and place Note. Provide further explanation or details about the information in the figure or table if needed. State if the material is reprinted or adapted. If reprinted, use "from," and if adapted, use "adapted from." Followed by the copyright attribution.
  • Separate the table or figure from the text with one blank double- or single-spaced line, depending on the spacing of your entire paper.
• If you are citing a figure created by compiling information from various sources such as websites, journals, and government reports, ensure that each source has its copyright attribution in a general note and that a full bibliographic entry is provided in the reference list. See the guide by SFU.

1. How to cite figures in APA

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

From a website

• Note format:

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 example:

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.

• In-text citation:

As shown in Figure 1,…

• Reference list:

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

From a book

• Note format:

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 example:

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.

• In-text citation:

This is clearly shown in Figure 2, …

• Reference list:

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

From a journal article

• Note format:

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 example:

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.

• In-text citation:

As shown in Figure 3, …

• Reference list:

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

• Caption format:

Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

• Caption example:

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.

• In-text citation:

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

• Works cited list:

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

From a book

• Caption format:

Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

• Caption example:

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

• In-text citation:

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

• Works list:

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

• Caption format:

Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

• Caption example:

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

• In-text citation:

(Fig. 6) or (Green 22)

• Works cited list:

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

• Footnote:

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.

• Bibliography:

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

• Footnote:

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.

• Bibliography:

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

• Footnote:

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

• Bibliography:

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

• In-text citation:

Figure 1: Glass world (EnvironmentalScience 2018).

• Reference list:

Format:

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

Example:

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

From a book

• In-text citation:

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

• Reference list:

 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

• In-text citation:

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

• Reference list:

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.

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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.