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APA 7th ed. Citation Guide: Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables

Contains the latest changes and updates to APA Style

Tips

Reproducing Images, Charts, Tables & Graphs

Reproducing happens when you copy or recreate an image, table, graph or chart that is not your original creation. If you reproduce one of these works in your assignment, you must create a note underneath the image, chart, table or graph to show where you found it. You do not include this information in a Reference list.

Citing Information From an Image, Chart, Table or Graph

If you refer to information from an image, chart, table or graph, but do not reproduce it in your paper, create a citation both in-text and on your Reference list.

If the information is part of another format, for example a book, magazine article, encyclopedia, etc., cite the work it came from. For example if information came from a table in an article in National Geographic magazine, you would cite the entire article.

If you are only making a passing reference to a well known image, you would not have to cite it, e.g. describing someone as having a Mona Lisa smile.

Figure Numbers

Each image you reproduce should be assigned a figure number, starting with number 1 for the first image used in the assignment.

Title

Images may not have a set title. If this is the case give a description of the image where you would normally put the title.

Copyright Information

Include copyright information in the citation if it is given, including the year and the copyright holder. Copyright information on a website may often be found at the bottom of the home page.

Still Need Help?

For more information on citing figures in MAPA, see Purdue Owl 1 and Purdue Owl 2.

Missing Information?

Some sources, such as websites, may not have the full information to create a citation.  APA has guidelines for dealing with missing components of a citation, both in-text and reference entry.

Images - Basic Format

In-text (placed directly below the image):

Figure X. Image title or Descriptive phrase that serves as title [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map], by Creator's or Author's First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name, Year of creation, Organization/Website Name (http://www.xxxxx). Copyright attribution if given.

Reference List:

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map]. Organization/Website Name, Location. http://wwww.xxxxxx

Notes: 

If the image does not have a title, create a descriptive phrase that serves as a title.  Place the descriptive title in square brackets when creating the Reference entry [Descriptive phrase].

If the image does not have an identified author/creator, start the Reference entry citation with the Title or Descriptive Phrase, followed by the year.

Image Examples

In-text (placed directly below the image):

Figure X. Image title or Descriptive phrase that serves as title [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map], by Creator's or Author's First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name, Year of creation, Name of Organization/Website (http://www.xxxxx). Copyright attribution if given.

This example demonstrates the format for no known creator, and no known date for the image. 

Figure 3. Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore [Photograph], by [unknown photographer], (n.d.), The Museums of Florence. http://www.museumsinflorence.com/foto/doumo/thumbnails/duomo.jpg.

Reference List:

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map]. Organization/Website Name, Location. http://wwww.xxxxxx

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore [Photograph]. (n.d.). The Museums of Florence, Florence, Italy. http://www.museumsinflorence.com/foto/doumo/thumbnails/duomo.jpg.

Notes:

The above example demonstrates the format for no known creator, and no known date for the image. 

If the Creator/Photographer and or date is known, include this in both the in-text and the reference citation. 

 

 

In-text (placed directly below the image):

Figure X. Image title or Descriptive phrase that serves as title [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map], by Creator's or Author's First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name, Year of creation, Name of Organization/Website (http://www.xxxxx). Copyright attribution if given.

Figure 2. Hand Palm Facing Out [Clip art], by Open Clipart.com, 2015, All-Free-Download.com https://all-free-download.com/free-vector/download/hand-palm-facing-out-clipart_18366.html. Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Public Domain License.

Reference List:

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map]. Organization/Website Name, Location. http://wwww.xxxxxx

Open Clipart.com. (2015). Hand palm facing out [Clip art]. All-Free-Download.com. https://all-free-download.com/free-vector/download/hand-palm-facing-out-clipart_18366.html

In-text (placed directly below the image):

Figure X. Image title or Descriptive phrase that serves as title [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map], by Creator's or Author's First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name, Year of creation, Name of Organization/Website (http://www.xxxxx). Copyright attribution if given.

Figure 11. The Racial Dot Map [Map], by D. Cable, 2013, University of Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service https://demographics.coopercenter.org/Racial-Dot-Map.

Reference List:

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map]. Organization/Website Name, Location. http://wwww.xxxxxx

Cable, D. (2013). The racial dot map [Map]. University of Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. https://deomographics.coopercenter.org/Racial-Dot-Map.

In-text (placed directly below the image):

Figure X. Image title or Descriptive phrase that serves as title [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map], by Creator's or Author's First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name, Year of creation, Name of Organization/Website (http://www.xxxxx). Copyright attribution if given.

Figure 1. Helen Frankenthaler's painting entitled Hommage `a Chardin [Painting], by H. Frankenthaler, 1957, Berggruen https://www.berggruen.com/exhibitions/helen-frankenthaler2/a-news?view=slider ©1957

Reference List:

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map]. Organization/Website Name, Location. http://wwww.xxxxxx

Frankenthaler, H. (1957). Hommage `a Chardin [Painting]. Berggruen, San Francisco, CA, United States. https://www.berggruen.com/exhibitions/helen-frankenthaler2/a-news?view=slider

In-text (placed directly below the image):

Figure X. Image title or Descriptive phrase that serves as title [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map], by Creator's or Author's First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name, Year of creation, Name of Organization/Website (http://www.xxxxx). Copyright attribution if given.

Figure 8. Sorting through our Space Junk [Infographic], by J. Rossman, & R. Palmer, 2015, World Science Festival https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2015/11/space-junk-infographic/

Reference List:

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Photograph/ Clip art/ Map]. Organization/Website Name, Location. http://wwww.xxxxxx

Rossman, J., & Palmer, R. (2015). Sorting through our space junk [Infographic]. World Science Festival. https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2015/11/space-junk-infographic/

Tables - Basic Format

General Guidelines

 

Table Components:

Number:   The table number (e.g. Table 1) appears above the table in bold font

Title:  The Table title appears one double-spaced line below the table number in italic title case

Headings: All tables should include column headings, including a heading for the leftmost column (stub heading)

Body: The table body includes all the rows and columns of a table.  The body may be single space, one and a half spaced, or double spaced

Note: A note can appear below the table to describe the contents of the table that cannot be understood from the table or body alone (e.g. definitions of abbreviations, copyright attribution).

 

Components required in a Note for Copyright Attribution:

Note: Reprinted/Adapted from Title of Article by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Author Surname, Year, Publisher. Copyright 20XX by Name of Copyright Holder.

 

General rules:
  • In the text, refer to every table by its number.  For example, As shown in Table 1, .... (no italics, but with a capital T)
  • There are two options for the placement of tables in a paper.  The first option is to place all tables on separate pages after the reference list.  The second option is to embed each table within the text.
  • If you reprint or adapt a table from another source in your paper (e.g. a table from a published work), you must include a copyright attribution in the table note indicating the origin of the reprinted or adapted material in addition to a reference list entry for the work.
    • Note. Reprinted from "....."  Indicates the information is copied exactly as it appears in the original source.
    • Note. Adapted from "....."  Indicates the information is taken from another source but used in a different format from the original.
    • Note. a b   "....." Indicates more than one source was used in the table.
  • Works with Creative Commons Licenses should be cited accordingly.

Tables Examples

In-Text:

 

Reference List:

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

 

In-Text:

 

Reference List:

Buckels, E. E., Beall, A. T., Hofer, M. K., Lin, E. Y., Zhou, Z. & Schaller, M. (2015). "Individual differences in activation of the parental care motivational system: assessment, prediction and implications". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(3) 501. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000023

 

In-Text:

When creating a table using data retrieved from various sources, each source needs to be identified in the Notes beneath the table. Use superscripted letters in the table beside the data and correspond it to the Notes.   A full, proper citation also required for all listed sources in the Reference List. 

Table X.

Title describing the contents of the table.

 

Note:  a  Adapted from "When Salespeople Manage Customer Relationships: Multidimensional Incentives and Private Information", by M. Kim, K. Sudhir, K. Uetake, and R. Caneles, 2019, Journal of Marketing, 56(5), p. 765. Copyright 2019 by the American Marketing Association.  b   Adapted from Percentage of New Zealand population who have never worked, June 2016 quarter, from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/people-never-worked.aspx. Copyright 2016 by Statistics New Zealand.   c   Adapted from  Calculation of  men and women who have left the workforce, April - December, 2015, by  R. Morgan. Copyright 2015 by Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand.

Reference Entries:

(Each source used to create the table requires a separate Reference entry)

Kim, M., Sudhir, K., Uetake, K., & Canales, R. (2019). When salespeople manage customer relationships: Multidimensional incentives and private information. Journal of Marketing Research, 56(5), 749–766. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022243719847661

Roy Morgan New Zealand. (2015). Calculation of men and women who have left the workforce, April - December 2015 [Table]. Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand. (2016). Percentage of New Zealand population who have never worked, June 2016 quarter [Table].  http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/people-never-worked.aspx

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