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Citing Sources

Guidance on citing sources using MLA, APA, and more

Why Cite?

Images or illustrations can enhance your papers and presentations. Like written sources, images also need to be properly cited. Always indicate, or cite where you found the image. 

Citations can be formatted according to the citation style you are using (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc). 

Using images you did not create requires a citation in all cases. Citations should be accessible in the context of the image's use and should link back to the original image whenever possible. Include a caption below the image and a formal citation in your works cited. 

Citing Image Sources - Basic Guidelines

  • Give attribution to image creators in citations and credit statements to acknowledge authorship
  • Indicate when using a personal photograph
  • Include source information
  • Citations to images included in image databases should include the following (or as much of it as can be easily determined from the source):
  1. Creator's name
  2. Title of the work, as given
  3. Date
  4. Location of the work (museum, library), if known
  5. Database collection, if known
  6. Rights information, if known

No matter where you get your image (Google image search, Artstor, WGSN Fashion, museum website, scan from a book) or how you use it (Power Point, in a paper for class, a flyer) you MUST provide a citation for every image you use. This is as simple as adding any of the known information about the work (listed above) to the bottom of the digital image. Provide as much information as possible. For formal papers and presentations provide BOTH a caption and a citation in your bibliography or works cited. 

For example, this image was found using a Google Image Search. The image is hyperlinked back to the original source (on Flickr) and as much information as is known about the image is included in the caption below. 

Red Panda by Mathias Appel, 2015. Flickr (Public Domain)

Citing Image Sources - Image from Artstor

The following image was downloaded from Artstor. Here's the information provided by the metadata within Artstor that I need to keep track of and include where appropriate. 

An image from ARTstor

  1. Creator's name: Andy Warhol
  2. Title of the work, as given: Endangered Species: Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
  3. Date: 1983
  4. Location of the work (museum, library), if known: Exhibited at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts
  5. Database collection, if known: In Artstor [database online]
  6. Rights information, if known: © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. 

 

Endangered Species: Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) by Andy Warhol, 1983. Artstor. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts, Inc.

 

The MLA Citation in your Works Cited would be: 

Warhol, Andy. Endangered Species: Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). 1983. Exhibited at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts. Artstor, https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/LARRY_QUALLS_10312602459. 

Citing Image Sources - WGSN or WWD Runway Photo

The following image was downloaded from Women's Wear Daily from a Paris Fall 2016 Couture runway show. There were very few details provided by the database, but I've captured what I can. 

  1. Creator's name: Giovanni Giannoni (photographer), Zuhair Murad (designer) 
  2. Titles of the work, as given: Gown, Paris Fall 2016 Couture
  3. Date: 2016
  4. Location of the work: Paris 
  5. Database collection, if known: Women's Wear Daily
  6. Rights information, if known: Giovanni Giannoni, WWD Photographer

 

Zuhair Murad Paris Fall 2016 Couture (look 13), 2016. Women's Wear Daily. 

 

The MLA Citation in your Works Cited would be:

Giannoni, Giovanni. Zuhair Murad Paris Fall 2016 Couture Runway (look 13), 2016. Women's Wear Daily. Accessed August 24, 2016.

Citing Image Sources - WGSN Report

The following image was downloaded from WGSN Fashion database. Here's the information I need to keep track of: 

  1. Creator's name: Yvonne Luk
  2. Title of the work, as given: Wild Animals from The Creative Faces of Beauty Masks 
  3. Date: July 16, 2015
  4. Location of the work (museum, library), if known: N/A
  5. Database collection, if known: WGSN Fashion
  6. Rights information, if known. Unknown, but most likely copyrighted by WGSN. 

 

Wild Animals from The Creative Faces of Beauty Masks by Yvonne Luk, 2015. WGSN Fashion.

 

The MLA Citation in your Works Cited would be: 

Luk, Yvonne. "Wild Animals," The Creative Faces of Beauty Masks. 2015. WGSN Fashion. Accessed August 2016.

Citing Image Sources - Chart from Statista

The following image was downloaded from Statista. Here's the information provided by the databases (including the MLA citation below generated for you!)

  1. Creator's name: Nike
  2. Title of the work, as given: Nike's North American Revenue from 2009 to 2016, by Segment (in Million U.S. Dollars) 
  3. Date: July 2016
  4. Location of the work: Statista  
  5. Database collection, if known: Statista - the Statistics Portal
  6. Rights information, if known. Unknown

 

 

This image includes much of the information I would include in a caption - but if you download a chart or graph without this info included, be sure to caption it as well. 

 

The MLA Citation in your Works Cited would be: 

Nike. "Nike's North American Revenue from 2009 to 2016, by Segment (in Million U.S. Dollars)." Statista - The Statistics Portal. Statista. July 2016. Web. 30 Aug 2016.