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Finding & Using Images in Research

Using & Citing images in Your Paper

Each citation style guide requires the writer to place, label, and refer to images following specific guidelines. Find the style guide you are using for your assignment below for detailed instructions. 

APA

Images are not often found in APA style papers; you are more likely to find graphs and tables. However, if you do need to use an image, here are the guidelines.

Placing the image in your paper:

  • text here

Chicago Manual of Style

Placing the image in your paper:

  • Place the image before after the paragraph where it is mentioned.
    Example of how to reference the image in the text of your paragraph: William England's photographs capture the rough-and-tough essence of daily life in Victorian England (see fig. 1).
  • The first image is labeled Fig. 1., then Fig. 2., and so on.
  • The image should be centered and take up no more than one-third of the page. 
  • Each image needs a descriptive caption directly below, including an italicized title for the image. 
  • The caption is single-spaced and left aligned, flush with the edge of the image. 
  • Cite the source of the image after the caption. Give the reader the basic information, and include the full citation in an entry on your Bibliography. Examples of how to cite different types of images can be found here.
  • Leave one blank line between the caption and text of your paper.
  • Include the full citation for the image in your bibliography. 

Source: Bibliography.com

Art Bulletin

Citing works of art with the Art Bulletin

MLA

Placing the image in your paper:

  • The image should go directly below the paragraph in which the image is referenced.
    Example of how to reference the image in the text of your paragraph: An especially egregious example of mistakes in journalism can be seen in the Chicago Tribune headline on November 4, 1948, that mistakenly announced Dewey defeating Truman in the presidential election (see fig. 1).
  • The image should be centered and take up no more than one-third of the page. 
  • Each image needs a descriptive caption directly below with a parenthetical citation.
  • The first image is labeled Fig. 1., then Fig. 2., and so on.
  • Include the full citation for the image in your Works Cited page. 

Source: Green River College