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APA Citation and Formatting: Images and Visual Resources

Attention Students!

This guide is a starting point. For full details on correctly citing resources and creating references, please consult
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.) (2020), or Cites & Sources (6th Ed.) (2021).

Please Note! Library staff do not teach APA, and cannot evaluate or correct work. If you need help with APA Style, please contact your instructor.

Add Top Box How Do I Cite Images and Other Visual Resources?

An image of a photograph on the website of the Art Gallery of Ontario . The title of the photo is, “Queen Street West, Toronto”, and the photographer is listed as Michal Thomas Henry Lambeth. It is dated 1956. Blue arrows point to the title, date, photographer’s name, and the name of the website.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.14)
Photographer, P. (Date). Title of work [Description]. Museum Name. Museum Location. OR Name of Website. URL if applicable.

Example:
Lambeth, M.T.H. (1956). Queen Street East, Toronto [Photograph]. Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario. https://ago.ca/collection/object/2000/9

Parenthetical Citation 
(Artist, Date), e.g.: (Lambeth, 1956)

Narrative Citation
Artist (Date), e.g.: Lambeth (1956)

An image of a painting on the website of the Art Gallery of Ontario . The title of the painting is, “After the sleet storm”, and the photographer is listed as Tom Thompson. It is dated between 1915 and 1916. Blue arrows point to the title, date, photographer’s name, and the name of the website.

Use this format to cite all types of museum artwork, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings, and installations. Always include a description of the medium or format in square brackets after the title. If the work does not have a title, include a description in square brackets after the date.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.14)
Artist, A. (Date). Title of work [Description]. Museum Name. Museum Location. URL if applicable.

Example:
Thompson, T. (ca. 1915-1916). After the sleet storm [Painting]. The Thompson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario. https://ago.ca/collection/object/agoid.69250

Parenthetical Citation 
(Artist, Date), e.g.: (Thompson, ca. 1915-1916)

Narrative Citation
Artist (Date), e.g.: Thompson (ca.1915-1916)

An image of clip art on a website called “Openclipart” . The title of the clip art is, “Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019”, and the screen name of the creator is liftarn. No given name is provided. It is dated 2020. Blue arrows point to the title, creator, and date.

 

Reference List Entry: Format (10.14)
Creator, C. (Date). Title of work [Description]. Website name. URL.

Example:
liftarn. (2020). Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 [ Clip art]. Openclipart. https://openclipart.org/detail/319945/symptoms-of-coronavirus-disease-2019

Please Note! Clip art creators might only be credited with a screen name. Cite the screen name as it appears (9.8). If both a screen name and a given name are known, provide the given name followed by the screen name in square brackets.

Parenthetical Citation 
(Creator, Date), e.g.: (liftarn, 2020)

Narrative Citation
Creator (Date), e.g.: liftarn (2020)

Remember! The examples above are used only to cite clip art. To reproduce clip art or stock images, permission and/or a copyright attribution may be necessary in addition to the reference. No citation, permission, or copyright attribution is necessary for clip art from programs like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint (see Section 12.15).

An image of an infographic on a website called “World Science Festival”. The infographic is titled, “Sorting through our space junk”, and it was created by Julie Rossman and Roxanne Palmer in 2015. Blue arrows point to the title, date and creators.

 

Reference List Entry: Format (10.14)
Creator, C. (Date). Title of work [Description]. Website name. URL.

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

Please Note! Clip art creators might only be credited with a screen name. Cite the screen name as it appears (9.8). If both a screen name and a given name are known, provide the given name followed by the screen name in square brackets.

Parenthetical Citation 
(Creator, Date), e.g.: (Rossman & Palmer, 2015)

Narrative Citation
Creator (Date), e.g.: Rossman and Palmer (2015)

Remember! The examples above are used only to cite an infographic. To reproduce an infographic, permission and/or a copyright attribution may be necessary in addition to the reference (see Section 12.15).

A screenshot from Google Maps showing the driving distance between Fort Simpson and Whitehorse, both in the Northwest Territories in Canada.

 

Reference List Entry: Format (10.14)
Creator, C. (Date). Title of work [Description]. Website name. URL.

Remember! Dynamically created maps (e.g., Google Maps) do not have a title. For materials that do not have a title, describe the material in square brackets, and include a retrieval date.

Remember! If no date of publication is available, insert "n.d.", meaning "no date", in place of the date of publication.

Remember! If the author or creator and the publisher are the same entity, omit the publisher from the reference list entry.

Example:
​Google. (n.d.). [Google Maps directions for driving between Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories]. Retrieved April 2, 2020 from https://bit.ly/3bIlXgn

Parenthetical Citation 
(Creator, Date), e.g.: (Google, n.d.)

Narrative Citation
Creator (Date), e.g.: Google (n.d.)

Please Note!

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (2020). Library staff have reviewed the information in this guide, and to the best of our knowledge, it is accurate. However, mistakes do occur. Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that their citations are correct, and that their assignments meet the criteria laid out by their instructor. Students are encouraged to contact Peer Tutoring or the Writing Clinic for assistance.