How to Cite Resources
Citing Resources
Why do we need to cite resources that we get information from?
To acknowledge that the information is from another source and is not our own. To give the reader necessary information to find the resource and do further research. To avoid plagiarism, or passing off the information as your own. Citing Images
Tips
- For more information and examples, view the Purdue Online Writing Lab's APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition).
- Please note that information about usage rights is not typically included in APA citations, but it is included here as an example.
Citing photos & images
1. Artwork in a museum or on a museum website
Last Name, First Initial of artist. (year). Title [Type of Artwork]. Museum, city, state abbreviation, country. URL (if taken from website) (Insert information about usage rights here: e.g. CC BY NC ND, Public Domain, etc.)
Parenthetical Citations:
(Artist Last Name, Year)
Examples:
Ingham, C.C. (1846). The Flower Girl [Painting]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection%20/search/11207 (Public Domain)
Parenthetical Citation:
(Ingham, 1846)
Note: for untitled art, include a description in the square brackets
2. Photograph
Last Name, First Initial of photographer. (year). Title [Photograph]. (Insert information about usage rights here: e.g. CC BY NC ND, Public Domain, etc.)
If found online:
Last Name, First Initial of photographer. (year). Title [Photograph]. Name of the site where it was retrieved. URL (Insert information about usage rights here: e.g. CC BY NC ND, Public Domain, etc.)
Citing YouTube or other streaming videos
Last Name, First initial or group that uploaded the video. (year uploaded, month day). Title [Video]. Streaming Website. URL. (Insert information about usage rights here: e.g. CC BY NC ND, Public Domain, etc.)
Parenthetical Citations:
(Last Name or group that uploaded the video, year)
Examples:
Hill, D. (2013, January 25). How to Teach your Dog to Skip Rope-Dogs Jumping Rope [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8qFgIKljng
Parenthetical Citation: (Hill, 2013)
Snake Discovery. (2017, August 2). How to Help Turtles Cross the Road [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cablDOmTHs8
Note: The person or group who uploaded the video is the accredited author.
How to Make a Caption for a Personal Photo/Video
General tips for captioning personal photos and videos - see our Citation Guide for specific style information.
What to Include:
- Who took the photo
- A description of the photo
- The date it was taken
- Where you got it from (Facebook, your personal collection, etc)
Description Tips:
- Include relevant information like where it was taken, the event taking place, and who is in the photo.
- Use present tense.
- Be specific: if identifying a person or thing in a group photo, indicate where in the frame it is; in a video, indicate the timestamp.
- Don't get too fancy! The caption is to help the reader better understand the context and origin of the photo/video.
Always make sure you get the permission of the people in the photo if their face is showing, or their guardians if they are minors!
Examples
Three example image captions.
Fig. 1. Paige Crowl, Photo of a piece of spinach that appears to be smiling, in a spinach salad purchased from Highland Bakery at Emory University in Atlanta, 2017. Personal collection.
Figures 2 and 3 from:
Berndt, Jaqueline. "Conjoined by Hand: Aesthetic Materiality in Kouno Fumiyo's Manga In This Corner of the World." Mechademia 12, no. 2 (2020): 83-101.
Canário, Tiago. “On the problem of defining manga: A study about the influence of Taoism and Zen Buddhism on manga aesthetics.” ALTERNATIVE FRANCOPHONE 1, no. 10 (September 22, 2016): 81–99. https://doi.org/10.29173/af28220.
