Art and Art History: Citing Images

Whether you found an image for a paper or project through Google Images, a library database, or in a book, be sure to cite it properly. By citing your sources you avoid plagiarism and you give credit to the creator of the image, video, or text you are using. Be sure to include at a minimum:

• The title
• The creator, artist, or photographer
• The source (book, journal, database, poster, or website)

Recently, MLA has added information about citing images to their website, that will be useful:

Citing museum images viewed firsthand or online.

Citing images found using a search engine such as Google Images.

The APA also provides further guidance on appropriate citing and using of figures:

Sample figures.

The Creative Commons also has suggestions for placement of credit:

Best practices for attribution.

General formatting of images in papers:

• All visuals are labeled sequentially in the research paper as Figure or Fig., starting with Figure 1 or Fig. 1.
• Cite the source for the image directly below the figure.
• Refer to the figure in the text with the number that corresponds to the image, but do not capitalize: figure 1 or fig. 1.

Example of reference to a figure in the text:

• One of the most important events in the life of St. Francis, allegedly receiving the stigmata in 1224 at La Verna, was depicted by Giotto...(figure 1).

Creator, if known (Last name, First Name). Title. Date created, medium. Institution, location. Source where image found.

Figure 1. Giotto. Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata. 1295-1300, tempera on wood. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Artstor.

Source for figure 1

UNL Libraries Citation Managers

A quick link to both the subcription-based and free citation tools and managers

OWL Purdue 

Purdue's Online Writing Lab is a go-to resource for clear citation examples for major citation styles. 

It's best practice to recognize the intellectual property and creative work of others, even in presentations. Even if the image is copyright- and royalty-free, one should still:

acknowledge the creator of the image

where it was retrieved 
 

If your presentation is going to be viewed only by your instructor and/or class, you don't need to obtain copyright permission to use the images because of Fair Use. If, however, the image will be used in any work that will be published outside the university (e.g., thesis or posting your PowerPoint presentation to your personal blog), you'll want to perform your due dilligence in seeking permissions.

Image from a Website 

MLA
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/thecollection/art-work/the-family-ofcarlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779- 71759e417e74. Accessed 22 May 2006.

APA

Goya, F. (1800). The family of Charles IV. Museo National del Prado. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd /goya/hd_goya.htm

CMoS

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV, 1800. Painting. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/goy a/hd_goya.htm.