Referencing: Figures, Tables, & Images

If you are including an image or graph in your work that was created by another person, it is considered a reproduced figure. When reproducing a figure, you should include:

• An in-text reference to the figure. This is not formatted as a normal (Author, Year) APA style in-text reference. Instead, mention the label for the figure in your writing:

  Figure 1 shows the common characteristics ...

  As represented in artistic works from this era (see Figures 2 and 8) ...

• The label (figure number) and title. Above the figure, each image or graph is numbered, starting from Figure 1 (the first figure that is mentioned in your work). The figure number is in bold. On the next line, give a brief descriptive title, in italics and title case.
• The figure or image itself, including a legend or key if necessary. Any words in the legend should be in title case.
• Figure notes: In a note underneath the table, give any information needed to explain the graph or image that is not clear from the title, image, or legend.
  • Begin with the word Note in italics and a full stop.
  • Include acknowledgements and copyright statement here if the image is reproduced or adapted from another source. This will contain the same elements as an end-text reference, but written slightly differently. Coursework students, please check with your lecturer to see how much detail they require.
  • Specific notes or notes about probability begin on a new line (see the example in Reproducing a table... below).
• In your reference list, a reference to the source (e.g., journal article, website, etc.) where the image can be retrieved.

More information from the APA Style website: formatting figures; examples. See also the Visual Arts guide: referencing images.

Example:

Figure 18

Detail of a Pendant from a Painting of Margaret of Austria

Note. The pendant symbolises the virtue of the subject. Adapted from Margaret of Austria, by J. Hey, [ca. 1490] (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459072). In the public domain.

In this example, this image is a portion of the original painting, cropped to show only the detail desired. Because this has altered the original, rather than reproducing it exactly as it originally appeared, use "Adapted from" instead of "From" to introduce the source. No copyright statement is required on this item because it is in the public domain: there is no longer a copyright holder for this work. Read more about copyright.

Note that the formatting and order of reference elements are quite different in the reference in figure and table notes. See Citing sources and copyright statements in notes for more information.

If you are reusing a table (or part of a table) from another source, even if you have adapted it to suit your purposes, it is considered to be a reproduced table and you will need to include a reference and attribution just as you would for an image or figure.

If you are using data from another source (published or unpublished, from one or multiple sources), you should use this format unless you have reconfigured or reanalysed the data. The presentation of data is subject to copyright and should also have an attribution and copyright statement for each source. If you have reanalysed the data, or if it was not presented in a table in the original source, follow these instructions instead.

When reproducing a table, you should include:

• A reference to the table in-text. e.g. As demonstrated in Table 1...
• The label (table number) and title: Place the table number at the top in bold, then the title below the table number, and the table itself directly under the title. The title should be in italics and title case (see Glossary), with no full stop.
• Table notes: In a note underneath the table, give any information needed to explain or clarify information in the table. Begin with the word Note in italics. Include acknowledgements here if the table is reproduced from another source or uses data from another source. Specific notes or notes about probability begin on a new line.
• In your reference list, an end-text reference for the source of any reproduced tables or data.

More information from the APA Style website: formatting tables; examples.

Example:

• Table 1
• Expanding Vocabulary Using Locational Compounds

• Stem	Location	Compound
  gyibaaw	ts'maks a	gyibaawmts'maks b
  'wolf'	'in water'	'eel'

• Note. From Fighting Language Endangerment (p. 138), by T. Stebbins, 2020, La Trobe eBureau. Copyright 2020 by La Trobe University. CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
• ^a Here, ts' indicates an ejective affricative phoneme. ^b Dependency marker -m is added when including a noun in a compound word.

This example shows how to format specific notes that refer to particular parts of your table. Place specific notes in a separate paragraph from the general notes, using superscript letters to refer to the row, column, or cell in question. If your table includes a probability note, this should also begin on a new line. The APA Style website has an example of a table with a probability note.

Note that the formatting and order of reference elements are quite different in the reference in figure and table notes. See Citing sources and copyright statements in notes for more information.

If you have created a table using information from multiple sources, how you cite sources depends on the context.

• Reusing data in a table that was presented in a table in the original source should include an attribution and copyright statement, if the presentation of the data is similar to the original source - that is, if you used not just the data but some of the way the table was set up in one of the sources (even if it was just one line from their table). Follow the instructions for reproducing a table from another source, using the phrase "Adapted from" if you made some changes. You may need to include multiple acknowledgements, if multiple lines come from different sources.
• If you are extracting data from separate sources or from multiple sections in an article or book, and you "reconfigured or reanalyzed [the data] to produce different numbers" (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 385), then you may be able to use just an author-date style to cite each source, as in the examples below.
• This format for citing sources may be appropriate for coursework students submitting an assessment in class, if the unit coordinator has approved a modified style.

Example:

Table 1

Incoming and Outgoing Data Packages Recorded on Primary Database

Port	Incoming	Outgoing
00000 (2018) a	56	49
00000 (2021) b	21	20
00004 (2018) c	6	4
00004 (2021) b	6	6

Note. This table shows signal measurements at the time of the incident, and signals measured through those ports during the same time period in 2021.

^a Perera et al. (2019, p. 22). ^b Data from 2021 is self-recorded. ^c Martin and Choi (2018, p. 39).

In this example, the layout and presentation of the data is different to the way they were displayed in the source articles, so only an in-text citation is needed. Place the ^a, ^b, ^c in your table in a way that makes clear which data comes from each source.

A further explanation (with examples) can be found on the APA style blog: Navigating Copyright: How to Cite Sources in a Table. This blog is written by staff of the American Psychological Association, the body that produced the APA Style Guide. Please note that this blog post was written using a previous version of APA style, so the references will no longer be correct. Use this page as guidance on the concept only.

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

The end-text reference gives the details of the source, i.e. the book, journal article, or webpage where you found the figure or table. You don't need to reference the image or table separately in your reference list. If a table from a book was used, reference the book. For example:

Assael, M. J. (1998). Thermophysical properties of fluids. Imperial College Press.

The exact form will depend on the type of source used. Follow the examples on the Reference Examples page.

In addition to explanatory information, a table or figure note should include:

• A citation for the source of the figure, table, or data (if not your own work).
• A copyright notice: Copyright Year by Name of Copyright Holder.
• A permission statement, which explains why you are allowed to reproduce the information. This statement is likely to be one of the following:
  • Used under fair dealing provision.
  • In the public domain.
  • Creative Commons license code.
  • Reprinted [or adapted] with permission.