NHS Library: Images: Image Citation

Citing Images

Images must be cited like all other resources. If you use an image you did not create, you must provide a citation. Images should be cited in all cases, even if the image is very small, or in the public domain. The citation should be accessible in the context of the image's use (within a Powerpoint presentation, on a web page, in a paper, etc.).

Image citations should include the following information at a minimum:

Creator name
Title
Repository information (museum, library, or other owning institution)
Image source (database, website, book, postcard, vendor, etc.)
Date accessed

It is also useful to include date, culture, and rights information, if known.

Structure of a citation for an image found on a website in MLA 8: Creator's Last name, First name. “Title of the digital image.” Title of the website, First name Last name of any contributors, Version (if applicable), Number (if applicable), Publisher, Publication date, URL.

Citation Guides

MSUB Library citation guides

Other useful guides for citing images

The Purdue Owl MLA Formatting and Style Guide
The Purdue Owl Chicago Manual of Style 15th Edition (see "Web Sources" and "Film and Television")

Sample Citations

Citing An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)

Provide the artist's name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, and the date of access.

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

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

If the work is cited on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.

Adams, Clifton R. “People relax beside a swimming pool at a country estate near Phoenix, Arizona, 1928.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 2 June 2016, natgeofound.tumblr.com/.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

EXAMPLES

"Polar Bears Face Uncertain Future." Tribune Content Agency Photos, 2005. Academic OneFile, Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.

TIP:

How do you cite a picture from Google Images?

To get to the original source, click on the image and then click "website for this image," usually on the upper right side of the screen. Here's an example of what happens when I want to cite this picture that I found by doing a google imagesearch for "elephant": Elephant next to a car. Digital image.

Polar bear, arctic, wildlife, snow. Free Image on Pixabay. Creative Commons CC0, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2017.

"The Northern Spotted Owl." UPI Photo Collection, 2009. General Science Collection. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.