Skip to Main Content

JCU logoLibrary Guides

APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide

Guide to APA citation style using the 7th Edition of the APA Style Manual.

A note on visual works

APA has specific rules on how to format in text citations and references for tables and figures. A figure is anything that is not part of the text of your document and not a table. Graphs, photographs, illustrations and charts are all examples of figures.
 
The APA manual provides formatting and referencing advice for using figures in works that are going to be published.  If an item has been made available for anyone to read (whether or not it is at a price) then it is considered published.
 
Student assignments are not considered to be "published" as they are only available to staff and sometimes students and so are not considered "publicly" available. JCU Library has adapted the manual's advice to provide simplified instructions for students who are writing assignments that are not going to be made public. Check with your lecturer to see if they are happy for the simplified version, or if they want you to cite the picture as if you were going to publish it.
Remember that images found online are not "fair game" - they belong to someone, and all effort should be made to identify the creator or owner and cite the image correctly.
• If the image is from a book/book chapter or journal article, and was created by the authors of that source, just cite the book/chapter or article. If you are using the image in your work cite it as you would a direct quote, and include a page number.
• Images used (legally) for purely decorative purposes in a PowerPoint presentation may not need citation. Check with your lecturer.

When "no attribution is required"?

APA style does not require a citation for images marked as "no attribution required". However, your lecturer may wish for a citation for every source you use in your assignment, including sources that state you can use them without attribution.

Always check with your lecturer for the requirements of your assignment.

Titles of Visual Works

Wherever possible, use the title of a visual work that was given by the creator. This includes titles such as "Untitled".

Only use Untitled as the title of the work if it is given as the title of the work. If the work has no title, provide an expanded description in its place. The description is in square brackets and not in italics. If the work's title is "Untitled", you may expand the description if you wish, but this is not necessary.

For example:

A work with "Untitled" as the title.

Namatjira, K. L. (n.d.) Untitled [Painting of a landscape]. Araluen Arts Centre. https://araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au/exhibitions/lineage-legacy/untitled-0

A work without a title

Brierly, O.S., (ca. 1848). [Untitled sketch of waves]. James Cook University Art Collection. https://nqheritage.jcu.edu.au/808/

Layout of images, figures and tables in your document

Tables vs figures

All visual works are given labels within your document. If information is displayed in tabular format then the work is described as a table. Everything else is described as a figure, including graphs, photographs and other images.

Citing figures or tables

When a figure or table is included within the body of the text, the following format should be used:

  • Line 1: Table or Figure number in bold
    • Number sequentially in order of appearance throughout the document, e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Figure 3, Table 2
  • Line 2: title of the chart or figure in italics
    • If there is no title create your own title to describe the table or figure.
  • Line 3: the image itself
  • Line 4: Begin with the word Note in italics followed by a full stop. Notes can include
    • explanatory notes describing the data or what to pay attention to
    • For assignments - the in text citation formatted as Sourced from Author (date).
    • For publication - copyright attribution statement (for works that will be publicly available). Notes should be formatted in italics with a full stop at the end.

Referring to figures or tables

When referring to a figure (or table) in the text of your sentences/paragraphs, capitalise the word "Figure/Table" and keep the numbers as numerals. For example:

As the flowchart in Figure 3 illustrates, the decision to withdraw is dependent on...

Table 2 shows that...

If you only have one figure or table to refer to, simply refer to it as "the figure" or "the table".

Referencing images video

We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and acknowledge Traditional Owners of the lands where our staff and students, live, learn and work.Acknowledgement of Country

Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License, unless otherwise noted. Content from this Guide should be attributed to James Cook University Library. This does not apply to images, third party material (seek permission from the original owner) or any logos or insignia belonging to JCU or other bodies, which remain All Rights Reserved.

.