Library Guides: APA 6th Referencing Style Guide: Tables, figures & images

Tables & Figures (Images)

The examples given here are based on the guidelines available in the APA manual for citing Tables & Figures. Any image or illustration in APA is treated as either a Table or a Figure.

Tables are numerical values or text displayed in rows and columns.
A Figure is any type of illustration (chart, graph,photograph, drawing maps ...) other than a table.

It is important to use appropriate citations when including a figure or a table from another source in your work. There are different rules for citing Tables and Figures.

More information on Figures & Tables.

Sections 5.01-5.30 in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition (pp 125–167)

The APA Style blog - Tables & Figures

Reproducing tables and figures (images) in theses/dissertations/exegeses

Your thesis/dissertation/exegesis will be made available online on Tuwhera Open Theses. If you have reproduced any copyright material, such as tables, figures and images of artworks, in your thesis, you should get permission from copyright owners. Some copyright owners (authors, publishers) allow you to reproduce images for educational use without obtaining permission provided that full credit is given to the copyright owner. Check the terms on websites/books/journals carefully, contact the copyright owner if you are uncertain the terms.

When permission has been granted, you should include "Reprinted with permission" in the Notes or Captions under the reproduced tables, figures and images.

For example:

Note. Reprinted from Employment relations in New Zealand (p 98), by E. Rasmussen, 2009, Auckland, New Zealand. Pearson. Copyright (2009) by Erling Rasmussen. Reprinted with permission.

Tables

Tables usually show numerical value or textual information and are almost always characterized by a row-column structure. Any type of illustration other than a table is referred to as a figure.

Number

Number tables sequentially (i.e.if you have more than one table in your writing) e.g. Table 1, Table 2 .....
Each table must be referred to in the text, using a capital T, for example: ...as shown in Table 1

Title

Place directly above the table itself and below the table number.
Brief but clear and explanatory, in italics and with major words capitalized with no full stop.

Note

Place directly below the table, the word "Note" in italics with a full stop, for example: Note.
Explain abbreviations, symbols etc
Acknowledge the source of the table
Include a copyright statement at the end of the note.

For specific and probability note (section 5.16, p 138).

Ruling (Lines)

Limit the use of lines to those that are necessary
Appropriately positioned white space can be an effective substitute.

Spacing

Tables may be submitted either single or double spaced. Consider readability (section 5.17, p 141).

Example:

Table 1

Sales of Take Home Ice Cream in New Zealand

Table reproduced in your text:

Note format - note under a table

Note. Adapted/Reprinted from Title of Book (p.XX), by A.B. Author, Year, Place of Publication: Publisher. Copyright (year) by title of Publisher.

Example:

Note. Reprinted from Employment relations in New Zealand (p 98), by E. Rasmussen, 2009, Auckland, New Zealand. Pearson. Copyright (2009) by Erling Rasmussen.

In-text citation:

...as shown in Table 1, no compensation...

Reference list entry:

Use the reference style for books.

Table referred to and not reproduced in text:

If you simply refer to a table, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-text citation:

....fifty eight percentage received compensation (Rasmussen, 2009).

Reference list entry:

Rasmussen, E. (2009). Employment relations in New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson.

Table reproduced in the text:

Note format - note under a table

Note. Adapted/Retrieved/Reprinted from "Title of Article" by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname.Year, Journal Title, Volume(issue), page(s). Copyright year by Name of Copyright Holder.

In-text citation:

... as shown in Table 1

Reference list entry:

Use the reference style for articles.

Table referred to but not reproduced or included in the text:

If you simply refer to a table, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-text citation:

....the multivariate longitudinal models (Bainter & Howard, 2016)

Reference list entry:

Bainter, S.A., Howard, A.L (2016). Comparing within-person effects from multivariate longitudinal models. Developmental Psychology. 52 (12) 1955–1968. doi.10.1037/dev0000215

Table reproduced in your text:

Note Format : note below a table

Note. General notes, including definitions of abbreviations. Retrieved from (Name of Database). Copyright (year) by XXX.

Example:

Table 1

Percentage of Men and Women Who Have Bought Fruit and Vegetable Products in the Last Four Weeks

Note. wc = weighted count, shown in thousands; v% =vertical percentage, showing which % of the column group also belongs to the row group; h% = horizontal percentage showing which percentage of the row group also belongs to the column group. Retrieved from Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand database. Copyright 2015 by Roy Morgan New Zealand Ltd.

In-text citation:

.... as shown in Table 2

Reference list entry:

Roy Morgan New Zealand. (2015). Percentage of men and women who have bought fruit and vegetable products in the last four weeks, April- December, 2015 [Table]. Retrieved from Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand database.

Table referred to but not reproduced in the text:

In-text citation:

...fewer men than women bought vegetables (Roy Morgan, New Zealand, 2010)

Reference List entry:

Roy Morgan New Zealand. (2010). Percentage of men and women who have bought fruit/vegetables in the last seven days, August 2009-July [Table]. Retrieved from Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand database.

Table reproduced in your text:

Note format - note below a table

Note. Include the title of the document if the table title does not provide enough information. Adapted/Retrieved/Reprinted from Source website. Copyright (Year) by Name of copyright Holder.

Example:

Table 1

Percentage of New Zealand Population Who Have Never Worked by Age Group.
By age group
June 2016 quarter

Age group (years)	Never-worked group (% of total age group)
15–19	48.5
20–24	8.4
25–29	3.4
30–34	1.8
35–39	1.5

Note. Adapted from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/people-never-worked.aspx. Copyright (2016) by Statistics New Zealand.

In-text citation:

...as shown in Table 1, young people make up most of the never-worked group...

Reference list entry:

Use the reference style for website s.

Table referred to but not reproduced in the text

If you refer to a table but don’t provide a copy of it in your assessment, simply give an in-text citation in the usual way

In-text citation:

...twenty four year olds who never worked (Statistics New Zealand, 2016).

Reference list entry:

Statistics New Zealand (2016). Percentage of New Zealand population who have never worked, June 2016 quarter [Table]. Retrieved from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and _unemployment/people-never-worked.aspx

Table - compiled from a variety of sources:

Multi source data

If you create your own table by compiling data from multiple sources, you will still need to cite where you got your information from. You do not need to give the full bibliographic citation in the note, an author and date is sufficient.

Note format - note under table:

Note. Data for ABC from Author (date), from XYZ from Author (date), and MNO from Author (date).

In-text citation:

As shown in Table 3.......

Reference list entry:

Note: all the sources you used should have a full bibliographic entry in your Reference List even though the information in the Note field uses a lot of the same information.

Multiple kinds of data:

If you have multiple kinds of data (population figures, employment information... etc.) in one table you would describe each set of data)

Note format - note under Table:

Note. Population figures for ABC from Author (date), and for XYZ from Author (date). Data for total unemployed for ABC from Author (date) and for XYZ from Author (date).

Reference list entry:

Note: all the sources you used should have a full bibliography entry in your reference list even though the information in the Note uses a lot of the same information.

For more information see:

APA Style blog for figures & tables

Figures

A figure may be a chart, a graph, a photograph, a drawing, or any other illustration or nontextual depiction. Any type of illustration other than a table is referred to as a figure.

Caption:

When you use a figure that has been adapted or copied directly from another source, you need to reference that original source. This reference appears as a caption underneath the figure (image):

don't include a title on top - the caption is your title
concise explanation of the figure; i.e. a brief but descriptive phrase
include copyright information
format your caption - use italics and a capital F for Figure and sequential numbering (if you have more than one Figure)

Legend (if needed):

A legend explains the symbols used in the figure. It should have the same kind and proportion of lettering that appear in the rest of the figure.

capitalize major words in the legend
place the legend within the figure (it may already be there if you have copied the graph from elsewhere)

General rules:

Number all figures with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are first mentioned in text, regardless of whether a more detailed discussion of the figure occurs later in the paper. For example, Figure 1...Figure 2...etc.
Refer to the figure in your writing - no italics, but with capital F, for example "In Figure 1..."
Copyright permission for using figures and images in theses/dissertations/exegeses - obtain written copyright permission from the copyright holder if you reproduced or adapted a figure from a copyrighted source. If you are adapting material from multiple sources, and integrating them into a single figure, you might need to include multiple permission statements, one for each source.

Figure reproduced in your text:

Caption Format - caption under a figure

Figure X. Descriptive phrase that serves as title and description. Reprinted [or adapted] from Book Title (page number), by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year, Place of Publication: Publisher. Copyright [Year] by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Example:

In-text citation:

This is clearly indicated in Figure 1,...

Reference list entry:

Rasmussen, E. J. (2009). Employment relations in New Zealand (2nd ed.). Auckland, NZ: Pearson.

Figure referred to in your text:

If you simply refer to a figure, format the in text-citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-text citation:

... interpretations of the painting “Mona Lisa” (Gombrich 1995, p. 203).

Reference list entry:

Gombrich, E. H. (1995). The story of art (16th ed.). London, England: Phaidon.

Figure reproduced in your text:

Caption Format - caption under a figure

Figure X. Descriptive phrase that serves as title and description. Reprinted [or adapted] from “Title of Article,” by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year, Journal Title, Volume(issue), page number. Copyright [Year] by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Example:

Figure 1. Factors influencing the formation of tourists' needs. Reprinted from "Factors that Obstruct Tourism Development in Bangladesh", by N. Jahan and S. Rahman, 2016, CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 7 (9), p.53. Copyright 2016 by Chinniah Lakshmiammal Educational Academy & Research (CLEAR) Foundation.

In-text citation:

As shown in Figure 1, there are five groups of factors that influence...

Reference list entry:

Jahan, N., & Rahman, S. (2016). Factors that obstruct tourism development in Bangladesh. CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 7(9), 48–55.

Figure referred to in your text:

If you simply refer to a figure and do not include it in your text, format the in text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-text citation:

... in the installation "Talking about the Weather"... (Randerson, 2007, p. 446).

Reference list entry:

Randerson, J. (2007). Between reason and sensation: Antipodean artists and climate change. Leonardo, 40(5), 442–448. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon.2007.40.5.442

Figure reproduced in your text:

Caption Format - caption under a figure

Figure X. Descriptive phrase that serves as title and description. Retrieved from Title of the database. Copyright [year] by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Examples:

From ACNielsen Market Informaiton Digest database:

Figure 1. The market location and dollar sales of meat pies in New Zealand. SMAP is the segment of market for the Auckland Province, SMLNI for the Lower North Island, SMSI for the South Island; MAP is the moving annual total. Retrieved from Nielsen Market Information Digest New Zealand database. Copyright 2011 by The Nielsen Company.

From Passport Global Market Information Digest database:

In-text citation:

As Figure 1 shows, sales of meat pies ...

As shown in Figure 2, ...

Reference list entry:

Euromonitor International. (2010). Trade volume of ready to drink high strength premixes in New Zealand, measured in 000 liters [Graph]. Retrieved from Passport database.

The Nielsen Company. (2011). The market location and dollar sales of meat pies in New Zealand, March 2009– March 2011 [Graph]. Retrieved from Nielsen Market Information Digest New Zealand database.

Figure referred in your text:

If you refer to a figure, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way:

In-text citation:

...trade volume...(Euromonitor International, 2010).

The painting ... (Pollock, 1942).

Reference list entry:

Passport graph (was GMID)

Euromonitor International. (2010). Trade volume of ready to drink high strength premixes in New Zealand, measured in 000 litres [Graph]. Retrieved from Passport database.

Image from a Library database

Pollock, J. (1942). Male and female [Painting]. Retrieved from ARTstor database.

Figure reproduced in your text:

Caption Format - caption under a figure

Figure X. Descriptive phrase that serves as title and description. From Title of Website. Retrieved from URL. Copyright [year] by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Examples:

Figure 1. Vermeer, J. (c. 1665). Girl with a pearl earring. From Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague. Retrieved from http://www.mauritshuis.nl/index.aspx?Chapterid=2295. Reprinted with permission.

In-text citation:

As Figure 1 shows, ...

As shown in Figure 2, ...

Reference list entry:

America's Army screen dump showing soldiers and watch tower [Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2010, from http://www.americasarmy.com.

Vermeer, J. (c. 1665). Girl with a pearl earring [Painting]. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://www.mauritshuis.nl/index.aspx?Chapterid=2295.

Figure referred in your text:

If you refer to a figure, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-text citation:

... facial expression reminiscent of Munch’s The Scream.

Reference list entry:

Not every reference to an artwork needs a reference list entry, for example, if you refer to a famous painting, as above, it would not need a reference.

Image online

McCahon, C. (1954). Manukau [Painting]. Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://www.mccahonhouse.org.nz/fifties/5360manukau1954.asp?artwork=19

Photograph online

Hamilton, D. (1975). South of France fantasy [Photograph]. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.rennart.co.uk/posters.html

Image online - no author

Radiating ripples [Photograph]. (2006). Retrieved November 10, 2008, from http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/divers28/10.htm

Image online - no author, title or date

[Untitled photograph of a giraffe]. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2009, from http://www.birminghamzoo.com/animals/

Notes:

many images found online have few details, but always check for extra information by:
- clicking on or hovering your mouse over the image
- looking at the bottom of the image
- looking at the URL
if there is no title, create a short descriptive one yourself and put it in square brackets e.g. [...]

Referencing artworks

Artwork (viewed in original location)

Reference format:

Artist, Initial. (Year/s of fabrication). Title of the work [Medium]. City where located, Country/State: Institution where located.

Reference list entries:

Raverat, G. (2008). Travellers [Woodcut]. Chapel Hill, NC: Ackland Art Museum.

Giotto. [ca. 1310 ACE]. Scenes from the New Testament: Flight into Egypt [Fresco]. Assisi, Italy: Sacro convento di S. Francesco.

Modigliani, A. (1919). Elvira resting at a table [Painting]. St. Louis, MO: Saint Louis Art Museum.

Artwork (image retrieved from an online source)

Reference format:

Artist, Initial. (Year/s of fabrication). Title of the work [Medium]. Retrieved from URL

Reference list entries:

della Francesca, P. (1451). Saint Jerome venerated by Girolamo Amadi [Painting]. Retrieved from https://www.wikiart.org/en/piero-della-francesca/st-jerome-and-a-donor-1451

Marc, F. (1912). The red deer [Painting]. Retrieved from http://www.artstor.org/

Du Maurier, G. [ca. 1881]. George Du Maurier [Drawing]. Retrieved from http://www.npg.org.uk/collections

Hipkins, G. (2006). The shaman (blue) [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/778464

Citing images

When using images in your assignments or thesis/dissertation, please check copyright / usage rights information for each item. Select those images in public domain (creative materials that are not protected by copyright laws), e.g. items with a CC0 license. Check our Find Images & Multimedia guide for finding images from the image databases the Library subscribes to and some online resources.

Postgraduate theses, dissertations and research/Practice projects on Tuwhera - often you will need to get permission from copyright owners for reproducing their images in your online thesis or dissertation or Research/practice project.

Find citation examples in our brief guide Citing Images in APA 6th Style.