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APA 7th Referencing Style Guide

General Guidelines

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

 

Figure Components:

  • Number: The figure number(e.g. Figure 1) appears above the figure in bold
  • Title: The figure title appears one double-spaced line below the figure number in italic title case.
  • Image: The image portion of the figure is the chart, graph, photograph, drawing, or other illustration itself
  • Legend: A figure legend, or key, if present, should be positioned within the borders of the figure and explains any symbols used in the figure image
  • Note: A note can appear below the figure to describe contents of the figure that cannot be understood from the figure title, image, and/or legend alone (e.g. definitions of abbreviations, copyright attribution). Notes are double-spaced and flush left. Not all figures include notes.

 

General rules:

  • In the text, refer to every figure by its number. For example, As shown in Figure 1, ... 
  • There are two options for the placement of figures in a paper. The first option is to place all figures on separate pages after the reference list. The second option is to embed each figure within the text
  • If you reprint or adapt a figure from another source in your paper (e.g., an image you found on the internet), you must include a copyright attribution in the figure note indicating the origin of the reprinted or adapted material in addition to a reference list entry for the work
  • Important notes: Reproduce or adapt copyrighted figures in your thesis or dissertation or other publications - you must get permission from the copyright holder/s for using the material in your thesis or dissertation or other publications. You may not need permission when a reprinted or adapted figure is obtained from the public domain. Works used Creative Commons licences should be cited accordingly. 

Please check the APA style website for an illustration of the basic figure component & placement of figure in a text.

More information & examples from the  APA Style Manual p225–250

From a book

Figure reproduced in your text

Note format - for notes below the figure

Note. Explanations to supplement or clarify information in the image. Reprinted [or adapted] from Book Title (page number), by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year. 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.). Pearson.

 

Figure referred to in your text

If you simply refer to a figure, format the in- text citation and the reference list entry as for for books.

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.). Phaidon.

From an article

Figure reproduced in your text

Note format - for notes below the figure

Note. Explanations to supplement or clarify information in the image. From “Title of Article,” by Author First Initial. Second Initial. Surname, Year, Journal Title, Volume(issue), page number (url or doi if it's from an ejournal). Copyright Year by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Example:

               

 

In-text citation:

As shown in Figure 2, 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 for an article.

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

From a library database

Figure reproduced in your text

Note format - for notes below the figure

Note. Explanations to supplement or clarify information in the image. Title of the database. Copyright year by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Examples:

              

 

                        

 

In-text citation:

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

As shown in Figure 2, ...

Reference list:

EconData Pty Ltd. (2019). Hong Kong: visitor arrivals Jan 1996 - Jul 2019 [Graph]. EMED Emerging Asia database.

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

Figure referred in your text

If you refer to a figure, format the in-text citation and the reference list entry as for databases.

In-text citation:

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

The painting ... (Pollock, 1942).

Reference list:

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

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

From a website

Figure reproduced in your text

Note format - for notes below the figure

Note. Explanations to supplement or clarify information in the image. From Title of Website. Website URL. Copyright year by the Name of Copyright Holder.

Examples:

               

                

In-text citation:

As Figure 5 shows, ...

As shown in Figure 6, ...

Reference list:

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

Vermeer, J. (c. 1665). Girl with a pearl earring [Painting]. Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallary, The Hague. 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 as for websites.

In-text citation:

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

Reference list:

  • 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.

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. [...]
  • for more guidance, see Visual works