Skip to Main Content

Chicago Referencing Guide

Notes-Bibliography Style

What are tables and figures?

Tables and figures are used alongside your academic writing, to present information visually.

  • Tables are laid out in grids, with information (numerical or textual) arranged in rows and columns
  • Figuressometimes referred to as illustrations, include photographs, drawings, reproductions of other artworks, maps, diagrams, charts and graphs

For help with placement and layout of tables and figures in the body of your document, consult the Chicago Manual of Style Online, Chapter 3.

Crediting the sources in figures and tables

You must acknowledge the source of any data used in your tables or any reproduced image in your figures that you did not create yourself. You can do this in a table source note or figure caption.

Table source note

  • If you reproduced the table from another source, cite the source in a note immediately below the table, including the original table number, or page number that the data is from
  • Unless you cite the same source elsewhere in your writing, you do not need to include it in your bibliography
  • If you have adapted data from the original source, include adapted from in your wording
  • See the examples in Tables - Examples for guidance on formatting

Figure caption

  • For reproduced images that you did not create yourself, include a note reference for the source in the figure caption
  • Unless you cite the same source elsewhere in your writing, you do not need to include it in your bibliography
  • See the examples in Figures - Examples for guidance on formatting
  • Note: If you are planning to include images that you did not create yourself in your exegesis, thesis, or dissertation, remember that you need the permission of the copyright owner before you can submit it. See Using works created by others