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Comparative and Digital Humanities: Citing

Citing Image Sources

Like all resources, digital images should be used responsibly.  Be sure to comply with copyright law, license agreements, and the Terms and Conditions of Use provided by the databases or websites that you acquire the images from, and always cite your images, just as you would any other source. 

Whether you are using them in a paper, Power Point presentation, Prezi, or video, you must provide a citation for your images.  Image citations are usually provided in captions, which can be reproduced in a list of illustrations or an appendix to your paper.  Sometimes, images are also cited in bibliographies and notes.  

The format of your citation will vary depending on the citation style that you have chosen to use, but it will most likely include the following information:

  • Artist's / Creator's name
  • Title of the work
  • Date the work was created
  • Current location of the work (museum or other repository)
  • Place that the work was created
  • Dimensions of the work
  • Material / Medium (oil on canvas, woodcut, etc)
  • Information about the source that you acquired the image from

Most citation style manuals will contain information about how to properly cite images.  For examples of image citations in MLA, Chicago, and APA format, take a look at the following resources: 

General Guidelines

  • As you draft your final project, cite in-text and as you go to attribute quotes from, paraphrases of, or summaries of a source. 
    • If you create an outline, include citations in it as well so you don't need to go back to try to find what information you get from what source.
  • Often, quotes are best saved for work that you are centering and/or analyzing. If you are referencing general ideas or laying out what research has been done on this topic, paraphrases and summaries are preferred in most cases. 
  • Citation generators can be helpful, but they are often incomplete (including citations from Worldcat or other academic databases). Feel free to use these tools, but always double-check with a model from a trusted source.
    • Need help figuring out the structure of a citation or how to know what pieces of information for a citation you need and where to find them? Librarians are happy to help!