LibGuides: MLA Style 9th Edition: Images, Figures, and Tables

Illustrative Material

Reference
In-Text

Visual Illustrative Material

Images/photographs, maps, graphs, or charts should be cited in a format below and labeled as a figure when used in an assignment.

See Figure Example for formatting.

Basic Image Format:

Citation:

Artist's Last Name, First. "Title of digital image." Date, Website, Publisher or Sponsoring Organization, URL (no https://).

Example:

Warner, Mike. "Monet's Garden." 6 Oct. 2017, Flickr, flic.kr/p/ZsF6q1.

Image Without Author:

Citation:

“Title of the digital image.” Date, Website, Publisher, URL (no https://).

Example:

"Orange grove - Clewiston, Florida." 1920, Florida Memory, www.floridamemory.com/items/show/138653

Image With No Author, Title, or Date

Citation:

[Image description]. Title of the website, URL (no https://).

Example:

[Photograph of person washing hands]. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/

Note: You still need to cite the image even if you are missing much of the information. Please try to find images that do provide this information.

Google Images:

Go to the original location (website) of the image and cite in one of the above formats.

Basic Image Format:

Citation:

(Fig. #) or (Last Name)

Example:

(Fig. 1) or (Warner)

Image Without Author:

Citation:

(Fig. #) or ("Title of Image")

Example:

(Fig. 2) or ("Orange grove - Clewiston, Florida.")

Image With No Author, Title, or Date:

Citation:

(Fig. #)

Example:

(Fig. 3)

Figures

When you use a graph or another visual representation that is not a photograph or an image, it must be cited as Figure. The figures must be numbered in succession throughout the paper or slideshow, and must be cited individually under the figure itself. In addition, all figure citations are placed directly below the image starting with a brief description.

Basic Format:

Fig. X. Brief image description, "Title of Source," Author's Last Name,
First. Publisher, Date.

Figure From a Website:

Fig. X. Brief image description, "Title of Source," Author's Last Name,
First. Website, Date, URL (no https://).

Figure Example

Figure Format

Below is an example on formatting images and/ or figures:

Fig. 1. Flowers in Monet's Garden (Warner).

Note: If you just include a brief caption, then the reference entry is needed on the works cited page.

OR

Fig. 1. Warner, Mike. "Monet's Garden." 6 Oct. 2017, Flickr, flic.kr/p/ZsF6q1.

Note: If you include the full citation in the caption of the photo AND the image is not cited in-text, no reference entry is needed on the works cited page.

Note: Figures must be numbered in succession throughout the assignment.

Tables

Table Format

At the top of the table: Tables inserted into an assignment should have a label (Table X) and a brief description of the table if it was not included in the table.

At the bottom of the table: Directly below your table should include the caption, which includes the citation of the source (example: table from website, journal article, etc).

Note: If the table is not cited in-text, there is no need for a reference entry on the works cited page. If the table is cited in the assignment, an in-text citation (Table 1) is needed as well as the reference entry on the works cited page.

Note: Tables must be numbered in succession throughout the assignment.

Example:

Table 1

Source: "Tuition costs of colleges and universities." Fast Facts, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2019, nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76

Additional Resources

For additional assistance and examples on citations, click the links below!