How to cite using APA in the Health Sciences

Notes on Attribution

• Use this formatting for an online image which you did not create nor hold copyright for, such as stock images or clip art.
• For instructions on how to include an image, graph, figure, or table which you created, see Visual Presentation of Data.
• The license associated with any clip art or stock image determines how it should be credited.
• If the license associated with the clip art or stock image you would like to use states “no attribution required,” then do not provide an APA Style reference, in-text citation, or copyright attribution. 
• Follow the terms of the license associated with the image you want to reproduce for papers, posters, PowerPoint presentations etc. (regardless of whether you must purchase the image or it is free)
• Although for most images you must look at the license on a case-by-case basis, images and clip art from programs such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint can be used without attribution. By purchasing the program, you (or your institution) have purchased a license to use the clip art and images that come with the program without attribution.
• Consider using images from Creative Commons repositories like Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay, etc. The creators of these images have assigned Creative Commons licenses to their images so that they can be used for free, as long as the owner is credited.

To refer to an online image in-text, you must include a copyright attribution in the figure (and then refer to the figure instead). A copyright attribution consists of a title, author, date, site name, URL, followed by the name of the Creative Commons License.

To include an online image in your work, provide a figure number and title and then the image. Below the image, provide a copyright attribution in the figure note. In a presentation, the figure number and title are optional but the note containing the copyright attribution is required.

If you only want to refer to the image, but not include it to your paper, do not use the copyright attribution, and simply use a regular in-text citation and reference list entry using the author name and year.

Elements 

• Figure: Follow the format of "Figure #". Should be bolded and aligned left. Number figures in the order they are mentioned in the text.
• Title: Name the image something short but descriptive. Title should be italicized and in title case.
• Image: Place the image one space below the title.
• Note: Include the note one space below the image. "Note." should be italicized. Follow with the copyright attribution.
• Copyright Attribution: From Author's title [Photograph or Clip Art], by Author, Year, Source (URL). Creative Commons license.

Examples

In-Text Citation for an Online Image Included in a Work

Figure 1

A Sleepy Cat

Note. From Cat [Photograph], by Y. Hino, 2014, Flickr (https://flic.kr/p/nkc8Kj). CC BY 2.0.

In-Text Citation for an Online Image not Included in a Work

Narrative: Hino (2014)

Parenthetical: (Hino, 2014)

If the license associated with a clip art or a stock image states “no attribution required,” then do not provide an APA Style reference, in-text citation, or copyright attribution. 

Format the image as you would other figures. Add a note for more context if you wish.

Example

Figure 2

A Chairlift in Summer

What is the difference between sentence and title case? Find out in Formatting Tips.

Don't leave it blank! Find out how to properly indicate that information is missing from one of your reference elements by reading more about missing information.

Information on this page was adapted from the APA webpage, "Clip Art or Stock Images References".