Skip to Main Content
CSU Global Library logo

Find & Use Images

Tracking Image Origins

Need to find where your image came from?

Source:  http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/col/bruinsuccess/03/02.cfm

Example: Minimum Attribution

Sunlight in Columns image

Source: DavesFreePhotos. Sunlit in Columns. Terms of Use.

Citing Images

APA does NOT provide guidance when it comes to citing images.  Therefore, your goal will be to provide your viewers with enough information to find the image, and more information if it is available.  

check mark imageEven if materials are lawfully used, attribution is required.  The citation should be accessible in the context of the image's use.

check mark image For minimum attribution include Source: URL.

check mark image Citations to images from images databases (such as the library's subscription databases) should include the following (if easily determined):

  • Creator's Name
  • Year
  • Title of the Work
  • Location of the Work (which database, for example)
  • Rights Information

Example: Full Attribution

Elephant rock in the cliffs of the island Heimaey, Westman Islands, Suourland, Iceland.

Source: Poco a poco. (2014). Elephant rock in the cliffs of the island Heimaey, Westman Islands, Suourland, Iceland. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0

 

Example: Full Attribution

When an image comes from an article or is embedded in some other text-based work, use the article and make modifications if information is available (include the image creator as the author; use the title of the image rather than the title of the article, before the title of the journal; insert the image type; and use the page number the image is found on).  See an example below:

Source: World Health Organization. (2014). Updates. Map.Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92(10), 697.