How do I cite an image in my research paper?
Answer
When citing an image, the caption should be labeled as Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned an Arabic numeral, and given a title or caption.
For photos of artwork, include the book's publication information of the text in which the image appears.
A label and title or caption ordinarily appear directly below the illustration and have the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper.
Captions should be numbered consecutively.
Fig. 1. Mary Cassatt, Mother and Child, Wichita Art Museum. Illus. in Novelene Ross, Toward an American Identity: Selections from the Wichita Art Museum Collection of American Art (Wichita, Kansas: Wichita Art Museum, 1997) 107.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
For more on citing sources, see our Citation guide.