APA Image Citation: Format, Examples & In-Text Rules
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0 sourcesAPA Image Citation follows the pattern: Creator, A. A. (Year). Title of image [Type of work]. Site Name. URL. Name the format in square brackets, italicize the title, and cite the original source rather than Google Images.
How do you cite an image in APA?
Cite an image in APA 7th edition by listing the creator, the year, the italicized title, a bracketed description of the image type, the site or institution, and a URL. The bracketed format label is required for all images.
The core template is: Creator, A. A. (Year). Title of image [Format]. Site Name. URL. The “Format” bracket tells the reader what kind of visual it is — common labels include [Photograph], [Painting], [Clip art], [Infographic], [Map], [Digital image], and [Illustration]. Always trace the image back to where it was originally published; Google Images and Pinterest are search tools, not sources.
What are the parts of an APA image reference?
An APA image reference has five parts: the creator, the publication year in parentheses, the italic title, the bracketed image format, and the source with its URL. Each element ends with a period except the URL.
- Creator — surname then initials; the artist, photographer, or designer.
- Year — year the work was created or published; use (n.d.) if none.
- Title + format — title in italic sentence case, then the image type in square brackets.
- Source — the site, museum, or database hosting the work.
- URL — direct link to the image; no period after it.
What are examples of APA image citations?
APA image references vary by where the image lives — a museum, a stock library, a website, or a book. The examples below are correctly formatted for the most common image types you will cite in a paper.
| Image type | Bracket label | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Painting / artwork | [Painting] | Museum or gallery site |
| Photograph online | [Photograph] | Archive, Flickr, news site |
| Clip art / stock | [Clip art] | Openclipart, iStock |
| Infographic | [Infographic] | Organization website |
| Map | [Map] | Google Maps, atlas |
Paintingvan Gogh, V. (1889). The starry night [Painting]. Museum of Modern Art. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79802
PhotographAdams, A. (1942). The Tetons and the Snake River [Photograph]. National Archives. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/519904
Clip artGDJ. (2018). Neural network deep learning prismatic [Clip art]. Openclipart. https://openclipart.org/detail/309343
InfographicWorld Health Organization. (2021). Vaccine equity [Infographic]. https://www.who.int/campaigns/vaccine-equity
MapGoogle. (n.d.). [Google Maps directions for driving from Boston to New York] [Map]. Retrieved July 18, 2026, from https://www.google.com/maps
Stock photoMiller, R. (2019). Woman working at a laptop in a cafe [Photograph]. iStock. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/123456789
How do you cite an image in text in APA?
Cite an image in text with the creator’s surname and the year, in parentheses or narratively. Images have no page numbers, so none are added. If you only mention or link to the image without reproducing it, an in-text citation plus a reference entry is enough.
Parenthetical: (van Gogh, 1889). Narrative: van Gogh (1889) rendered the night sky in swirling blues. When an image has no named creator, use a shortened version of the bracketed description in place of the author: (["Neural network" clip art], 2018). Match whatever appears first in the reference so readers can find the full entry.
How do you cite an image you reproduce in your paper?
When you copy an image into your own APA paper, present it as a numbered figure and add a copyright attribution in the figure note. A reference-list entry alone is not enough — reproducing someone’s image requires the note, and often permission for published work.
Format the figure with a bold figure number, an italic title, the image, and a note beneath it:
Figure noteNote. From The Starry Night, by V. van Gogh, 1889, Museum of Modern Art (https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79802). Public domain.
Use “From” for an unchanged image and “Adapted from” if you modified it. Close with the copyright status — Public domain., Copyright 2019 by Rachel Miller., or a Creative Commons license such as CC BY 4.0.
What if the image has no author, title, or date?
When elements are missing, APA substitutes rather than omits. With no title, write a description of the image in square brackets in place of the title, not italicized. With no author, move the description or site name to the author position. With no date, use (n.d.).
No titleChen, L. (2020). [Photograph of a red maple leaf on wet pavement]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lchen/49876543
No author or date[Digital illustration of the human respiratory system]. (n.d.). BioRender. https://www.biorender.com/template/respiratory
Do not cite Google Images, Bing, or Pinterest as the source. Click through to the hosting page — a museum, news outlet, blog, or stock library — and cite that original location instead.
How accurate is this guide, and what are the limits?
These rules reflect the APA 7th edition Publication Manual and the official APA Style website, which is the standard for most images students cite. Still, edge cases exist and judgment matters, so verify unusual sources against your instructor’s expectations.
Grey areas include AI-generated images, screenshots of video frames, memes, and images embedded inside journal articles (cite the article, not the figure, unless the figure is your focus). A generator gives you a fast, correctly structured draft, but you must confirm the creator, date, and format label yourself — automated tools frequently guess these wrong for visual media. When your instructor requires reproduction permission or a specific copyright line, follow that requirement over any generic template.
APA image citation FAQ
Short answers to the questions students ask most about citing images in APA 7th edition.