how to include pictures in a research paper mla

University Libraries      University of Nevada, Reno

• Skill Guides
• Subject Guides

MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables

• Understanding Core Elements
• Formatting Appendices and Works Cited List
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Honesty and Citation
• In-Text Citation
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables
• Class Notes and Presentations
• Interviews and Emails
• Journal and Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Social Media
• Special Collections
• Videos and DVDs
• In Digital Assignments
• When Information Is Missing
• Citation Software

Is it a Figure or a Table?

There are two types of material you can insert into your assignment: figures and tables. A figure is a photo, image, map, graph, or chart. A table is a table of information. For a visual example of each, see the figure and table to the right.

Still need help?  For more information on citing figures, visit  Purdue OWL .

Reproducing Figures and Tables

Reproducing happens when you copy or recreate a photo, image, chart, graph, or table that is not your original creation. If you reproduce one of these works in your assignment, you must create a note (or "caption") underneath the photo, image, chart, graph, or table to show where you found it. If you do not refer to it anywhere else in your assignment, you do not have to include the citation for this source in a Works Cited list.

Citing Information From a Photo, Image, Chart, Graph, or Table

If you refer to information from the photo, image, chart, graph, or table but do not reproduce it in your paper, create a citation both in-text and on your Works Cited list. 

If the information is part of another format, for example a book, magazine article, encyclopedia, etc., cite the work it came from. For example if information came from a table in an article in National Geographic magazine, you would cite the entire magazine article.

Figure Numbers

The word figure should be abbreviated to Fig. Each figure should be assigned a figure number, starting with number 1 for the first figure used in the assignment. E.g., Fig. 1.

Images may not have a set title. If this is the case give a description of the image where you would normally put the title.

A figure refers to a chart, graph, image or photo. This is how to cite figures.

The caption for a figure begins with a description of the figure followed by the complete citation for the source the figure was found in. For example, if it was found on a website, cite the website. If it was in a magazine article, cite the magazine article.

• Label your figures starting at 1.
• Information about the figure (the caption) is placed directly below the image in your assignment.
• If the image appears in your paper the full citation appears underneath the image (as shown below) and does not need to be included in the Works Cited List. If you are referring to an image but not including it in your paper you must provide an in-text citation and include an entry in the Works Cited.

Fig. 1. Man exercising from: Green, Annie. "Yoga: Stretching Out." Sports Digest,  8 May 2006, p. 22. 

Fig. 2. Annakiki skirt from: Cheung, Pauline. "Short Skirt S/S/ 15 China Womenswear Commercial Update." WGSN.

Images: More Examples

In the works cited examples below, the first one is seeing the artwork in person, the second is accessing the image from a website, the third is accessing it through a database, and the last example is using an image from a book.

Viewing Image in Person

Hopper, Edward. Nighthawks . 1942, Art Institute of Chicago.

Accessing Image from a Website

Hopper, Edward. Nighthawks . 1942. Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/111628 . 

Note : Notice the period after the date in the example above, rather than a comma as the other examples use. This is because the date refers to the painting's original creation, rather than to its publication on the website. It is considered an "optional element." 

Accessing Image from a Database

Hopper, Edward. Nighthawks . 1942, Art Institute of Chicago.  Artstor , https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AWSS35953_35953_41726475 .

Using an Image from a Book

Hopper, Edward. Nighthawks . 1942, Art Institute of Chicago. Staying Up Much Too Late: Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and the Dark Side of the American Psyche , by Gordon Theisen, Thomas Dunne Books, 2006, p. 118.

Above the table, label it beginning at Table 1, and add a description of what information is contained in the table.

The caption for a table begins with the word Source, then the complete Works Cited list citation for the source the table was found in. For example, if it was found on a website, cite the website. If it was in a journal article, cite the journal article.

Information about the table (the caption) is placed directly below the table in your assignment.

If the table is not cited in the text of your assignment, you do not need to include it in the Works Cited list.

Variables in determining victims and aggressors

Source: Mohr, Andrea. "Family Variables Associated With Peer Victimization." Swiss Journal of Psychology,  vol .  65, no. 2, 2006, pp. 107-116.  Psychology Collection , doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185.65.2.107.

• << Previous: Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Next: Class Notes and Presentations >>

• Request Info

Waidner-Spahr Library

• Do Research
• About the Library
• Dickinson Scholar
• Ask a Librarian
• My Library Account

Images & Visual Literacy: Citing Images in MLA Style

• Images in Databases
• Images Online
• Citing Images in Chicago Style

Citing Images in MLA Style

Captions in mla style.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 4.5

Visual material should be labeled as Figure and assigned a number in increasing order starting with 1. The caption should be placed below the illustration and include a citation to the source material. It also may be appropriate to add copyright information at the end of the citation. No additional citation is needed when the source is not cited within the text of the paper. If you are creating captions for works of art also see guidelines from the Art Bulletin and College Art Association.

Fig. 1. Manticore, woodcut from Edward Topsell, The History of the Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents …(London, 1658; 344); rpt. In Konrad Gesner, Curious Woodcuts of Fanciful and Real Beasts (New York: Dover, 1971; print; 8).

Fig. 2. John Singleton Copley, Mrs. Joseph Mann (Bethea Torrey) , 1753, Oil on canvas, 91.44 X 71.75 cm. (36 X 28 ¼ in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art (Boston: Pearson, 2011; print; 143).

If work is being published include copyright information, ie who owns the right to publish the image or work of art.

Citing a Cartoon

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 5.7.9

Citation should conform to the medium in which you find the cartoon or comic strip, e.g., newspaper, magazine article, book, or website. Add the descriptive label Cartoon or Comic strip between the title and name of publication.

Chast, Roz. “Scenes from a Vacation.” Cartoon. New Yorker 31 Oct. 2011: 66-67. Print.

Weiner, Zach. “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.” Comic strip. Smbc-comics.com . N.p., 17 Nov. 2011.

         Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2434>.

Cite these as you would for the resource in which the visual media is found. For specific works of art, see the section. Cite following the guidelines for the type of resource, but make a note of where the visual is included in the resource, ie page or figure number. Cite the creator of the image as the author and the title of the image instead of an article title.

Image in an Article:

Talbot, David. "Saving Holland." Technology Review 110.4 (2007): 52, figure 3. Print.

Vermeer, Dura. "High and Dry Concept." Technology Review 110.4 (2007): 56. Print.

Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. “An Arrowhead, Made from a Copper Nugget, Found at a Melting

         Alaskan Glacier.” Miller-McCune 3.6 (2010): 23, figure 4. Print.

Online Image:

If citing an image found using Google images, cite the original source – not Google.

Estrin, James. “A Worshiper at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.” New York Times .

         New York Times. 27 Nov. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/nyregion

         /for-catholics-the-word-was-a-bit-different-amen.html?ref=us.&_r=0>.

When citing a work of art, include the location of the piece and the owner or collection where it is housed along with the medium and size. See also captions and citing works of art below.

Dior, Christian. May. 1953. Silk. Length at CB ((a) to waist): 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm) Length at CB (b): 45 1/2

         in. (115.6 cm). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. N.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2012.

         <http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/80002249>.

Image or Photograph from a Book:

Gruen, Bob. “Madison Square Garden, July 1972.” Life . By Keith Richard with James Fox. New York:

         Little, Brown and Company, 2010. Color plate 12. Print.

“Equality and Affection: Matched Costumes in ‘My One and Only Highland Fling.’” Astaire & Rogers .

         By Edward Gallafent. New York: Columbia University Press. 225. Print

Citing a Work of Art

Work of Visual Art including Photographs in a Museum Collection:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 5.7.6 – see also citing a website if you are citing an image from the web.

MLA does not require you to include the dimensions, but it is safer to include it when citing for art and art history. Also see guidelines from the Art Bulletin and College Art Association.

Artist. Title of Work . Date of Composition or N.d. Medium. Dimensions. Collection. City where located.

Calder, Alexander. Untitled . 1976. Aluminum and steel. 910.3 x 2315.5 cm (358 3/8 x 911 5/8 in.).

         National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

Heckman, Albert. Windblown Trees . N.d. Lithograph on paper. 11 3/8 x 16 1/8 in.

         (28.9 x 40.8 cm). Private collection.

If you use a reproduction include the publication information of where the reproduction is found and page, figure, or plate number.

Munch, Edvard. The Scream . 1893. Oil, pastel and casein on cardboard. 91 x 73.5 cm. National

         Gallery, Oslo. Edvard Munch: The Scream . Ed. Reinhold Heller. New York: Viking Press,

         1973. 57. Print.

Pollock, Jackson. Number 27 . 1950. Oil on canvas. 49 x 106 in. Whitney Museum of American

         Art, New York. Imagining America: Icons of 20th-Century American Art . By John Carlin and

         Jonathan Fineberg. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. 106. Print.

• << Previous: Citing Images in Chicago Style
• Last Updated: Aug 22, 2022 4:23 PM
• URL: https://libguides.dickinson.edu/images

• msstate.edu
• MSU Directory

Library update: Recent database changes

• Mississippi State University Libraries
• Research Guides
• Subject Guides

Image Use & Citation

• MLA 9th ed. Artwork & Image Citation
• Creative Commons
• Public Domain
• Copyright & Fair Use
• Chicago Image & Artwork Citation
• APA 7th Ed. Image & Artwork Citation
• ASA Image Citation
• Citing Creative Commons
• Image Reference
• Reverse Image Search
• Find PD & CC Images for Use
• Online Resources for Images
• Can I Use It?
• Images in Theses/ Dissertations

MLA 9th Ed.

There is often confusion over how to write a citation correctly for artwork.  Use this guide to help cite images in the MLA 8th Edition style.  You can also search their FAQ's or ' Submit a question .'  Additionally, you may want to talk with your professor on how they want the citation.

Illustrative visual material other than a table—for example, a photograph, map, drawing, graph, or chart—should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated Fig. ), assigned an Arabic numeral, and given a caption:

Fig. 1. Hans Holbein, The Ambassadors , 1533, oil on oak, The National Gallery, London.

The label and caption ordinarily appear directly below an illustration and have the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper.

Original Artwork & Reproduced Image Citation

A painting, sculpture, or photograph:.

An item that you see in person will have this information in the citation: 

• Artist's name (last, first)
• Title of the artwork in italics
• Date of creation
• Name of the institution that houses the artwork followed by the location of the institution - if the institutions location is not in its name.

Van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night . 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Photographic Reproductions of Artwork:

These are images that you can find in a book. Begin the citation just like you would for the original artwork, but also cite the bibliographic information for the source in which the photograph appears, including page or reference numbers (plate, figure, etc.).

Van Gogh, Vincent. Night Café . 1889, Yale University Gallery, New Haven. Gardener's Art Through the Ages v. II, 13 ed., by Fred S. Kleiner, Wardsworth, 1994, p. 666.

Journal Article:

Cox, George C. " Walt Whitman, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right, wearing hat ." 1887, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.  By Christian Winman,  Atlantic, vol. 298, no. 5 , Dec. 2006, p. 75.

Book with an Illustrator:

Reproduced with Permission to use from Pete the Cat, LLC 

Litwin, Eric. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.  Illustrated by James Dean, HarperCollins, 2010.

Comics or Graphic Novels:

Feyman . By Jim Ottavani , i llustrated by Leland Myrick, First Second, 2011.

"MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources." Purdue Online Writing Lab, 23 Aug. 2018, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_other_common_sources.html

Images from the Web

Locate as much information as possible for digital images, found on the Internet. If the digital image does not have a title, include a description of the image. 

• The name of the creator of the digital image
• The title of the digital image (if a date is in parentheses as part of the title, include that as well).
• The title of the website that the image was found on
• The date the image was created or published
• The location of the image, such as a URL

Format for image found on the Internet:

Creator’s Last name, First name. “Title of the digital image.”  Publication Date ,  title of website , Web address. 

Scholten, J.A. “Kate O'Flaherty (Kate Chopin, at the Time of Her Marriage)." 1870,  Missouri Historical Society, https://mohistory.org/collections/item/N11927.

Image from a Database

Last Name, First Name (Image creator, if available). Title of Image (Photograph - use quotation marks instead of italics). Work date (if available). Image format (Photograph). Name of individual or institution which owns image (if available), Institution, Location. Library Database . Web. Date retrieved.

Delacroix, Eugène. Liberty Leading the People (July 28, 1830). 1830. oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Artstor,  library.artstor.org/asset/LESSING_ART_1039490420.

• << Previous: How to Cite Images
• Next: Chicago Image & Artwork Citation >>
• Last Updated: Aug 29, 2023 7:05 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.msstate.edu/citingimages

FLEET LIBRARY | Research Guides

Rhode island school of design, how to cite images.

• Chicago/Art Bulletin Style

MLA Caption Style

• When citing an image, the caption should be labeled as Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned a number, and given a title or caption
• For images found in a book or journal, include the publication information of the text.
• A caption ordinarily appears 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 . 8th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

Additional Sources

MLA Style Center

Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Format

MLA Handbook (8th Ed) in the library

Citing Unidentified Images

When all or part of an image source is unknown or unknowable, use these points to guide your MLA image caption:

Unknown Artist, Author or Creator List that source by title in your works cited list. The title should be followed by the name of the source in the citation, and the remainder of the citation composed as appropriate for the source type. Alphabetize reference list entries beginning with a title using the primary word of the title (excluding a, an, or the).

An Image without a Title If an image is not titled, create a brief, descriptive title for it. Do not italicize this title or place it in quotes, and capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns.

Undated Sources Use "n.d." (for "no date") in the appropriate place in your citation. When this is used after a period in a citation, capitalize the "n" ("N.d.").

Sources consulted: MLA Citation Examples University of Maryland University Colleges Libraries Miscellaneous Photographs Collection , Archives of American Art

• << Previous: Image Captions
• Next: Chicago/Art Bulletin Style >>
• Last Updated: Aug 19, 2022 2:30 PM
• URL: https://risd.libguides.com/citingimages

• Find images through UVic Libraries
• Open online image collections
• Finding public domain and Creative Commons images
• Medical images This link opens in a new window
• Citing images in APA format
• Citing images in Chicago format

Citing images in MLA format

Subject guide.

Additional citation guides

For further guidance with citations, see UVic Libraries' Citation Help page and the Citation Management Software Libguide .

For authoritative prescriptions on how to use each style, see the official guide to APA style , the MLA handbook (available online through UVic), or the Chicago Manual of Style (also available online through UVic).

In-text citations of images in MLA format follow the same (Creator, page number) convention as citations for books and journal articles. Use the artist's name as opposed to the author's, and omit the page number if using a web source.

The basic format for citing an image in your reference list in MLA format looks like this:

Creator last name, first name. Title of Work. Year. [Source], URL.

The remainder of this guide will detail what this citation looks like for a few common examples. The [Source] section will tend to vary, depending on where you found the image.

For several authoritative examples see Appendix 2 of the MLA Handbook , which provides examples of citations in many formats. Scroll down to see example citations of paintings, photographs, sculptures, illustrations, and slides.

Titles of images in MLA

Works with clear titles deliberately provided by their creators should have the titles italicized. If the work is untitled, provide a short, descriptive title for it. An example of a short, descriptive title might be "Photograph of toy rubber duck floating in bathtub," "Painting of woman entering automobile," or similar. Attributed titles can be drawn from the image, if the image contains appropriate text. See the MLA guide sections 5.28-5.29 for more information on attributing titles .

You should make an effort to discover the title of an image if possible. Using tools like Google Reverse Image Search to search using a digital image file can be a simple way to gather more information about a photo.

If you cannot locate the original title of the work and must attribute a title instead, the title should be in plain text.

Titles of cartoons or printed illustrations (as opposed to fine art) should be put in "quotation marks".

Images from online sources

If you found the image in a database, website, or online museum catalogue the MLA reference list citation should look like this:

Creator last name, first name. Title of Work. Year. Website title , URL.

Some examples:

Ashoona, Shuvinai. Untitled from The Polar World . 2017. The Art Gallery of Ontario , https://ago.ca/collection/object/2017/59.2 .

Clausen, Ron. Victoria BC British Columbia Parliament Building dome 2005 . 2005. Wikimedia Commons , https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_BC_British_Columbia_Parliament_Building_dome_2005.jpg .

If the full name of a creator is unknown, it is acceptable to cite the user's screen name - in other words, if you can identify the real name, then use that, but if not, then cite 'librarydude42' as the creator.

Images from a book

If you are citing an image as reproduced in the book, MLA will usually allow you to simply use the format for citing a book, and indicate the specific page number the image is found on .

If you would prefer to cite the image as its own entry in your reference list, you may do so with the following format:

Creator last name, first name. Title of work . Year. Art Gallery [if known]. Title of book , by Author's name, publisher, year, page number.

Bastien, Alfred. Canadian Gunners in the Mud, Passchendaele . 1917. The Great War and Modern Memory: The Illustrated Edition , by Paul Fussell, Sterling Publishing, 2009, p. 173.

Images with an unknown creator

You should make an effort to discover the photographer of an image if possible. Using tools like Google Reverse Image Search will allow you to search using a digital image file. This can be a simple way to gather more information about a photo's creator.

If the individual creator is unknown, you may cite the group or organization responsible for the image as the creator. This may be appropriate for cases such as images printed in a newspaper with no individual photographer credited, or photos taken by government agencies - and may lead you to crediting "The Globe and Mail" or "National Aeronautics and Space Administration" as the author. For instance:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Curiosity at 'Glen Etive.' 2019. NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia23378/curiosity-at-glen-etive.

If there is no individual or group creator for the image, you may cite using the title and no author. The example below does not list a date as this information is unknown.

Queenstown Publicity . Archives New Zealand . https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE28081753 .

Images without a title

If you cannot find the title of an image, you may cite the image using either the file name - if a descriptive file name has been provided by the creator - or provide a short descriptive title in plain text yourself.

The example provided below is a citation for an untitled image found online by a creator known only by a screen name.

Phil. Photograph of the Assabet Woolen Mill building in Maynard, Massachusetts. 2020. Flickr , https://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/50014632661 /.

Including images in your paper

If you include an image in your paper, MLA conventions require you to label it with a figure number, caption, and citation information. Discussion of the image in the body of the paper should make reference to the image by figure number as shown below:

Good examples for formatting an image to include in your paper can be found in UVic's LibGuides (see Figure 1).

If the paper is intended for broader circulation - if it will be published or posted online - you should ensure that you have the permission of the copyright owner to do so. Though MLA does not explicitly prescribe that you include licensing or copyright information under the image, it certainly does not hurt to do so.

An example might look something like this:

Images included in your paper should also have reference list entries as laid out earlier in this guide.

A reference list entry for the photo above would look as follows:

Klajban, Michal. Fisherman's Wharf Park, Victoria, British Columbia 08 . 2018. Wikimedia Commons . https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fisherman%27s_Wharf_Park,_Victoria,_British_Columbia_08.jpg .

• << Previous: Citing images in Chicago format
• Last Updated: May 26, 2023 9:37 AM
• URL: https://libguides.uvic.ca/image

Citations - MLA: Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables

• Advertisements
• Books, eBooks, & Pamphlets
• Class Notes & Presentations
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries (Reference Works)
• Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Pesonal Communication (Interviews, Emails, & Telephone)
• Religious Texts
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• When Creating Digital Assignments
• When Information Is Missing
• Works in a Foreign Language
• Works Quoted in Another Source (Secondary Source)
• In-Text Citations - Quotations & Paraphrasing
• Formatting - Essay, Works Cited, Appendix, & Sample Paper
• Annotated Bibliography

Click and View: How Do I Cite?

• Figure (Photo, Image, Graph, or Chart)

Google Map Inserted into a Research Paper

Is it a figure or a table.

There are two types of material you can insert into your assignment: figures and tables.

A figure is a photo, image, map, graph, or chart.

A table is a table of information.

For a visual example of each, see the figure and table to the right.

Figure Numbers

The word figure should be abbreviated to Fig. Each figure should be assigned a figure number, starting with number 1 for the first figure used in the assignment. E.g., Fig. 1.

Images may not have a set title. If this is the case give a description of the image where you would normally put the title.

Free Images

If you are searching for images on Google, after your search, click the Images tab > Tools > Usage Rights > Labeled for Reuse

• Noun Project
• Open Click Art
• Pix4Learning

Reproducing Images, Charts, Tables & Graphs

​Reproducing happens when you copy or recreate a photo, image, chart, graph, or table that is not your original creation.

• If you reproduce one of these works in your assignment, you must create a note (or "caption") underneath the photo, image, chart, graph, or table to show where you found it.
• If you do not refer to it anywhere else in your assignment, you do not have to include the citation for this source in a Works Cited list.

Citing Information From an Image, Chart, Table or Graph

If you refer to information from the photo, image, chart, graph, or table but do not reproduce it in your paper, create a citation both in-text and on your Works Cited list. 

If the information is part of another format, for example a book, magazine article or website, cite the work it came from. For example if information came from a table in an article in National Geographic magazine, you would cite the entire magazine article.

Figure (Photo, Image, Graph, or Chart) Inserted Into a Research Paper

The caption for a figure begins with a description of the figure, then the complete Works Cited list citation for the source the figure was found in. For example, if it was found on a website, cite the website. If it was in a magazine article, cite the magazine article.

Label your figures starting at 1.

Information about the figure (the caption) is placed directly below the image in your assignment.

• If the image appears in your paper the full citation appears underneath the image (as shown below) and does not need to be included in the Works Cited List.
• If you are referring to an image but not including it in your paper you must provide an in-text citation and include an entry in the Works Cited List.

Fig. 1.  Man exercising from: Green, Annie. "Yoga: Stretching Out."  Sports Digest,  8 May 2006, p. 22. 

Fig. 2.  Annakiki skirt from: Cheung, Pauline. "Short Skirt S/S/ 15 China Womenswear Commercial Update."  WGSN.

Note:  This is a LAHC Libraries recommendation.

Fig. X.   Description of the figure from: "City, State." Map,  Google Maps.

Fig. 1.  Map of Los Angeles Harbor College Library from: "Wilmington, CA." Map,  Google Maps.

Table Inserted Into a Research Paper

Above the table

• Label it beginning at Table 1.
• On a second line, add a description of what information is contained in the table.

Below the table

• The caption for a table begins with the word Source
• Then the complete Works Cited list citation for the source the table was found in.

For example, if it was found on a website, cite the website. If it was in a journal article, cite the journal article.

Source: Citation for source table was found in.

• Information about the table (the caption) is placed directly below the table in your assignment.
• If the table is not cited in the text of your assignment, you do not need to include it in the Works Cited list.

Variables in determining victims and aggressors

Source: Mohr, Andrea. "Family Variables Associated With Peer Victimization."  Swiss Journal of Psychology,  vol .  65, no. 2, 2006, pp. 107-116,  Psychology Collection , doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185.65.2.107.

This guide is used/adapted with the permission of Seneca College Libraries.

• << Previous: Government Documents
• Next: Journal Articles >>
• Last Updated: Aug 29, 2023 9:39 AM
• URL: https://libguides.lahc.edu/mla

MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): Images, Artwork, Charts, Graphs & Tables

• What Kind of Source Is This?
• Advertisements
• Books, eBooks & Pamphlets
• Book Reviews
• Class Handouts, Presentations, and Readings
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
• Government Documents
• Images, Artwork, Charts, Graphs & Tables
• Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Primary Sources
• Religious Texts
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• In-Text Citation
• Works Quoted in Another Source
• No Author, No Date etc.
• Works Cited List & Sample Paper
• Annotated Bibliography
• Powerpoint Presentations

On This Page: Images, Artwork, Charts, Graphs & Tables

Photo, image, graph, chart, or table, photo, image, graph, or chart - inserted into assignment (figure), table - inserted into assignment, artwork from a book, artwork from an online source, is it a figure or a table.

There are two types of material you can insert into your assignment: figures and tables.

A figure is a photo, image, map, graph, or chart.

A table is a table of information.

For a visual example of each, see the figure and table to the right.

Abbreviating Months

In your works cited list, abbreviate months as follows: 

January = Jan. February = Feb. March = Mar. April = Apr. May = May June = June July = July August = Aug. September = Sept. October = Oct. November = Nov. December = Dec.

Spell out months fully in the body of your paper. 

Reproducing Images, Charts, Tables &  Graphs

​ Reproducing happens when you copy or recreate a photo, image, chart, graph, or table that is not your original creation. If you reproduce one of these works in your assignment, you must create a note (or "caption") underneath the photo, image, chart, graph, or table to show where you found it.

If you do not refer to it anywhere else in your assignment, you do not have to include the citation for this source in a Works Cited list.

Citing Information From an Image, Chart, Table or Graph

If you refer to information from a photo, image, chart, graph, or table but do not reproduce it in your paper, your in-text and Works Cited citations will be for the source it came from.

Figure Numbers

The word figure should be abbreviated to Fig. Each figure should be assigned a figure number, starting with number 1 for the first figure used in the assignment. E.g. Fig. 1.

Table Numbers

Each table should be assigned a table number, starting with number 1 for the first table used in the assignment. E.g. Table 1.

Images may not have a set title. If this is the case give a description of the image where you would normally put the title.

If you refer to information from a table in an article in National Geographic magazine, you would cite the entire magazine article. For more information on how to cite magazine articles, look at the  How do I Cite: Magazine Articles  section of this site. 

If you refer to a photo that is posted on a webpage, you would cite the entire webpage. For more information on how to cite websites, look at the  How do I Cite: Websites section of this site. 

An inserted photo, image, graph or chart is called a figure. You must create a caption for it, directly below the photo/image/graph/chart in your assignment. The caption follows this format:

  Note:  If you have more than one figure in your assignment, label your figures starting at 1.

Fig. 1. Man exercising from: Green, Annie. "Yoga: Stretching Out."  Sports Digest,  8 May 2006, p. 22. 

Fig. 2. Annakiki skirt from: Cheung, Pauline. "Short Skirt S/S/ 15 China Womenswear Commercial Update."  WGSN.

If you insert a table from another source into your assignment, you must create a caption for it directly below the table. Above the table, add a label (Table X) and below this add a description of what information is contained in the table.

The caption follows this format:

  Note:  If you have more than one table in your assignment, label your tables starting at 1.

If you do not refer to the table anywhere else in your assignment, you do not need to include the citation for this source in the Works Cited list.

Variables in determining victims and aggressors

Source: Mohr, Andrea. "Family Variables Associated With Peer Victimization."  Swiss Journal of Psychology,  vol .  65, no. 2, 2006, pp. 107-116,  Psychology Collection , https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185.65.2.107.

When you refer to a photographic reproduction of an artwork, the citation is made up of two parts:

• Part 1: Lists the original artist's name, the name of the work, and the date the work was created. 
• Part 2: Cites where you found the reproduction of the work such as a book. The example below is for an image taken from a book with a single author. For more information on how to cite books, look at the How do I Cite: Books section of this site. 

Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work: Subtitle if Any. Year, Location of Work. Book Title , by Author's Last Name, First Name, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication, p. number.

• Part 2: Cites where you found the reproduction of the work such as a website. The example below is for an image taken from a webpage written by two authors. For more information on how to cite websites, look at the  How do I Cite: Websites section of this site. 

If you refer to the information from the artwork but do not reproduce it in your paper, create a citation both in-text and on your Works Cited list.

Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work: Subtitle if Any. Year, Location of Work. "Title of Webpage," by  Author's First Name Last Name.   Title of Website,  Publisher or Sponsoring Organization, Date of publication or last modified date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited .

 Note : Date of access is optional in MLA 9th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

If you place the artwork in your paper, you must label the figure. The caption should be the Works Cited list citation for the source the figure was found in. For example, if it was found on a website, cite the website. 

Label your figures starting at 1.

Information about the figure (the caption) is placed directly below the image in your assignment.

Fig. 1.  Da Vinci, Leonardo.  Last Supper . 1498, Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan. "The Last Supper,"  by Harris, Beth and Steven Zucker,  Khan Academy , 2015, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/renaissance-art-europe-ap/a/leonardo-last-supper. Accessed 14 July 2018.

• << Previous: Government Documents
• Next: Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications) >>
• Last Updated: Sep 1, 2023 2:06 PM
• URL: https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/MLA9

• Spartanburg Community College Library
• SCC Research Guides
• Citing Images in a Project

There are several ways to cite images in a project in MLA format.

When you include an image directly into your paper, it should be labeled as "Fig." with a number, followed by a period. (Example: Fig. 1.).

Under the image, place a caption that will start with the Figure label and number. Then you have options for how to finish the caption.

Give the full MLA citation for your source. Do not invert the creator's name (if you have one listed). 

If you include the full MLA citation in your caption and you do not cite the source again in your project, you do not need to include the source in your Works Cited.

Fig 1. Vincent Van Gogh. "Self Portrait." 1889.  National Gallery of Art , www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.106382.html. 

Give basic information about your source such as the creator of the image, title, year, and any other important information. If you do not include the full MLA citation, your source must be added to your Works Cited page.

Fig. 1. Vincent Van Gogh, "Self Portrait," oil on canvas, 1889.

Works Cited

Van Gogh, Vincent. "Self Portrait." 1989.  National Gallery of Art , www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.106382.html. 

• << Previous: Citing Images or Graphs
• Next: Citing Artistic Works/Performances >>
• Online MLA Handbook This link opens in a new window
• Formatting the Author and Title
• Container Punctuation
• Citing a Book or Ebook
• Citing Part of a Book or Ebook
• Citing an Encyclopedia
• Citing a Journal Article
• Citing an Article Written for a Database
• Citing a Magazine or Newspaper Article
• Citing an Interview/Podcast
• Citing a Website
• Citing a Video
• Citing Social Media
• Citing Artistic Works/Performances
• Citing a Play
• Citing a Poem
• In-text Citations
• Formatting Your Word Document
• MLA Handouts
• MLA Workshop (video, Feb. 2022)
• MLA - Getting Started (Basic Tutorial)
• Annotated Bibliography

Questions? Ask a Librarian

• Last Updated: Sep 29, 2023 1:57 PM
• URL: https://libguides.sccsc.edu/MLA

Giles Campus | 864.592.4764 | Toll Free 866.542.2779 | Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 Spartanburg Community College. All rights reserved.

Info for Library Staff

Return to SCC Website

• Locations and Hours
• UCLA Library
• Research Guides

Image Research

• Citing Images
• Getting Started
• Finding Images

How to Cite

Examples of image citations.

• Using Images
• Research Tips
• Still Have Questions?
• Information Needed for Citing Images
• Citation Styles
• Citation Tools
• Captions vs. Citations

Once you find an image you would like to use for your project, it is important to properly cite that image just like you would a journal article or book.

Here is some basic information you might need to cite an image:

• Creator name
• Title of the work
• Date work was created
• Source (URL and date of access)
• Image ID number

If you find an image in a book you will need that book's author, title, publisher information, date, and page, figure, or plate number of the reproduction.

Additional information may be needed for works of art.  Remember to always refer to specific style manuals for complete information and consult the terms & conditions of image databases used to locate images since database licenses may specify required caption information.

You can also refer to the Image Workstation Help  from Reed College and the Finding Images guide from Boston College for more information and examples on citing images.

Consult these style manuals to create your citations.  Copies of several of these manuals are available throughout the libraries at UCLA at reference desks or in the stacks. 

Most recent print guide to Modern Language Association (MLA) style.

The complete 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

This is a thorough guide on research and citation published by Purdue University. Guides on APA, Chicago, and MLA can be found through this website.

Need help citing your sources? Try these tools:

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. The currently supported browser is Firefox. See the UCLA Library's  Zotero Research Guide  for additional information.

A basic guide

From the  Getting Started: Information Research Tips  library research Guide.

Consult your Style guide for information about caption formats.

See  Image Resources: Captions, Citations, Examples,  for guidance on the distinction between captions and citations, examples with unusual or unknown elements, and links to additional resources.

Also see the Reed College  Image Workstation Help , which provides the following guidance (and more:)

MLA Handbook - Captions

• Images should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned an Arabic numeral, and given a caption.
• The caption should appear directly below the image.
• Image captions should always include the image creator's first name, last name (if available), title, work date, and the source of the image.
• For a more descriptive caption, it is acceptable to include a description of materials, measurements, the institution or individual who owns the work, and the location of the institution.
• Note whether the image came from a print, electronic, or other source and cite appropriately.

Print Source Caption Example Fig. 4. Frank Duveneck, Portrait of Maggie Wilson, Oil on board, 38.10 x 30.48 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; Unsuspected Genius: the Art and Life of Frank Duveneck, by Robert Neuhaus  (San Francisco: Bedford Press, 1987) 227.

Electronic Source Caption Example Fig. 9. Amasis Painter, Lekythos; Women Weaving, 17.15 cm height, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Accessed Jan. 12, 2007 from the Reed College CONTENTdm database <http://cdm.reed.edu/u?/vrcwork,38536>.

Other Source Caption Example Fig. 13. Columbia River at Dawn. Personal photograph by author. 13 March 2008.

Bibliography citation:

Gas Power Magazine, Cover. 1904 November. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35197_35197_19447297.

This is an MLA style citation generated from Artstor that gives a magazine cover a descriptive title, “Gas Power Magazine, Cover.”

Unknown photographer. Baseball players, Trinity College, Hartford, CT [Athletics], overall. ca. 1900, Image:2019. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/24977027.

This is an MLA style citation generated from Artstor that attributes the photograph to “Unknown photographer” as the creator.

Chicago Style

Unidentified Photographer. c. 1870s. Untitled. Photograph. Place: <A HREF=http://www.clevelandart.org/>The Cleveland Museum of Art</A>, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Collection: Photography, Department: Photography, Gift of Mitzie Verne. https://library.artstor.org/asset/24623239.

This is a Chicago style citation generated from Artstor that attributes the photograph to “Unidentified photographer” as the creator and “Untitled” as the title.

[s.n.]. (1980). Derek Jacobi as Hamlet. Retrieved from https://library.artstor.org/asset/SS36790_36790_39613934.

This is an APA style citation generated from Artstor that uses [s.n.] (“sine nomine” meaning “without name”) for a film poster, and gives a descriptive title, “Derek Jacobi as Hamlet.”

Unknown. (1888-1894). View of thatch buildings, probably in Samoa. [lantern slides]. Retrieved from https://library.artstor.org/asset/SS7729540_7729540_13002457.

This is an APA style citation generated from Artstor that attributes the image to “Unknown” as the creator.

Artist: Unidentified. (n.d.). Untitled. [Print]. Retrieved from https://library.artstor.org/asset/24272474

This is an APA citation generated from Artstor that addresses many unknowns, including date.

• << Previous: Finding Images
• Next: Using Images >>
• Last Updated: Sep 19, 2023 10:05 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.ucla.edu/images

MLA Citation Guide: Images (Figures) & Tables

• In-Text Citations
• Books & eBooks
• Web & Social Media
• Audiovisual
• Images (Figures) & Tables
• Annotated Bibliography

Images (Figures) / Tables: Ground Rules

In MLA style, a 'figure' is "illustrative visual material other than a table—for example, a photograph, map, drawing, graph, or chart" (Behind the Style). A 'table' comprises columns and rows of text and/or numbers.

There are some variations between citing figures and tables, but they both follow the same basic rules. Both have to include a:

• Label and Number
• Caption and/or Source Information  

Each of these components is doing something different, and is positioned above and below your figure/table, according to a which type you are using.

Note: Every figure you include has to have a matching entry in your Works Cited list (exceptions explained in "FIGURES" example)

Note: Position your figures or tables as close as possible to the text to which they relate.

Images / Figures: Examples

Below are the four most frequently used forms for citing images (figures). These can be used to create entries in a Works Cited list and/or to provide the appropriate bibliographical materials to accompany figures you might include in your project.

• Image / Artwork from a Database
• Image / Artwork from a Website

Artist Lastname, Firstname.  Title of the Artwork . Date of Composition, Name of the Institution that

houses the artwork,  Database,  URL.  (omit http:// or https://)

Lichtenstein , Roy. Foot and Hand . 1964, Roy Lichtenstein Foundation,  Artstor,

library.artstor.org/#/asset/LICHTENSTEIN_1039656284.

In text:  (Lichtenstein)

Follow as the "Image / Artwork from a Database" example, and add:  Accessed Day Month Year.

houses the artwork. URL. (omit http:// or https://)  Accessed Day Month Year.

Gamble, Sidney.   Man on Rope Bridge . 1917, Duke University Libraries:

            Digital Collections. repository.duke.edu/dc/gamble/gamble_060A_32

            Accessed 23 Dec. 2019.

In text:  (Gamble)

• Physical Work of Art
• Artwork Reproduced in a Book

Artist Lastname, Firstname.  Title of the Artwork . Date of Composition,

            Name of the Institution that houses the artwork, City of the Institution.

Sargent, John Singer.   Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau).  1883-84,

            Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

In text:   (Sargent)

Follow as for the "Physical Work of Art" example, adding information about the book:

houses the artwork, City of the Institution.  Title of the Book,  Publisher, Date of publication,

Page number(s).

Itten, Johannes.  The Encounter . 1916, Kunsthaus, Zurich.  The Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists

in the Twentieth Century,  Prestel, 2000, p.165.

In text:  (Itten)

Photographs, artwork, maps, graphs, charts, etc. should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated as Fig. ), given a number (start at '1' and continue), and a caption . 

Captions can be short, in which case you would add a full citation to your Works Cited list.  However, if the caption includes complete bibliographical information about the source, and the source is not cited elsewhere in your text, you do not have to create an entry in your Works Cited list. Capitalize captions as you would any title in MLA style -- do not use 'all caps'!

Labels and captions for figures are usually:

• Below the figure
• Aligned with the left margin, maintaining one inch margins throughout
• Double-spaced between elements

____________________________________________________________________________

In the example below, because all the citation components are provided, an entry in the Works Cited list would not be needed.  An alternative is to provide a shorter caption:  Fig 1.  Dorothea Lange's "Destitute Pea Pickers ."  This shorter caption would need a full citation in the Works Cited list.

Fig. 1. Dorothea Lange. Destitute Pea Pickers in California, a 32-year-old Mother of Seven

Children .  1936, Getty Images ,  www.gettyimages.com/pictures/destitute-pea-pickers-in-california-a- 32-

year-old-mother-of-news-photo-90768141. Accessed 10 Jan. 2020. 

Tables include columns of text and/or numbers. Tables are labeled as 'Table' and given a number, followed by a short title. If desired, a note can be added below the table, and is indicated with a lower case super-script letter, starting with. a

In this case, the bibliographic information is added below the table, starting with the word 'Source:' 

______________________________________________________________________________

Social Media Use Over Time (2013-2019) a

Source: "Social Media Fact Sheet: Social Media use Over Time." Pew Research Center, 12 June 2019,

www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/. Accessed 12 Jan. 2020.

a. This table includes responses for 2013 through 2019 to the question: "How Many Social Media Sites Do You Use?" The complete table lists responses from 2005 through 2019.

• << Previous: Audiovisual
• Next: Annotated Bibliography >>
• Last Updated: Mar 24, 2023 1:43 PM
• URL: https://guides.highpoint.edu/mlaguide

TODAY'S HOURS:

Using Images in Research and Presentations

• Finding Images
• Using Images

Why Do I Need to Cite Images?

Creative commons attribution.

Citing all your sources of information and creative work you use is part of academic integrity. You are giving credit where credit is due.

In academic work, images should be followed by and attribution or in text citation whether that be in a note or caption immediately following the image or at the bottom of a presentation slide. A full citation should be found in your Works Cited or Reference List, though you might separate them out into an Image Credit List, depending on the style of citation you are using.

The 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association expended their explanations and examples of how to cite multimedia sources including multimedia materials. Examples of reference are found in Chapter 10 of the Manual and the following sections focus on multimedia sources

• 10.12 Audiovisual works (films, streaming videos, television series, etc.)
• 10.13 Audio works (music, podcast, radio broadcast, etc.)
• 10.14 Visual works (fine art, clip art, infographics, photographs, maps, etc.)
• 10.15 Social media (including Instagram posts).

A related section of the Manual is Chapter 7 which deals with the presentation of tables and figures, so the Manual shows you how images should be incorporated into your work in addition to how they should be cited; see Sample Figure 7.3 for how to include an attribution in the figure note.

Here is an example of how the following photograph (found through Pixabay) should be cited using the APA style.

stokpic. (2015, February 10). Blonde Girl Taking Photo [Photograph]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/blonde-girl-taking-photo-629726/

Remember, the library has a copy of the Manual at the Reference Desk if you need to use it.

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook does not have as many examples of references as the APA Manual does, but if you follow the guidelines and templates in the section "Creating Your Documentation" (pp. 19 - 53), you should be able to construct a citation.

Here is an example of how the following photograph (found through Pixabay) should be cited using the MLA style.

stokpic. Blonde Girl Taking Photo. 10 February 2015. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/blonde-girl-taking-photo-629726/

Remember, the library has a copy of the  Handbook  at the Reference Desk if you need to use it.

• Use & Remix - Creative Commons The "Use & remix" section of the Creative Commons website details how to properly attribute content licensed under a CC license. Attribution is a condition of all CC licenses. more info... less info... Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a globally-accessible public commons of knowledge and culture. They provide Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools that give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works.
• << Previous: Using Images
• Last Updated: Sep 19, 2023 4:56 PM
• URL: https://libguides.umflint.edu/images

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite a Picture or Image in MLA

How to Cite a Picture or Image in MLA

Photograph – An image produced by a camera.

Citing a photograph or image displayed in a museum or institution (viewed in-person)

The citations below  are based on information from the MLA Style Center .

View Screenshot | Cite your source

Citing a photograph or image from a museum or institution (viewed online)

Many museums have online collections of their work. The citations below  are based on information from the MLA Style Center .

Citing a digital image on a web page or online article

Digital Image – A picture that can be viewed electronically by a computer.

Here’s the standard structure for a digital image citation found on a website. It follows guidance found in the MLA Style Center .  

 View Screenshot | Cite your source

Image search: Do not cite the search engine (example: Google Images) where the image is found, but the website of the image the search engine indexes.

Citing a photograph from a book

Citing a photograph you took.

The photo would be considered as part of a “personal collection.” The example below follows guidance found in the MLA Style Center .  

Citing a photograph from a database

  View Screenshot | Cite your source

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Updated April 26, 2021.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
• Works Cited
• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all MLA Examples

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

To cite an image with no author in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the title or description, museum or website name, date, and URL if applicable. Templates and examples for in-text citations and works cited list entries for an image with no author (viewed online) are provided below:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose and parenthetical citations, use the title of the image.

Citation in prose:

The photograph Robert Frank in Automobile ….

Parenthetical:

….( Robert Frank )

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

Viewed online:

Title of Photograph or Description. Date Published.  Name of Gallery/Museum or Website Name, URL.

Robert Frank in Automobile. 1958. National Gallery of Art, https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.89153.html.

To cite an image with no date in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the artist name, image title, and either the website where the image was viewed online or the museum or gallery name where it was viewed in person. If no date information is provided for an online image, omit the publication date details and instead provide the date you accessed it. Templates and examples for in-text citations and works cited list entries for an image with no date (viewed online and firsthand) are provided below:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the artist on the first occurrence. For subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the artist.

First mention: Janet Cameron ….

Subsequent occurrences: Cameron ….

….(Cameron).

Viewed firsthand :

Artist Surname, First Name. Title of the Image. Name of the Museum or Gallery, Physical Location (Major City or City, State).

Muybridge, Eadweard. Attitudes of Animals in Motion . Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Viewed online :

Artist Surname, First Name. Title of the Image. Name of the Website , URL. Accessed Date.

Cameron, Janet. Who Was Cleopatra? Decoded Past , www.decodedpast.com/philosophy-2/ . Accessed 20 Sept. 2021.

MLA Citation Examples

Writing Tools

Citation Generators

Other Citation Styles

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

Generate accurate MLA citations for free

• Knowledge Base
• MLA format for academic papers and essays

MLA Format | Complete Guidelines & Free Template

Published on December 11, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on June 16, 2022 by Jack Caulfield.

The MLA Handbook provides guidelines for creating MLA citations and formatting academic papers. This quick guide will help you set up your MLA format paper in no time.

Start by applying these MLA format guidelines to your document:

• Times New Roman 12
• 1″ page margins
• Double line spacing
• ½” indent for new paragraphs
• Title case capitalization for headings

Download Word template Open Google Docs template

(To use the Google Docs template, copy the file to your Drive by clicking on ‘file’ > ‘Make a copy’)

Table of contents

How to set up mla format in google docs, header and title, running head, works cited page, creating mla style citations, headings and subheadings, tables and figures, frequently asked questions about mla format.

The header in MLA format is left-aligned on the first page of your paper. It includes

• Your full name
• Your instructor’s or supervisor’s name
• The course name or number
• The due date of the assignment

After the MLA header, press ENTER once and type your paper title. Center the title and don’t forget to apply title-case capitalization. Read our article on writing strong titles that are informative, striking and appropriate.

For a paper with multiple authors, it’s better to use a separate title page instead.

At the top of every page, including the first page, you need to include your last name and the page number. This is called the “running head.” Follow these steps to set up the MLA running head in your Word or Google Docs document:

• Double-click at the top of a page
• Type your last name
• Insert automatic page numbering
• Align the content to the right

The running head should look like this:

The Works Cited list is included on a separate page at the end of your paper. You list all the sources you referenced in your paper in alphabetical order. Don’t include sources that weren’t cited in the paper, except potentially in an MLA annotated bibliography assignment.

Place the title “Works Cited” in the center at the top of the page. After the title, press ENTER once and insert your MLA references.

If a reference entry is longer than one line, each line after the first should be indented ½ inch (called a hanging indent ). All entries are double spaced, just like the rest of the text.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

Prefer to cite your sources manually? Use the interactive example below to see what the Works Cited entry and MLA in-text citation look like for different source types.

Headings and subheadings are not mandatory, but they can help you organize and structure your paper, especially in longer assignments.

MLA has only a few formatting requirements for headings. They should

• Be written in title case
• Be left-aligned
• Not end in a period

We recommend keeping the font and size the same as the body text and applying title case capitalization. In general, boldface indicates greater prominence, while italics are appropriate for subordinate headings.

Chapter Title

Section Heading

Tip: Both Google Docs and Microsoft Word allow you to create heading levels that help you to keep your headings consistent.

Tables and other illustrations (referred to as “figures”) should be placed as close to the relevant part of text as possible. MLA also provides guidelines for presenting them.

MLA format for tables

Tables are labeled and numbered, along with a descriptive title. The label and title are placed above the table on separate lines; the label and number appear in bold.

A caption providing information about the source appears below the table; you don’t need one if the table is your own work.

Below this, any explanatory notes appear, marked on the relevant part of the table with a superscript letter. The first line of each note is indented; your word processor should apply this formatting automatically.

Just like in the rest of the paper, the text is double spaced and you should use title case capitalization for the title (but not for the caption or notes).

MLA format for figures

Figures (any image included in your paper that isn’t a table) are also labeled and numbered, but here, this is integrated into the caption below the image. The caption in this case is also centered.

The label “Figure” is abbreviated to “Fig.” and followed by the figure number and a period. The rest of the caption gives either full source information, or (as in the example here) just basic descriptive information about the image (author, title, publication year).

Source information in table and figure captions

If the caption of your table or figure includes full source information and that source is not otherwise cited in the text, you don’t need to include it in your Works Cited list.

Give full source information in a caption in the same format as you would in the Works Cited list, but without inverting the author name (i.e. John Smith, not Smith, John).

MLA recommends using 12-point Times New Roman , since it’s easy to read and installed on every computer. Other standard fonts such as Arial or Georgia are also acceptable. If in doubt, check with your supervisor which font you should be using.

The main guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style are as follows:

• Use an easily readable font like 12 pt Times New Roman
• Set 1 inch page margins
• Apply double line spacing
• Include a four-line MLA heading on the first page
• Center the paper’s title
• Indent every new paragraph ½ inch
• Use title case capitalization for headings
• Cite your sources with MLA in-text citations
• List all sources cited on a Works Cited page at the end

The fastest and most accurate way to create MLA citations is by using Scribbr’s MLA Citation Generator .

Search by book title, page URL, or journal DOI to automatically generate flawless citations, or cite manually using the simple citation forms.

The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.

This quick guide to MLA style  explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2022, June 16). MLA Format | Complete Guidelines & Free Template. Scribbr. Retrieved September 30, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/formatting/

Is this article helpful?

Raimo Streefkerk

Other students also liked, creating an mla header, block quoting in mla style, how to format your mla works cited page, what is your plagiarism score.

How do I cite photographs or other images that I use in a PowerPoint presentation or web project?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook . For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Cite an image used in a  PowerPoint presentation or web project the same way you would cite it in a printed paper. See the example in our post on  citing a screenshot or frame capture in a caption . As the post explains, if the image is merely illustrative, provide full publication details in a caption. But if you refer to the source of the image elsewhere, the caption should provide only enough detail needed to key to a works-cited-list entry. The list of works cited may be included as the final slide or as the last page of the web project. 

How to include pictures in a research paper

It is often said that a picture can speak more than a thousand words. In all kinds of research papers, pictures are essential in adding to the richness of the literature and analysis because of the valuable insight they can offer. For example, pictures of measured data from statistical applications are very important additions to the “Data presentation and analysis” chapter or section of any research paper.

This is because they help to complement verbal discussions or analysis by offering a visual presentation of the statistical technique used to measure the variables of interest. However, where the researcher is not the originator of such pictures, it is very important to cite the source of the picture according to the prescribed format. In the case of statistical applications mentioned above, for example, be sure to disclose which application generated the picture or printout as well as the version of such an application (e.g., SPSS version 27).   

What is a research paper?

A research paper is a form of academic writing which involves formally investigating a field of knowledge or topic of interest in order to add to the existing stock of knowledge in that field and/or solve a particular problem. Educational research is formal because it is not based on the subjective discretions of the researcher but on an accepted and objective standard such as the scientific method of inquiry. Research papers can be of different types. These include term papers, seminar presentations, undergraduate projects, post-graduate thesis or dissertations, conference/workshop papers, and journal entries, among others.

Though these highlighted papers and others can be structured in diverse ways, conducting research in this context basically requires that the researcher identifies a problem or area of interest; formulates research questions and/or hypothesis; reviews the existing literature in the field; collects, measures and analyzes relevant data; discusses the findings; makes conclusions and recommendations based on the findings and then suggests possible directions for future research.

Some things to consider before including pictures in a research paper

As noted above, pictures can complement words to make a research paper richer in terms of providing more insight. However, the researcher must ensure that such pictures are optimally included to generate the desired effects. To this end, some of the tips below can help.

Ensure the picture adds value to your research paper

Pictures may be a necessary aspect of some research papers but this does not imply that they should not be selected meticulously and meritoriously. The researcher must critically evaluate all pictures he or she intends to include in their paper and select only the most relevant, i.e., those that will help illuminate verbal discussions/analysis and consequently deepen the understanding of readers.   

Proper labeling and citation

Research papers are formal documents with rules on how each of them should be written, structured, or formatted. Therefore, ensure that your pictures are labeled according to the rules provided by whoever the paper is meant for (such as a university department or a print journal). The rules are usually determined by Style Guides like the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association, etc. Properly citing the sources of any picture you have borrowed is necessary to enable you avoid plagiarism.

Pictures should be suitably located

After toiling hard to gather the pictures needed for his or her research, the researcher should ensure that the selected pictures are appropriately inserted into the desired areas of the paper. In some social science projects and theses, for example, a tabular presentation of the data used for the research is located on the first page of the fourth chapter titled “Data presentation and analysis.”

Sometimes the researcher may have several pictures that cannot all be accommodated in the main body of a project or thesis/dissertation. In such instances, it will be appropriate to attach such pictures in the “Appendices” section at the end of the paper.

Carry the images along

The pictures do not serve as mere decorations but have been selected to help provide more insight and thus enrich the research paper. To this end, the researcher should ensure that the pictures are properly integrated into the verbal discussions or analysis in the paper.  For example, “Figure 1.0 is a graphical representation of all the differenced variables in the time series.” etc.

Citing pictures in a research paper

There are many kinds of pictures as well as picture sources and they can also be cited in a variety of ways. For simplicity, the examples in this article will focus entirely on how to cite digital (internet) pictures.

Format: Image Creator’s Last Name, First Name. “Image Title.”  Website Name , Day Month Year Published, URL.  

Example: Jones, Daniel. “The Hope Creek nuclear plant.” LearnersHub ,  9 November 2017, www.learnershub.net/2017/09/11/nuclear-technology-explained.html.

Chicago style

Format: Last Name, First Name. M [initials]. “Title.” Digital image. Website Title. Month Date, Year published. Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.

If the picture has no title, then a description can be used instead.

Date Accessed should only be included if the publication date is unavailable.

Example: Jones, Daniel R. “The Hope Creek nuclear plant.”Digital image. LearnersHub ,  Accessed 9 November 2017. www.learnershub.net.

Format: Author’s last name. First initial. (Publication or creation date). Title of image [Type of image]. Name of publisher. Museum or university. URL.

Example: Jones,  R. 2017.   The Hope Creek nuclear plant .[Photo]. National Science Museum. https//:www.nationalsciencemsuem.org/nuclearscience/2017/11/the-hope-creek-nuclear-plant.jpg.

Pictures of all kinds (including tables, charts, graphs, figures, photographs, etc) are useful components in a research paper. This is because of the insight they can bring by complementing verbal discussions and analysis. However, pictures should not be included in a research paper arbitrarily but follow some guidelines such as those presented above.

Submit your response Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email address

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Privacy Overview

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA Formatting Quotations

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper. Please note that all pages in MLA should be double-spaced .

Short quotations

To indicate short quotations (four typed lines or fewer of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page number (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the in-text citation, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage, but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

For example, when quoting short passages of prose, use the following examples:

When using short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from poetry, mark breaks in verse with a slash, ( / ), at the end of each line of verse (a space should precede and follow the slash). If a stanza break occurs during the quotation, use a double slash ( // ).

Long quotations

For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented 1/2   inch  from the left margin while maintaining double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come  after the closing punctuation mark . When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following examples :

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing long sections of poetry (four lines of verse or more), keep formatting as close to the original as possible.

In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke explores his childhood with his father:

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We Romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. (qtd. in Shrodes, Finestone, Shugrue 202)

When citing two or more paragraphs, use block quotation format, even if the passage from the paragraphs is less than four lines. If you cite more than one paragraph, the first line of the second paragraph should be indented an extra 1/4 inch to denote a new paragraph:

In "American Origins of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Movement," David Russell argues,

Writing has been an issue in American secondary and higher education since papers and examinations came into wide use in the 1870s, eventually driving out formal recitation and oral examination. . . .

From its birth in the late nineteenth century, progressive education has wrestled with the conflict within industrial society between pressure to increase specialization of knowledge and of professional work (upholding disciplinary standards) and pressure to integrate more fully an ever-widening number of citizens into intellectually meaningful activity within mass society (promoting social equity). . . . (3)

Adding or omitting words in quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text:

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipses, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. For example:

Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless they would add clarity.

When omitting words from poetry quotations, use a standard three-period ellipses; however, when omitting one or more full lines of poetry, space several periods to about the length of a complete line in the poem: