APA has specific rules on how to format in text citations and references for tables and figures. A figure is anything that is not part of the text of your document and not a table. Graphs, photographs, illustrations and charts are all examples of figures.
The APA manual provides formatting and referencing advice for using figures in works that are going to be published. If an item has been made available for anyone to read (whether or not it is at a price) then it is considered published.
Student assignments are not considered to be "published" as they are only available to staff and sometimes students and so are not considered "publicly" available. JCU Library has adapted the manual's advice to provide simplified instructions for students who are writing assignments that are not going to be made public. Check with your lecturer to see if they are happy for the simplified version, or if they want you to cite the picture as if you were going to publish it.
Remember that images found online are not "fair game" - they belong to someone, and all effort should be made to identify the creator or owner and cite the image correctly.
•If the image is from a book/book chapter or journal article, and was created by the authors of that source, just cite the book/chapter or article. If you are using the image in your work cite it as you would a direct quote, and include a page number.
•Images used (legally) for purely decorative purposes in a PowerPoint presentation may not need citation. Check with your lecturer.
Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. There is no equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style (i.e., this page was written from scratch), but the old resource for electronic sources, which covers similar ground, can be found here.
The term "audiovisual media" refers to media that contain both audio components, visual components, or a combination of both. In general, the citation style for audiovisual media varies depending on whether the piece stands alone or is part of a larger work. The following examples provide sample references for some of the most common audiovisual sources.
Please note: the following contains a list of the most commonly cited audiovisual sources. For a complete list of how to cite audiovisual sources, please refer to the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.
Film or Video
Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Film]. Production company.
Loyd, P. (Director). (2008). Mamma mia! [Film]. Universal Pictures.
Film or Video in Another Language
Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture in original language [Translated title] [Film]. Production company.
Del Toro, G. (Director). (2006). El laberinto del fauno [Pan’s labyrinth] [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.
TV Series
Executive Producer, P. P. (Executive Producer). (Date range of release). Title of series [TV series]. Production company(s).
Sherman-Palladino, A., Palladino, D. (Executive Producers). (2017-present). The marvelous Mrs. Maisel [TV series]. Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions; Picrow, Amazon Studios.
TV Series Episode
Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Original air date). Title of episode (Season number, Episode number) [Tv series episode]. In P. Executive Producer (Executive Producer), Series title. Production company(s).
Korsh, A. (Writer & Director). (2019, September 25). One last con (Season 9, Episode 10) [TV series episode]. In D. Liman & D. Bartis (Executive Producers), Suits. Untitled Korsh Company; Universal Content Productions; Open 4 Business Productions.
YouTube Video
Person or group who uploaded video. (Date of publication). Title of video [Video]. Website host. URL
Music Album
Recording artist. (Year of release). Title of album [Album]. Record label.
The National. (2019). I am easy to find [Album]. 4AD.
Note: if you are referencing a re-recorded version of a classical work, list that album title in brackets following the name of the album.
Single Song or Track
Recording artist. (Year of release). Title of song [Song]. On Title of album [Album]. Record label.
Dacus, L. (2018). Night shift [Song]. On Historian [Album]. Matador Records.
Note: if the song is a piece of classical music, you can list the composer instead of the recording artist.
Note: if the song does not have an associated album, simply omit the section with the album.
Podcast
Executive Producer, E. P. (Executive Producer). (Range of publication). Title of podcast [Audio podcast]. Production company. URL
Note: in place of the executive producer, you can also list the host of the podcast.
Note: if you did not access the podcast via an online source (e.g., if, you used a podcast app), omit the URL.
Single Podcast Episode
Executive Producer, E. P. (Executive Producer). (Date of publication). Title of podcast episode (Episode number) [Audio podcast episode]. In Title of podcast. Production company. URL
Koenig, S. (Host). (2014, October 3). The alibi (No. 1) [Audio podcast episode]. In Serial. WBEZ Chicago. //serialpodcast.org/
Note: in place of the executive producer, you can also list the host of the podcast.
Note: if you did not access the podcast via an online source (e.g., if you used a podcast app), omit the URL.
Artwork in a Museum or on a Museum Website
Artist, A. (Year of release). Title of artwork [medium]. Name of museum, City, State, Country. URL of museum
Note: if the artwork is available via a museum website, cite that website at the end of the citation. If there is no associated website, simply omit the URL.
Note: if the artwork does not have a title, briefly describe the work and put that description in square brackets.
Photograph (not associated with a museum)
Photographer, P. (Year of publication). Title of photograph [Photograph]. Source. URL
Note: if the photograph does not have a title, describe the photograph and put that description in square brackets.