Wintec's APA Referencing Guides

Referencing Visual Media

Visual resources can be tricky to reference properly with APA. Use the links below or the subpages at left to find examples.

The difference between images, figures, and tables

• Images are a type of figure. They are visual depictions e.g. pictures, photographs etc.
   
• Figures are charts, graphs, photographs, drawings or any other illustration.
   
• Tables are numerical values or textual information displayed in columns and rows.
   
• At times the difference between figures and tables can be unclear, but tables are almost always displayed as row-column format. ANY other illustration is referred to as a figure. 

For your undergraduate assignments cite tables, figures and images as you would do for a direct quotation (author, date, page number) in a caption under the image, and ensure that this citation links to a full reference in your reference list.   

If you are going to be publishing your work, APA  requires tables, figures and images that have been reproduced or adapted from another source to have a full reference and a note providing permission statements and/or copyright information. Refer to the APA manual for guidance.