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APA Guide

This guide contains information to help you cite your sources in APA format.

Citing Images in a Presentation

In APA, all types of graphical displays besides tables are considered figures. The standards for good figures include simplicity, clarity, continuity, and informational value.

There are 3 options for handling images in APA

  1. No Reference or note is needed as the image states or is from a source that you do not need to cite. This would be probably rare for MS Clipart or images in PowerPoint backgrounds. 
  2. Use a copyrighted image as it is. Instead of an in-text citation, you must use a copyright attribution. The copyright attribution consists of the same elements as the reference source, but they are in a different order. It would be title, author, date, title of website, URL, followed by the name of license or copyright holder of the image.
  3. Adapt or alter a copyrighted image. Altering could be cropping or adding text or highlights or shapes like arrows or boxes.  You need to add the words "Adapted from" before the copyright attribution.  The copyright attribution consists of the same elements as the reference source, but they are in a different order. It would be title, author, date, title of website, URL, followed by the name of license or copyright holder of the image.

Figure Components

  • Number: The figure number (e.g. Figure 1) appears above the figure in bold. Each number would be unique and progress. This is optional in APA, but considered good form and some instructors require it.
  • Title: The figure title appears one double-spaced line below the figure number in italic title case (e.g. Anatomy of a Dolphin (Delphinidae)) but still above the image. This is also optional in APA, but considered good form and some instructors require it.
  • Image: The image portion of the figure would be the chart, graph, photograph, drawing, or other illustration itself.
  • Legend: A figure legend, or key, if present should be positioned with the border of the figure and explain any symbols in the figure.
  • Note: Add Note. This is required unless the image states or is of the sort that no attribution needed.   If the image is copyrighted, you must include the note. Common sources for stock images and clip art are articles and books, which copyright holders like iStock, Getty Images, Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Flickr. Common sources for clip art are Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. Notes are under the image. There are three types of notes: general, specific, and probability. These will appear below the figure to describe the contents of the image if information needs to be explained (e.g. units of measurement, definitions of abbreviations, citation and copyright attributions, etc.) that cannot be understood from the title, image, and legend.
  • If you list the copyright attribute information in the note, list "From"  then title, author, date, title of website, URL, followed by the name of license or copyright holder of the image. You will still list citations on the reference page for images. On reference page, the entry for the image will generally include its author, year of publication, title, description in brackets, and source (usually the name of the website and the URL).

Examples

​Example 1: If you used copyright image "as is" from the original source which is a journal in a database.

Figure 7

Solution for Long-Term Patients on Ventilators to Communicate Using Microphone

 

Photo of microphone to attach to ventilator

Note: From "Using a novel in-mask non-invasive ventilator microphone to improve talker intelligibility in healthy and hospitalised adults [Photograph],  by Young, E. D., Ferguson, S. H., Brewer, L. M., Schiedermayer, B. F., Brown, S. M., & Leither, L. M., 2024, International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26(6), p. 846, (https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2023.2251726).Copyright 2024 by ReddyPort Inc.

Example 2 If you used copyright image "as is" from the original source which is website that just provides images.

Figure 4

Shingles vaccines; Shingrix and Zostavax

Photo of Shingles vaccines; Shingrix and Zostavax

Note: From File:Shingles vaccines.jpg [Photograph], by Whispyhistory, 2021, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shingles_vaccines.jpg). CC by 4.0.

Example 3 If you made some changes to the image from the original source use Adapted in front of the source information, Example from Website.

Figure 15

Anatomy of a Dolphin-Highlighting Breathing Organs in Red

Note. Red boxes are around organs related to a dolphin's breathing. Adapted from Understanding dolphin anatomy [Clipart], by American Oceans, 2025 (https://www.americanoceans.org/facts/dolphin-anatomy/). Copyright 2025 American Oceans.

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References

American Oceans. (2024). Understanding dolphin anatomy. https://www.americanoceans.org/facts/dolphin-anatomy/

Whispyhistory. (2025, February 16). File:Shingles vaccines.jpg [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shingles_vaccines.jpg.

Young, E. D., Ferguson, S. H., Brewer, L. M., Schiedermayer, B. F., Brown, S. M., & Leither, L. M. (2024). Using a novel in-mask non-invasive ventilator microphone to improve talker intelligibility in healthy and hospitalised adults. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26(6), 845–860. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2023.2251726