LibGuides: APA Style (6th ed.): Figures

Figures

A figure may be a chart, a graph, a photograph, a drawing, or any other illustration that you want to use in your assignment. In the APA style, any type of illustration other than a table is referred to as a figure.

Reproduction of tables, diagrams, pictures etc. should be treated as direct quotes, in that the author(s) should be acknowledged and page numbers shown both in your text where the diagram is discussed or introduced and in the caption you write for it. i.e. the author(s) is alluded to 3 times:

In a caption, just above or below the figure or table. This includes a title and its source. Figure captions go below the figure and Table captions go above the table. If you are reproducing any image from a source, you should also include copyright permission.
In your text. Include a sentence or more about the image or table explaining what it exemplifies and why it is there. For example, Figure 1 shows ...
As a reference in your Bibliography or Reference List.

If you are writing a thesis, you will need to show a 'List of Figures' immediately after the table of contents. They should appear in consecutive order, as they are referred to in the text, and have clear, concise titles. If you have only used a few images, you can include the details of the figures in your Reference List.

Figure examples

Figures reproduced or adapted from books or book chapters

If you have copied or adapted a figure from a book, you must include a caption underneath the figure. This is called a copyright attribution.

Depending on whether you have reproduced it exactly from the book or modified it in any way, you use phrases such as these:

From: if you have directly copied a figure
Adapted from: if you have changed the original figure in some way

Note that you must also refer to the figure by its figure number in the body of your text and include an entry in your reference list for a book, using the normal referencing format.

Components:

Figure number (in italics) (e.g. Figure 1)
A descriptive title of the figure

Reprinted [or Adapted] from

Copyright attribution:
Title of the book (in italics, using title case)
(edition (if there is one), p. and the page number you took the figure from),
by
Author(s)' initials and surname(s),
Year of publication
Place of publication: Publisher
(DOI or URL). if any
Copyright year by Name of Copyright holder OR In the Public domain OR CC BY-NC.
Reprinted with permission or Adapted with permission.

Note that you should only use the wording "Reprinted [or Adapted] with permission" when permission has been sought and granted.

Figure 6. Figure and Ground. Reprinted from Management & Organisational Behaviour (9th ed., p. 219), by L. J. Mullins, 2010, Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Copyright 2010 by Laurie Mullins. Reprinted with permission.

In-Text Citation:

Refer to the image or figure in the body of the text of your assignment as its figure number.

Examples:

As can be seen in Figure 1...
Figure 2 shows...
... (see Figure 3)

Reference List entry:

Figure referred to in your text (not reproduced)

If you simply refer to a figure in a book, but do not reproduce it in your document, format the in text-citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-Text Citation

Entry in Reference List

Figures reproduced or adapted from Articles

Caption

Figure number (in italics, e.g. Figure 1)
Figure title
Reprinted [or adapted from] "Title of article", by A. B. Author, Year, Journal Title, Volume(issue number), page number.
Copyright year by name of Copyright holder
Permission statement (if required). This statement appears with the copyright attribution. This is put in only when you have sought permission from the copyright holder.

In the caption below the figure:

Figure 1. Galway Bay. Reprinted from “Geomorphology and substrate of Galway Bay, Western Ireland”, by D. McCullagh, S. Benetti, R. Plets, F. Sacchetti, E. O’Keeffe & K. Lyons, 2020, Journal of Maps, 16(2), p. 167. Copyright 2020 by Taylor & Francis.

In-Text Citation:

Entry in the Reference List:

Figure referred to in your text (not reproduced)

If you simply refer to a figure in an article, but do not reproduce it in your document, format the in text-citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

In-Text Citation

Entry in the Reference List

Images reproduced from websites

Caption:

In the caption below the figure:

Note that you should use the wording “Reprinted [or Adapted] with permission” only when permission has been sought and granted.

Figure 1. Retail Sales. Reprinted from “Retail Sales Index November 2021”, by Central Statistics Office, 2021, Retrieved from (https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/rsi/retailsalesindexnovember2021/). Copyright 2021 by CSO Ireland.