Introduction

• Whenever you use other people's words, ideas, images or data you need to provide a source. If you don't provide a source you are claiming that the work is completely your own. Failing to acknowledge the sources of data in tables and figures may be considered to be plagiarism or academic dishonesty.

• All tables and figures need both a label and a number (e.g. Table 1, Fig. 2), a caption (with an in-text citation), and a reference for the full source in your works cited list (unless you have created the data yourself).

• Don't include tables figures for decorative purposes in an academic report or essay. If you includes tables or figures, they should be there to support your argument.

• Tables and figures should be placed as close to the relevant part of the text as possible. If you refer to them in your text (e.g. see fig. 1, see table 2), then the table or figure shold be appear as close as possible to this.

• Try to create your own tables and figures rather than using screenshots taken from sources.

• If you do reproduce a table directly, use the word "Source:" in your caption and include enough information about the source to allow the reader to easiliy find the complete citation in your works cited list.

• Use the phrase "Adapted from:" if you have made significant changes to the original.

Tables in MLA

Tables use rows and columns to display data. Format tables that use data from a source in the following manner:

Table 1

Most Popular Influencers on Douyin

Adapted from "Number of Fans of the Leading Influencers on Douyin”.

Include an in-text citation in your caption to allow the reader to find it in your works cited list. In the above example there is no author, so the title would be used in the in-text citation, and there is no need to repeat the title of this source as it has been used as the description in the caption. You also need to include the full reference for the source in your works cited list.

"Number of Fans of the Leading Influencers on Douyin (Tiktok) in China as of May 13, 2022 (in Millions)." Statista, 13 May 2022, www.statista.com/statistics/1227126/china-most-followed-influencers-on-douyin-chinese-tiktok. Accessed 13 May 2022.

If you have generated the data yourself, there is no need to cite a source (unless there is any ambiguity).

Table 2

Books Borrowed from VSA Secondary Library in April 2022, by genre

If you need to include a note for your table, use lowercase letters:

Table 3

Books Borrowed from VSA Secondary Library in March 2022, by Genre

a. Including YA Fantasy

Other notes about using tables:

• If you have created the table yourself with your own data, you do not need to include any source information below the table, though you should make sure it is clear in your writing that you have done the research yourself.

• Each table should be labelled “Table” (with a capital T) followed by a number (arabic numeral) in sequence e.g. Table 1, Table 2, Table 3 …

• When referring to the table in your writing use a lowercase t e.g. (see table 1).

• No fullstop is required at the end of the table title.

• Capitalise table titles in the same way as titles in your works cited list.

Figures in MLA

• In MLA any illustration or data that is not presented in columns and rows is called a figure.

• Figures include charts, diagrams, graphs, maps, photos or any artworks.

• All figures require a caption, which should be placed below the image and precede by Fig. 1 for the first image in your work, Fig. 2 for the second, and so on.

• Note: In the MLA handbook figures are also referred to as illustrations.

Fig. 1. Adapted from "Distribution of Bitcoin Mining Hashrate from September 2019 to January 2022, by Country" (Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance).

Include an in-text citation in your caption to allow the reader to find it in your works cited list. You also need to include the full reference for the source in your works cited list.

Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. "Distribution of Bitcoin Mining Hashrate from September 2019 to January 2022, by Country." Statista, 17 May 2022, www.statista.com/statistics/1200477/bitcoin-mining-by-country. Accessed 23 May 2022.

You can refer to a figure in your writing like this:

... an exodus of bitcoin miners from China to Kazakhstan (see fig. 1).

• How do I cite raw data from a survey or poll I created? How do I cite published data?

• How do I indicate that the data in a table I have created come from several sources?

• Whenever you use other people's images you need to provide a source.

• Include the image as close as possible to where it has been referred to in the text.

• Include a caption below each image with an in-text citation. Include the full reference on your works cited page.

• Make sure there you provide enough information so that anyone reading your work can easily find the original image that you have used.

• Include the image as close as possible to where it has been referred to in the text. Don’t cite a google image search as a source, click through to the web page linked to in the search results. If you are publishing your work on a website where people outside VSA can see it, make you use Creative Commons or public domain images to avoid copyright infringements

• Don't include images for decorative purposes in and academic report or essay. If you includes images, they should be there to support your argument.

• If you've forgotten where you found an image, use google images [click the camera icon to upload an image] or google lens to find it again.

• Don’t cite a google image search as a source, click through to the web page linked to in the search results.

• If you are publishing your work on a website where people outside VSA can see it, make you use Creative Commons or public domain images to avoid copyright infringements.

• Captions should end with a fullstop after the in-text citation.

When do I use italics and quotation marks in a caption?

This formatting applies to the title as it appears in both the works cited entry and as it appears below the caption.

Citing an artwork from a website

Fig. 1. Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray (Mondrian).

Works Cited

Mondrian, Piet. Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray. 1921. The Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu/artworks/109819/lozenge-composition-with-yellow-black-blue-red-and-gray. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022.

Citing an image that you have edited

You can use a phrase like "adapted from" in the caption to show that you have made changes to the original image. In this case, the original black and white photograph has been colourised.

Fig. 2. Adapted from Air Raid Precautions in Hong Kong, 1941 (Palmer).

Works Cited

Palmer, Fred. Air Raid Precautions in Hong Kong, 1941. Imperial War Museums, www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205206687. Accessed 18 Aug. 2022.

Getty Images

Getty Images allow some of their images to embedded on websites, but you need to give credit to Getty Images and use the embed code they provide.

Embed from Getty Images

Works Cited

TONNAJA. Zhangye Danxia National Geopark, Gansu, China. Getty Images, 2019. www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/zhangye-danxia-national-geopark-gansu-china-royalty-free-image/1164560768. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

Citing an image from a website

When you are use an image from a website, include a reference for the website where you found the image in your works cited list and an in-text citaton in the caption to link to the reference.

Remember, if you are publishing your image on a website you should use creative commons public domain images. This photograph image of Elvis meeting Nixon below is one of the most famous public domain images in the U.S. National Archives.

Because the caption below the image is not copied from the website, and is just a description of the image, no italics or quotation marks are required.

Fig. 4. Photograph of Elvis meeting Nixon (Carlson).

Works Cited

Carlson, Peter. “When Elvis Met Nixon.” Smithsonian, Dec. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-elvis-met-nixon-69892425/. Accessed 25 Aug. 2022.

Citing an image from a website that already has a caption

When you are use an image from a website that already has a description or title, you can use that as the caption and include the full reference for the page it came from in your works cited list.

If the image is a photograph or an work of art, the caption should be in italics, otherwise use quotation marks.

Fig. 5. Refugee & IDP Camps from Above (United Nations Photo).

Works Cited

United Nations Photo. Refugee & IDP Camps from Above. Flickr, 7 Dec. 2012, www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/24590922034/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2022.

Citing a screenshot from YouTube

Include a timestamp in your in-text citation to show at what point in the video you took the screenshot:

Fig. 6. Screenshot of “The AI That Creates Any Picture You Want, Explained” (Vox 10:38).

Works Cited

Vox. “The AI That Creates Any Picture You Want, Explained.” YouTube, 1 June 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVcsDDABEkM. Accessed 31 Aug. 2022.

Citing a photograph that you have taken yourself

Include a statement in the caption to make it clear that you are the author. No reference is needed in your works cited list.

Citing Google Maps

Works Cited

Map of Tsim Tsa Tsui, Hong Kong. Google Maps, 2019. www.google.com/maps/@22.2989636,114.1711692,15.91z. Accessed 10 Oct. 2021.

Citing an artwork without an author

If you want to cite an art work and no author is given, you can use the image title for the caption and you don't need to include an in-text citation:

Works Cited

Portrait of Oscar Wilde as a Young Man. 1880. Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu/artworks/101012/untitled-portrait-of-oscar-wilde-as-a-young-man. Accessed 16 Apr. 2022.

Note that the date above “1880” is followed by a full-stop, as it is an optional element relating to the original publication date of the artwork rather than the date it was published on the website.