How to Cite Visual Media in APA 6th edition
APA (6th edition)
How to cite images
We'll use Van Gogh's Flower Beds in Holland as an example of how to cite images in APA, which changes depending on where you found the image!
Painting, Sculpture, Photograph (for example at a museum or exhibit)
Van Gogh, V. (1883). Flower beds in Holland [Painting]. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art.
Artist's name. (Year). Title of Artwork [Medium]. Location of the institution that houses the artwork: Name of Institution.
In-Text Citation/Caption: Figure 1. Flower beds in Holland (Van Gogh, 1883)
Image found online (website, Artstor, anything with a URL)
Van Gogh, V. (1883). Flower beds in Holland. Retrieved from https://images.nga.gov
Artist's Name. (Year). Title of image. Retrieved from URL.
In-Text Citation/Caption: Figure 1. Flower beds in Holland (Van Gogh, 1883)
Image found in a book: Just cite the book!
Naifeh, S., & Smith, G. W. (2011). Van Gogh: The life. London: Profile.
Authors. (Year). Book title. City it was published: Publisher.
In-Text Citation/Caption: Figure 1. Flower beds in Holland (Naifeh & Smith, 2011)
Image found in a journal: Just cite the journal!
Bailey, M. (2009). Ploughing his canvases. Apollo: The International Magazine For Collectors, 170, 99-101.
Author (Date). Title of article. Title of magazine/journal, volume, page-page. DOI (if there is one).
In-Text Citation/Caption: Figure 1. Flower beds in Holland (Bailey, 2009)
Digital Image on Social Media
@tombrokaw. (2012, Jan 22). This is my favorite Van Gogh painting [Twitter post]. Retrieved from twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320
Username. (Date of post). Full text of post [{Social Media Platform} post]. Retrieved from URL
In-Text Citation/Caption: Figure 1. Flower beds in Holland (@tombrokaw, 2012)
How to cite with missing information (no artist, no date):
The important thing to remember is that your in-text citation matches the citation on your References page. In all the examples above, the author's name appeared first in parentheses, and first in the full citation. If you don't have an artist name, use the title of the image!
In-Text Citation/Caption: Figure 1. Sunrise clipart (Sunrise, n.d.)
References Page: Sunrise clipart (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.freeclipartworld.net
Just make sure the first word in parentheses matches the first word in the full Reference, and that the dates also match!
How to cite videos:
Video Found Online
[Source 1 Media]. (2014, July 14). Vincent Van Gogh: The story. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvWHOj79vrw.
Name of Creator and/or [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video. [Video File]. Retrieved from URL.
How to cite miscellaneous:
Are you trying to cite a TV show, movie, etc.? Check out this Owl Purdue guide!