Citing Tables and Figures in APA Style

You must indicate the sources of any tables or figures that aren’t your own creation with citations and copyright notes.

This article reflects the

APA 7th edition

guidelines.

Click here

for APA 6th edition guidelines.

When you reprint or adapt a table or figure from another source, the source should be acknowledged in an

in-text citation

and in your

reference list

. Follow the format for the source type you took the table or figure from.

You also have to include a copyright statement in a note beneath the table or figure. The example below shows how to cite a figure from a

journal article

.


Reference list

Shi, F., & Zhu, L. (2019). Analysis of trip generation rates in residential commuting based on mobile phone signaling data.

Journal of Transport and Land Use

,

12

(1), 201–220. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26911264


In-text citation

(Shi & Zhu, 2019, p. 212)


Copyright note


Note

. From “Analysis of Trip Generation Rates in Residential Commuting Based on Mobile Phone Signaling Data,” by F. Shi and L. Zhu, 2019,

Journal of Transport and Land Use

,

12

(1), p. 212 (

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26911264

). CC BY-NC.

Table of contents


Citing tables and figures

Tables and figures taken from other sources are numbered and presented in

the same format as your other tables and figures

. Refer to them as Table 1, Figure 3, etc., but include an in-text citation after you mention them to acknowledge the source.

In-text citation example

The results in Table 1 (Ajzen, 1991, p. 179) show that …

You should also include the source in the reference list. Follow the standard format for the source type you took the table or figure from.

Reference list entry example


Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior.

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50

(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T


Including a copyright note

As well as a citation and reference, when you reproduce a table or figure in your own work, you also need to acknowledge the source in a note directly below it.

The image below shows an example of a table with a copyright note.

If you’ve reproduced a table or figure exactly, start the note with “From …” If you’ve adapted it in some way for your own purposes (e.g. incorporating part of a table or figure into a new table or figure in your paper), write “Adapted from …”

This is followed by information about the source (title, author, year, publisher, and location), and then copyright information at the end.

Types of copyright and permission

A source will either be under standard copyright, under a Creative Commons license, or in the public domain. You need to state which of these is the case.


Standard copyright

Copyright 2020 by Scribbr.


Creative Commons

CC-BY-NC.


Public domain

In the public domain.

Under standard copyright, you sometimes also need permission from the publisher to reprint or adapt materials. If you sought and obtained permission, mention this at the end of the note.

Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.

Look for information on copyright and permissions from the publisher. If you’re having trouble finding this information, consult your supervisor for advice.

Scribbr Citation Checker

New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

Missing commas and periods

Incorrect usage of “et al.”

Ampersands (&) in narrative citations

Missing reference entries


Learn more

Examples from different source types


Note format


Note

. From

or

Adapted from “

Article Title

,” by

Initials

.

Last name

,

Year

,


Journal Name

,


Volume

(

Issue

), p.

Page number

(

URL


or


DOI

).

Copyright statement

.


Note


Note

. Adapted from “Analysis of Trip Generation Rates in Residential Commuting Based on Mobile Phone Signaling Data,” by F. Shi and L. Zhu, 2019,

Journal of Transport and Land Use

,

12

(1), p. 212 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26911264). CC BY-NC.


Reference list


Shi, F., & Zhu, L. (2019). Analysis of trip generation rates in residential commuting based on mobile phone signaling data.

Journal of Transport and Land Use

,

12

(1), 201–220. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26911264


Note format


Note

. From

or

Adapted from


Page Title

, by

Initials

.

Last name

,

Year

(

URL

).

Copyright statement

.


Note


Note

. From

A Complete Guide to APA In-Text Citation

, by R. Streefkerk, 2020 (https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-text-citation/). Copyright 2020 by Scribbr.


Reference list


Streefkerk, R. (2020, October 2).

A complete guide to APA in-text citation

. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-text-citation/


Note format


Note

. From

or

Adapted from


Book Title

(p.

Page number

), by

Initial

.

Last name

,

Year

,

Publisher

(

DOI


or


URL

).

Copyright statement

.


Note


Note

. From

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men’s Health

, by H. B. Simon, 2004, p. 107, Free Press. Copyright 2004 by Free Press. Reprinted with permission.


Reference list


Simon, H. B. (2002).

The Harvard Medical School guide to men’s health

. Free Press.

Frequently asked questions about APA Style citations



How can I find copyright information on tables and figures from other sources?


Copyright information

can usually be found wherever the

table or figure

was published. For example, for a diagram in a

journal article

, look on the journal’s website or the database where you found the article.

Images

found on sites like

Flickr

are listed with clear copyright information.

If you find that permission is required to reproduce the material, be sure to contact the author or publisher and ask for it.



Should I include lists of my tables and figures in an APA paper?

APA doesn’t require you to include a

list of tables or a list of figures

. However, it is advisable to do so if your text is long enough to feature a

table of contents

and it includes a lot of

tables and/or figures

.

A list of tables and list of figures appear (in that order) after your table of contents, and are presented in a similar way.



Should I include tables and figures in my APA reference list?

If you

adapt or reproduce

a

table or figure

from another source, you should include that source in your

APA reference list

. You should also include copyright information in the note for the table or figure, and include an

in-text citation

when you refer to it.

Tables and figures you created yourself, based on your own data, are not included in the reference list.

Check out other APA examples

1 2 3

Share