How to Cite Logos or Pictures

There are three well-known styles for formatting formal academic papers or scholarly articles and they each have very specific guidelines for referencing pictures, logos or any type of image. In general, the humanities use Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines, the social sciences follow the American Psychological Association (APA) style recommendations and history follows the Chicago Manual of Style. These different styles include both citations within the text of the paper as well as references appearing in footnotes, work cited listings and bibliographies.

Instructions

    • 1

      MLA Style

      Label each picture or logo used as figure one, figure two and so on when using MLA formatting. Abbreviate figure as "Fig." and include a caption.This caption can be descriptive or it can provide a reference.The caption or entry in the bibliography should include the name of the photographer or owner of the image, the title of the picture if there is one, the date, the medium (i.e. "photograph" or "advertisement") and where the photograph or logo was found. This could be a physical location such as a museum or a print source like a book or a newspaper article. If it is a print source, include all of the information for that source in your reference. This is what a bibliographic entry for a photograph would look like in MLA style:

      Ray-Jones, Tony. Brighton Beach, 1966. Photograph. English Literature in Context. Ed. Paul Poplawski. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. 634. Print.

    • 2

      APA Style

      Number each picture or logo used sequentially in APA style. Each picture or logo must also have a clear title, which explains exactly what the image is and why the picture or logo is being used.This title should be placed below the image. For the reference list include the name of the photographer or company that owns the logo, the title of the work or a description of it, the medium and complete publication information for where the picture or logo first appeared. An example of how to cite a photograph in APA style follows:

      Ut, Nick. (1972, June 8). Phan Thi Kim Phuc. [Photograph]. In Horst Fass and Marianne Fulton The Bigger Picture: Nick Ut Recalls the Events of June 8, 1972. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from the Digitaljournalist.org Web site: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0008/ng2.htm

    • 3

      Chicago Style

      Use footnotes or endnotes when formatting references to pictures or logos in Chicago style. Chicago style rarely uses in-text citations like the titles or captions used in other styles, instead everything is handled via footnotes or endnotes; generally, the instructor or the publisher will have a preference and tell you which to use. The footnote or endnote should include the name of the photographer or owner of the logo, its title, where you can find the image, the medium and where you first found or saw the image. The following provides an example of how to cite a logo using Chicago style:

      1. American Automobile Association, 2011, AAA Logo, AAA Motorist 58, no. 2, (2011): 4.

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