How to Use a Website Picture in a College Essay

Pictures and images are useful to include in college essays on art, history or even literature. Website pictures, just like textual resources, must be properly cited according to the style required by your professor or instructor. You should provide a brief in-text citation and a full citation in your bibliography or works cited page at the end of your essay. The most commonly used styles are from the Modern Languages Association (MLA), which is usually used in the humanities, and the American Psychological Association (APA), which is more suited for the social sciences.

Instructions

  1. Citing a Website Picture in MLA

    • 1

      Write the artist's last name, followed by the page number, in parentheses underneath the picture, after you have placed it in the desired location in your essay. If you do not know the artist, use a shortened version of the title of the picture, followed by the page number. For example, a citation with artist and page number looks like this: (Smith 2). A citation with an unknown artist appears as follows: ("Dolphins at Play" 2).

    • 2

      Refer subsequently to the picture by its title (e.g. "Dolphins at Play") in your essay. Further information is unnecessary.

    • 3

      Cite the picture in your works cited page. Write the citation information as follows: artist's last name, artist's first name, title of the image in quotation marks, medium of the image (painting, photograph, etc.), title of the website, date of creation, the word "Web" and date of access. If you cannot find the artist, begin with the title. Lines after the first line of the citation should be indented.

      Smith, John. "Dolphins at Play." Photograph. Wildlife Photography by John. Sea Wildlife, 13 Jan. 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.

      "Dolphins at Play." Photograph. Wildlife Photography by John. Sea Wildlife, 13 Jan. 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.

    Citing a Website Picture in APA

    • 4

      Write the artist's last name, followed by a comma and then the year he created the image, in parentheses below the picture. If you do not know the artist, use a shortened version of the title of the picture, followed by a comma and then the year. For example, a citation with artist and year looks like this: (Smith, 2009). A citation with an unknown artist appears as follows: ("Dolphins at Play," 2009).

    • 5

      Refer subsequently to the picture by its title (e.g. "Dolphins at Play") in your essay. Further information is unnecessary.

    • 6

      Cite the picture in your reference list. Write the citation information as follows: artist's last name, artist's first name, date of creation in parentheses, title of the image, the medium of the image in brackets (painting, photograph, etc.) and website title. If you cannot find the artist, begin with the title. Again, lines after the first line of the citation should be indented.

      Smith, John. (2009). Dolphins at Play. [photograph]. Retrieved from:

      http://www.wildlifephotographybyjohn/sealife/

      Dolphins at Play. (2009). [photograph]. Retrieved from: http://www.wildlifephotographybyjohn/sealife/

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