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Chicago Style Guide


Citing Images: Photos, Cartoons, Graphs, Charts, etc.

General guidelines for citing an image:

  • Images are generally cited in notes, not bibliographies.

  • If the image has no title, provide a brief description as a title.

  • Provide as much information as possible to direct your reader to the image you are citing. When citing a page in a print document, the illustration number (if available) follows the page number. Use the words table, graph, figure (abbreviated as fig.) when it is used in the source text.

  • For an image used in a PowerPoint presentation, put the image url or a brief citation in a small font directly under the image. Do not make a list of image citations at the end of your presentation.

Important! If you have an image that you found using Google images, do not cite Google images as the source. Click on "view this image in its original context" and cite the web page where the image is published. The image URL should never end in ".jpg".

Examples: Photographs

First Note

1. New China News Agency, Japanese tanks, in The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang (New York: Basic Books, 1997), 146.

Subsequent Note

2. New China News Agency, Japanese tanks, 146.

Bibliography

New China News Agency. Japanese tanks. In The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang. New York: Basic Books, 1997.


In the Notes examples, 146 is the page number where the photograph is found.

First Note

3. "Angiogram of the Head," in Encyclopedia of the Human Body (New York: DK Publishing, 2002).

Subsequent Note

4. "Angiogram of the Head."

Bibliography

"Angiogram of the Head." In Encyclopedia of the Human Body. New York: DK Publishing, 2002.

First Note

5. Dorothea Lange, "Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children. Age Thirty-two. Nipomo, California," Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html.

Subsequent Note

6. Lange, "Destitute Pea Pickers in California."

Bibliography

Lange, Dorothea. "Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children. Age Thirty-two. Nipomo, California." Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html.

Examples: Political Cartoons

First Note

7. Charles Saxon, "The Question is...", in The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons (Princeton, N.J.: Bloomberg Press, 2000), 42.

Subsequent Note

8. Saxon, "The Question is...", 42.

Bibliography

Saxon, Charles. "The Question is..." In The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons. Princeton, N.J.: Bloomberg Press, 2000, 42.


For an untitled political cartoon that includes text, use the first few words of the text followed by an ellipsis (three dots) as the title. If the cartoon has no author and no text, describe it in two or three words and use that description as the title, skipping the author information.

First Note

9. David Fitzsimmons, "Free Speech," cartoon, Arizona Star, March 8, 2011, http://www.politicalcartoons.com.

Subsequent Note

10. Fitzsimmons, "Free Speech."

Bibliography

Fitzsimmons, David. "Free Speech." Cartoon, Arizona Star, March 8, 2011. http://www.politicalcartoons.com.


If you found your cartoon on a cartoonists' index such as Daryl Cagle, include the newspaper publication information but provide the url of the cartoon index, not the newspaper.

Examples: Graphs & Charts

First Note

11. "Down 777.68 Points," graph, WSJ Market Data Group, Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2001, A1, Newsbank.

Subsequent Note

12. "Down 777.68 Points," A1.

Bibliography

"Down 777.68 Points." Graph, WSJ Market Data Group, Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2001, A1. Newsbank.

First Note

13. "Where Do You Stand," chart, Science 280, no. 5368 (May 29, 1998): 1366, JSTOR.

Subsequent Note

14. "Where Do You Stand," 1366.

Bibliography

"Where Do You Stand." Chart, Science 280, no. 5368 (May 29, 1998): 1366. JSTOR.


In the above example, the chart is in volume 280, number 5368. Do not use the abbreviation "vol."