When working with visual or graphical material in academic assignments, it is essential to caption and reference properly in order to acknowledge the sources and creators the material and maintain your academic integrity.
When working with images, consider how you will relate the image to your writing. In an essay, report or dissertation, for example, this will mean only including images that support your writing, making specific reference to each one, and placing the image with the text.
There are two parts you must include when citing and referencing images within your work.
It is also important to point your reader to the image within your narrative, i.e. 'Figure 1 shows....' or (see Fig. 1).
See the guide for detailed guidance and worked examples for a range of image types.
When using an image in an essay, report or dissertation for academic and non-commercial purposes, you are generally free from copyright restrictions for most types of image from most types of media.
However, you should ask for permission to use images in some circumstances: if you photograph or scan work from a private collection, or if you take an image from an exhibition catalogue. The less access there is to a work in the public domain, the more appropriate it would be to ask for permission to use the image.
For more information see the Library’s helpful guide: Copyright - what you need to know
