APA 7th referencing

These instructions for referencing tables and figures are primarily for students completing assignments at Curtin University. They are not intended for those who are publishing their work and making it publicly available (e.g. PhD thesis, journal article, blog, webpage, YouTube video etc.). When publishing and making your work publicly available, written permission to reproduce tables and figures must be obtained from the copyright holder. More information is available from Copyright at Curtin and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

What are tables and figures?

  • Tables are numerical values or text displayed in rows and columns.
  • Figures include all types of illustrations or images (chart, map, graph, photograph, drawing etc.) other than a table.

Why is referencing tables and figures different?

In the APA referencing style, an in-text citation and reference list entry provide an appropriate level of acknowledgement to the work of others for most types of materials. However, when adapting or reproducing tables and figures, additional acknowledgement of the copyright status is needed. APA requires you to provide a copyright attribution whenever you reproduce a table or figure, outlining the details of the source and the copyright owner.

Using tables and figures in your assignment

This guide provides different referencing scenarios and additional information to help you acknowledge tables and figures in your assignments appropriately.

Scenario 1: Adapting or reproducing a published table or figure

When you are reproducing (directly copying) or adapting (altered from the original) a table or figure from another source in your work.

Above the table or figure:

  • Write Table or Figure followed by the number, in bold (e.g. Table 1, Figure 1).
  • If you have more than one table or figure in your paper, number them sequentially in the order that they appear in your text (Table 1, Table 2). Numbering is separate for tables and figures.
  • Give each table or figure a brief explanatory title, one double-spaced line below the table or figure number. The Title should be italicised, in headline style capitalisation (where each significant word is capitalised) and have no full stop.

Below the table or figure:

Provide a caption with details of the source the table or figure was taken from:

  • Write the word Note in italics followed by a full stop, then write “From” when you have reproduced it (directly copied) and “Adapted from” when you have adapted it (altered from the original, such as changing the layout or presenting only some of the data).
  • Provide the title, author, year of publication, and source details of the material. The components required differ according to the source. See Caption components and examples.
  • State the copyright year and the name of the copyright holder (e.g. Copyright 2015 by IWA Publishing) or provide a Creative Commons licence (e.g. CC BY-NC). See Copyright and Creative Commons images for more information.
  • Use double spacing for the caption.

Reference list:

  • Include an entry for the source of the table or figure (journal article, book, website etc.) in the reference list. Follow the instructions in the APA referencing guide.

In text:

  • In the text of your assignment, refer to the table or figure by its number. See Assignment example.

Table 1

Participant Information of Dog Owner Interviews about Dog Walking

Gender(s) Age(s) Dog(s)
F 51 Poodle/spaniel
Border Terrier
M
F		 62
49		 Alaskan Malamute
M
F		 69
Unknown		 Labrador

Note. Adapted from “I Walk my Dog Because it Makes me Happy: A Qualitative Study to Understand Why Dogs Motivate Walking and Improved Health,” by C. Westgarth, R. M. Christley, G. Marvin and E. Perkins, 2017, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(8), Article 936 (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080936). CC BY.

Figure 1

The Ecological Model of Health Promotion/Primary Prevention

Health promotion primary prevention model indicating societal, community, relationship and individual dimensions

Note. From “Health Promotion,” by H. Keleher, in H. Keleher and C. MacDougall (Eds.), Understanding Health (4th ed., p. 98), 2016, Oxford University Press (https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=4747941). Copyright 2016 by Helen Keleher and Colin MacDougall.

Figure 2

Fossil Tooth Whorl of Ancient Shark

Width 75%/Centre justified/Cross section of brown rock showing a darker brown spiral patterned fossilised tooth

Note. From Great White Shark: Carcharodon Carcharias, by Smithsonian Institution, 2018 (https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/great-white-shark). Copyright 2018 by Chip Clark/Smithsonian Institution.

Scenario 2: Including published tables or figures in PowerPoint

A PowerPoint presentation has a different purpose from an essay or report but still requires acknowledgement of tables and figures adapted or reproduced from another source. You may want to change the way you present the information to make your slides more visually appealing. Please check with your tutor for specific requirements for referencing in PowerPoints.

On the slide, provide a Table or Figure number and a Title using the formatting shown below:

Table 1

Physical Development of Inland NSW Magpies (n=36)

Age Weight (g) Body length (mm)
1st week 50-73 51
2nd week 100-208 76
3rd week 220-250 89
4th week 380 104
3 months 340-400 104

Galahs: Background information

  • Galahs are members of the Cockatoo family (Birdlife Australia, n.d.)
  • Galahs can grow to 35 cm and live to 25 years in the wild (Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, n.d.)

Figure 1

Galah Sitting on a Tree Branch

Galah sitting on a tree branch

At the end of your presentation, preceding the reference list, provide the caption information that would usually be included under the table or figure. See Caption components and examples.

List of tables

Table 1. Adapted from Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviours of an Unusual Songbird (p. 124), by G. Kaplan, 2019, CSIRO Publishing (https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=5762566). Copyright 2019 by Gisela Kaplan.

List of figures

Figure 1. From Galah, by G. Johnston, 2019, Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregjohnston/48372512176). CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Figure 2. From Galah Walking, by J. Bendon, 2015, Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_bendon_1957/16207540769/). CC BY-SA 2.0.

Your PowerPoint should always end with your reference list, detailing all the sources used in your presentation:

References

Bendon, J. (2015). Galah walking. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_bendon_1957/16207540769/

BirdLife Australia. (n.d.). Galah: Basic information. Birds in Backyards. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Eolophus-roseicapillus

Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. (n.d.). Galah. Backyard Buddies. https://www.backyardbuddies.org.au/fact-sheets/Galah

Johnston, G. (2019). Galah. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregjohnston/48372512176

Kaplan, G. (2019). Australian magpie: Biology and behaviours of an unusual songbird (2nd ed.). CSIRO Publishing. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=5762566

Scenario 3: Using your own table or figure

You may wish to include your own photograph in an assignment, or you may create a table or figure from data that you have collected yourself. In this scenario you need to include a table or figure number, as well as a descriptive title. However, an attribution is not required as you are the creator of the content.

Above the table or figure:

  • Write Table or Figure followed by the number, in bold (e.g. Table 1, Figure 1).
  • If you have more than one table or figure in your paper, number them sequentially in the order that they appear in your text (Table 1, Table 2). Numbering is separate for tables and figures.
  • Give each table or figure a brief explanatory title, one double-spaced line below the table or figure number. The Title should be italicised, in headline style capitalisation (where each significant word is capitalised) and have no full stop.

Below the table or figure:

  • No attribution is required; however, you may wish to add a note to say Photograph by Author or similar if omitting the attribution will cause confusion.

Reference list:

  • No reference list entry required as you are reporting your own research.

In text:

  • In the text of your assignment, refer to the table or figure by its number. See the Assignment example.

Figure 1

Sleepy Tasmanian Devil in the Rain

Tasmanian Devil being held

Table 1

Pet Ownership by Occupation

  Dogs Cats Birds
Librarian 22 56 9
Accountant 53 29 6
Ornithologist 22 0 61
Artist 33 33 22

Scenario 4: Using published data to create your own table or figure

When creating your own tables and figures from published data (e.g. from a report, journal article, book etc.), an in-text citation and reference list entry is usually sufficient acknowledgement of the source material.

Above the table or figure:

  • Write Table or Figure followed by the number, in bold (e.g. Table 1, Figure 1).
  • If you have more than one table or figure in your paper, number them sequentially in the order that they appear in your text (Table 1, Table 2). Numbering is separate for tables and figures.
  • Give each table or figure a brief explanatory title, one double-spaced line below the table or figure number. The Title should be italicised, in headline style capitalisation (where each significant word is capitalised), and have no full stop.

Reference list:

  • Include an entry for the source of the table or figure (journal article, book, website etc.) in the reference list. Follow the instructions in the APA referencing guide.

In text:

  • In the text of your assignment, refer to the table or figure by its number. See Assignment example.

Table 1

Australian Government Indigenous Programs and Policy Locations with Indigenous Population by Selected States

State Number of centres
(Services Australia, 2020)		 Total Indigenous population
NSW 56 216,170
(Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2017a)
WA 342 75,976
(ABS, 2017b)

Note: The in-text citation(s) can be included as part of the table or figure as shown in this example, or appear below it as in the Assignment example.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2017a). 2016 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander QuickStats: New South Wales. https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/IQS1

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2017b). 2016 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander QuickStats: Western Australia. https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/IQS5

Services Australia. (2020). Australian Government Indigenous programs & policy locations (AGIL) dataset [Data set]. Australian Government. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/34b1c164-fbe8-44a0-84fd-467dba645aa7

Caption components and examples for different reference types

Caption components:

Note in Italics. From [or Adapted from] Title of Book or Report in Italics (p. xxx), by Initial(s). Author Surname and Initial(s). Author Surname, year, Publisher (DOI or URL). Copyright year by Name of Copyright Holder or Creative Commons licence.

Note: When the author and publisher are the same, omit the publisher

Example:

Note. From Evidence-Based Critical Care (p. 108), by P. E. Marik, 2015, Springer (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11020-2). Copyright 2015 by Springer International Publishing.

Caption components:

Note in Italics. From [or Adapted from] “Title of Chapter,” by Initial(s). Author Surname and Initial(s). Author Surname, in Initial(s). Editor Surname (Ed.), Title of Book in Italics (any edition or volume number, p. xxx), year, Publisher (DOI or URL). Copyright year by Name of Copyright Holder or Creative Commons licence.

Example:

Note. From “Aboriginal Protest,” by L. Duncan, in G. Foley, A. Schaap and E. Howell (Eds.), The Aboriginal Tent Embassy: Sovereignty, Black Power, Land Rights and the State (p. 62), 2014, Routledge (http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=1323346). Copyright 2014 by Gary Foley, Andrew Schaap and Edwina Howell.

Caption components:

Note in Italics. From [or Adapted from] “Title of Article,” by Initial(s). Author Surname and Initial(s). Author Surname, year, Title of Journal in Italics, Volume in Italics(Issue), p. xx (DOI or URL). Copyright year by Name of Copyright Holder or Creative Commons licence.

Example:

Note. From “’Strong Black Women’: African American Women with Disabilities, Intersecting Identities, and Inequality,” by A. L. Miles, 2019, Gender & Society, 33(1), p. 4 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243218814820). Copyright 2018 by The Author.

Caption components:

Note in Italics. From [or Adapted from] Title of Webpage in Italics, by Initial(s). Author Surname and Initial(s). Author Surname, year, Site Name (URL). Copyright year by Name of Copyright Holder or Creative Commons licence.

Note: When the author and site name are the same, omit the site name

Example:

Note. From Climate Change in Australia, by CSIRO, 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243218814820). Copyright 2020 by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Example incorporating tables and figures into an assignment

Australia’s Indigenous people have a longstanding connection with country, valuing it for a range of cultural, social and economic reasons, in a history that goes back an estimated 60,000 years (Jacobsen et al., 2020; Olsen & Russell, 2019). Prior to colonisation, Australia comprised over 250 societies that covered the entire landmass, groups that had their own language, customs and responsibility for managing the land (Karidakis & Kelly, 2017). This responsibility has only recently begun to be handed back to Indigenous people, with Jacobsen et al. (2020) reporting 134 million hectares of land in Australia, 17% of the total landmass, as Indigenous owned. A map produced by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES, Figure 1) shows that the bulk of this land is located in central Australia.

Figure 1

Area of Land and Forest that is Indigenous Owned

Map of Australia with red, black and grey shading showing relevant areas

Note. From Australia’s Indigenous Forest Estate, by Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences, 2020 (https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/australia-s-indigenous-forest-estate-2020). CC BY.

Dillon et al. (2015) defines Indigenous land as “all land over which Indigenous people have use and rights as recognised through ownership, management, access or other special rights” (p. 6). Incorporating these broader definitions, Table 1 breaks down the total area of recognised Indigenous land in Australia.

Table 1

Indigenous Land Management Categories and Size (Hectares)

Category Definition a Total area b
Owned and managed Lands that are both owned and managed by Indigenous communities 142,306,000
Managed Lands that are managed but not owned by Indigenous communities 32,357,000
Co-managed Owned and managed by non-Indigenous parties, but agreements guarantee Indigenous people rights in managing land 28,028,000
Special rights Lands subject to Native Title determinations and active Indigenous Land Use Agreements 304,531,000

Note. aCategories and definitions per Dillon et al. (2015, p. 9). bArea totals provided in Jacobsen et al. (2020, p. 5).

References

Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences. (2020). Australia’s Indigenous forest estate. Australian Government. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/australia-s-indigenous-forest-estate-2020

Dillon, R., Jeyasingham, J., Eades, S., & Read, S. (2015). Development of Australia’s Indigenous forest estate (2013) dataset (Research Report 15.6). Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/IndigenousForestEstate_20150828_v1.0.0.pdf

Jacobsen, R., Howell, C., & Read, S. (2020). Australia’s Indigenous land and forest estate: Separate reporting for Indigenous ownership, management and other special rights. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. https://doi.org/10.25814/bqr0-4m20

Karidakis, M., & Kelly, B. (2017). Trends in Indigenous language usage. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 38(1), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2018.1393861

Olsen, P., & Russell, L. (2019). ‘Civilisation’ displaces Indigenous wildlife balance. Wildlife Australia, 56(4), 36-41. https://doi.org/10.3316/ielapa.887587290235282

Reproducing images

It is important to consider copyright obligations when reusing an image. Don’t assume that a freely accessible image is available to use without permission. This article about copyright infringement illustrates the importance of permission checking before reusing images found on the web.

Many images can be freely downloaded under certain terms and conditions, while websites such as Associated Press, iStock by Getty Images, and Shutterstock require payment for a license to reuse content.

One of the easiest ways to successfully ensure that you are abiding by copyright requirements is to select Open License, Creative Commons (CC) or public domain images.

An Open License is one that grants permission to access, reuse and redistribute work with few or no restrictions. Creative Commons is the most well-known open license system.

A CC license doesn’t replace copyright. CC material is still protected by copyright, but the copyright owners have provided upfront permission for others to reuse their content in particular ways. You don’t have to seek permission from the copyright holder as long as you abide by the conditions set out in the CC license. You can find out more about the various CC licenses through the Creative Commons website.

Public domain images can refer to material in which copyright has expired and can be used without restriction; or where the copyright owner gives very broad permissions to people to use the content freely.

The following websites provide easily accessible advance search filters to quickly identify Creative Commons or public domain images:

Sometimes it can be difficult to locate copyright or license information associated with a table or figure. If it’s not presented alongside the content you want to use, do a search of the document for either ‘copyright’ or ‘CC’ using Ctrl + F (command + F on a Mac).

On some websites, you might want to check the footer for a link to ‘Terms of use’ which will provide you with the information you need for copyright acknowledgement.