MWU Library: AMA 11th Edition: Images & Tables

Citing Tables, Figures, Illustrations, & Photographs

Written permission must be obtained unless an image is in the Public Domain, under a Creative Commons license or if you can prove fair use. Always provide a citation and a copyright statement.

Copyright

All images are protected by copyright whether or not you see a copyright symbol.
Copyright is a right given automatically to authors or creators that allows them control over their work.
Learn more about copyright from the AMA Manual of Style.

Author/Creator Permissions

Permission is necessary to reuse images or reproduce tables in papers and presentations. Exceptions include images or tables:

in the public domain,
under a Creative Commons license, or
that fall under the fair use doctrine.

*Permission exceptions still require citation!

Giving Credit

The AMA Manual does not provide extensive information on giving credit for images and figures. The following recommendations incorporate best practice. Refer to your faculty's assignment or journal's author instructions.

AMA refers to images and visual representations of information (graphs, maps, tables, etc.) as 'Figures.'

To cite a figure, create a caption with copyright/license information and a superscript citation in the figure's caption. Include a corresponding reference list entry for the figure referring to journal, book, or website reference list formatting.

AMA Citing a Figure Form

Figure [number]. [Insert Title Here]
[Insert Image/Graph/Table Here]
Copyright 2024 [Publisher/Author]^{reference number}

Figure [number]. [Insert Title Here]
[Insert Image/Graph/Table Here]
Reproduced under [Public domain/License]. [Publisher/Author]^{reference number}

References:

Author(s). Title of image. Name of the Website/Publisher. Publication Date. Date Accessed. URL of Image.

Article Author(s). Title. Abbrev. Journal Name. Year; vol(issue) : pages. doi:xxxxxxxxxxx

What is Public Domain?

A work in the public domain has no copyright restrictions. The author(s) may waive copyright or the rights have expired (before 1929 in the U.S.). Please note that expiration dates vary by country and medium.

Public Domain Citation Example

Figure 1. Public Domain Image

Black and white image of a quarantine ward from the 1900s

Example of public domain image of an early 20th century quarantine ward. Republished in the public domain from the National Library of Medicine.³

References:
3. Quarantine ward. U.S. National Library of Medicine Digital Collections. n.d. Accessed November 1, 2024. http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101447467

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons licenses are used by creators to reserve some author rights but waive others in order to encourage others to share, adapt, and use their work.

Creative Commons Example

Figure 2. Creative Commons Licensed Image

Image of a diabetic Pakistani woman sits in a pizza restaurant with a childhood friend, using a pump to inject some insulin before eating. The friend carries on the conversation while holding a slice of pizza, and is a Pakistani woman with wavy hair, a pink shirt, and high-rise jeans. The woman on the right wears a blue hijab paired with a floral pink dress. Their table is filled with pizza, fries, and fresh-squeezed fruit drinks.

Example of creative commons image showing two friends having lunch. Republished under CC by 4.0 from Haadia Khan Art for Disabled and Here.⁴

References:
4. Khan H. At the pizza place. Disabled and Here. n.d. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://affecttheverb.com/gallery/disabledandhere/pizzaplace/

What is Fair Use

Fair use allows for reasonable use of a work without permission for scholarship, teaching, and research. Please note that MWU librarians cannot give legal advice, but the following is probably true:

properly cited use of images and tables in assigned classwork likely falls under fair use.
permission is required for public, non-Midwestern presentations or publication

Refer to the library's copyright guide for more information on determining fair use including a fair use checklist.

Refer to the AMA citation form, public domain, and creative commons examples to create a citation for an image or table used under the fair use doctrine.

Where Do I Find Creative Commons or Public Domain Images?

View the library's guide Images for Presentations for reuse friendly images for your classwork, publications, and presentations.

AMA 11th Edition: Images & Tables