Using Images in Your Work (Legally and Ethically)
Images, diagrams and other visual artistic works should be cited as any other type of work.
Images that you find online may be under copyright, and it may not be legal to use them in your work without permission (even if properly cited). Copyright law around online information (especially for educational purposes) can be confusing. This flowchart is a pretty good explanation of the issues you need to consider when deciding if you can use an image that you've found online.
Britannica ImageQuest
The easiest way to quickly and easily find free, legal, easy to cite images to use in your projects is to use the ImageQuest database.
(If you need to access ImageQuest from home and it prompts you for a login, use Username: solvayhs Password: access)
ImageQuest generates the citations for you, so all you need to do is copy and paste it.
Citing Images From the Web
If you pull a photo from anywhere else online, you will need to construct the citation from information on the website. You can use www.easybib.com to help you format your citation.
Try to find as much information as possible when citing an image and include it in the citation.
MLA 8 Basic Format:
Creator's Last name, First name. “Title of the digital image.” Title of the website, Publisher, Publication date, URL.
Image Without Author:
“Title of the digital image.” Title of the website, Publisher, Publication date, URL.
Image With No Author, Title, or Date
[Subject and type of work]. Title of the website, Publisher, Publication date, URL.
Note: You still need to cite the image even if you are missing much of the information. Please try to find images that do provide this information.
Try to find as much information as possible when citing an image and include it in the citation.
MLA 8 Basic Format:
Creator's Last name, First name. “Title of the digital image.” Title of the website, Publisher, Publication date, URL.
Image Without Author:
“Title of the digital image.” Title of the website, Publisher, Publication date, URL.
Image With No Author, Title, or Date
[Subject and type of work]. Title of the website, Publisher, Publication date, URL.
Note: You still need to cite the image even if you are missing much of the information. Please try to find images that do provide this information.
Free Stock Image Sites
Images from these sites are licensed for free use, but should still be cited.
Google Image Search
If you have exhausted these other options and still can't find an image that works for you, THEN try Google Image Search.
Pictures that you find on Google Image Search are often copyrighted, and cannot be used without permission from their creators. To modify your search to see only images which are free and legal to use, run your search then select Tools under the right side of the search bar:
Pictures that you find on Google Image Search are often copyrighted, and cannot be used without permission from their creators. To modify your search to see only images which are free and legal to use, run your search then select Tools under the right side of the search bar:
Then expand the "Usage Rights" menu. You can play with any of these options, but "Labeled for Reuse" is the most broad.
If you identify a photo that you want to use, you need to click on it to go to the website of origin to get the information you need to cite it.
Saying that you got your picture from Google Images is like saying that you got your burger at the drive through window - it tells your viewer nothing useful about the source of the image.
Saying that you got your picture from Google Images is like saying that you got your burger at the drive through window - it tells your viewer nothing useful about the source of the image.