This page guides you on what to do if you include images or figures in your work, whether these are things you have authored or taken from elsewhere. This is provided for guidance on how this is commonly done, and does not constitute a requirement across the university. Please ask your tutor if you are unsure.
You can refer to images or figures from sources without including the image in your text, and Cite them right provides information about this.
However, if you are writing about an image or figure at length, you will probably want to include it in your work. You may also create images or figures (such as graphs) for your work, which are included within the text.
There are two important exceptions to copyright law which mean that you can include an image without asking for permission.
Exceptions for education or teaching
You can use copyrighted work in your academic work as long as it is necessary to illustrate a point and you provide sufficient acknowledgement of the authorship.
This exception is limited to the context of education. It does not include making things available outside of an education setting (e.g., on a blog), even if that purpose is educational.
Exceptions for criticism or review
Another exception to copyright is if you are using the work for quotation, criticism or review.
You should provide sufficient acknowledgement, and your use should not extend beyond what is necessary for quotation, criticism or review. Your use should be 'fair,' so, for example, you cannot publish a whole book (or a substantial part of it) to review it!
This section sets out an approach when including images or figures in your work, including the following:
There is no official guidance on this at the university, so what is set out below are examples of what is commonly done. It may be that there is no requirement to have a list of figures at the start of the work, but you should at least caption your images. Also, if you are using images or figures from sources, you must provide a reference for them.
NB. In the first example, the dimensions of the original are included as this is relevant in a fine art context. However, this would not be relevant in all contexts.
Figure numbers/captions
You should include name of artist/author, Title. Medium (if relevant), dimensions (if relevant), date, collection where the work is held (if appropriate - optional).
Fig. 1 William Henry Fox Talbot, An oak tree in winter. Photograph, 19 × 17 cm, c. 1842-3, The J. Paul Getty Museum
or
Fig 1. William Henry Fox Talbot, An oak tree in winter, c. 1842-3
(NB: the precise date of this work is not known, which is why it is circa 1842-3)
In-text reference
...as shown in Figure 1 (Fox Talbot, c. 1842-43)
List of figures
In a book this would appear at the front immediately after the table of contents, and for a dissertation, it would to do this. For shorter texts, you could put it before the list of references.
Include the same information as in the caption, plus the page in your work on which the image appears
Fig. 1 William Henry Fox Talbot, An oak tree in winter. Photograph, 19.4 × 16.6 cm, c. 1842-3, The J. Paul Getty Museum......... Page 2
or
Fig 1 William Henry Fox Talbot, An oak tree in winter, c. 1842-3.... Page 2
List of references / notes
Include the full information on the source if you are using images or figures from sources. For example, the following follows the Harvard approach:
Fox Talbot, W. H. (c. 1842-3) An oak tree in winter [photograph]. The J. Paul Getty Museum. Available from: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/45241/william-henry-fox-talbot-an-oak-tree-in-winter-british-probably-1842-1843/?dz=0.5000,0.7913,0.98 (Accessed 26th March 2019)
or
Fox Talbot, W. H. (c. 1842-3) An oak tree in winter [photograph]. The J. Paul Getty Museum. Available from: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/ (Accessed 26th March 2019)
