MLA 9th Edition Style Guide: Tables and Illustrations

To insert a table follow this procedure:

1. Insert a table as close as possible to the text to which it relates.
2. Give the table a number and title and place these flush left above the table on separate lines.
3. Below the table add a caption giving the source information and, optionally, any notes about the table. In the caption, use commas between source elements and do not reverse the author's last name.

Table 1

Hate Crimes in 2019: Incidents, Offenses, Victims and Known Offenders

Adapted from U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 2019 Hate Crime Statistics, 2019, table 2, ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2019/topic-pages/tables/table-2.xls.

The URL is linked in the example above because this example appears on a website. Normally this is not done in a paper or presentation.

Also add the table to the works-cited-list and give complete citation information, unless the table is not cited in the text of the paper.

Any type of image other than a table or musical example, including graphs and charts, is treated as a figure.

Follow this procedure:

• Insert the image.
• On a new line underneath the image type Fig. (an abbreviation for Figure), a number, and a caption.

In the caption a distinction is made between whether the image is a source or not.

When the image is a source, use a caption that gives brief information pointing your reader to the complete entry on the works-cited-list. Use commas between the pieces of information in the caption.

If the image is not a source, then include complete citation information in the caption and do not add it to your works-cited-list. Punctuate as you would a works-cited-list entry, but do not reverse the author's name.

Example 1:

If the image comes from a book or website that is being used as a source, i.e. there are in-text citations for it throughout the paper, then consider it a source. An entire video embedded in a presentation or paper should also be considered a source and use this format. If you are going to analyze an included image, then it is a source. For instance, you are writing a paper about the Pantheon for your Architecture class, and you include an image of the architectural plan of the Pantheon and then proceed to analyze it, that is a source. Or you are writing a paper for Humanities about Leonardo's Mona Lisa, and you include an image of the painting, the image is a source.

This chart comes from an article in Gallup News. If the whole article is used in your paper or presentation, then it is a source, and therefore the caption is brief and refers to a complete entry on the works-cited-list. The caption uses commas.

Fig. 1. Lydia Saad, "Americans' Confidence," 30 July 2021.

The complete information would then appear on your works-cited-list:

Saad, Lydia. "Americans' Confidence in Racial Fairness Waning." Gallup News, 30 July 2021, news.gallup.com/poll/352832/americans-confidence-racial-fairness-waning.aspx. Accessed 10 Nov. 2021.

The URL is linked in the example above because this example is published on a website. Normally this is not done in a paper or presentation.

Example 2:

If the image is purely an illustration, then it is not a source. Include complete citation information in the caption and do not add it to your works-cited-list. Punctuate as you would a works-cited-list entry, but do not reverse the author's name.

For this example imagine that you are giving a presentation on Aztec creation myths. You want to include an image of the the Aztec goddess Coatlicue in your PowerPoint. Coatlicue is one of the goddesses featured in one of the creation myths. Your presentation is not about Coatlicue, and you are not going to analyze the image of her that you are including. The purpose of the image is to add some visual interest to your presentation. This is an illustration. Include the complete citation information in the caption and do not add it to your works-cited-list.

Fig. 2. Steven Zucker. Photograph of Coatlicue, c. 1500, Mexica (Aztec). Flickr, 20 Jan. 2015, www.flickr.com/photos/profzucker/16816048015.

Note: The URL is linked above because this example is published on a website. It would not usually be linked on a paper or presentation. (Link it in a presentation if you are planning to click on it in the course of the presentation.)

Because this image is published on a publicly available web page, the licensing information is also included:

Used under a (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) license.

If your paper is only going to be turned in to your professor and will not be published in any format, including on the web, then there is no need to include the licensing information.

Musical examples use Ex. for example instead of Fig. for figure, but otherwise follow the figure format.

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