Captions and works cited list entries for visual material in MLA Style
A caption is the text accompanying an image normally directly below it. Each image should be labelled Figure (which is usually abbreviated to 'Fig.') with a sequential Arabic number (e.g. 'Fig. 1' or 'Fig. 2') in the in-text reference. The format in a caption is a bit different from Works Cited – the artist/creator is listed by first name then surname and commas are placed between each referencing element. Name the artist if known, the title of the work (italicised) or a description if there is no title (not italicised), a description of the medium (optional), then the date. If the date is unknown, omit this detail. When you do not have an exact date but have a rough idea, use circa which means about, before the year or range (e.g. circa 1900, circa early 19th century).
In the works cited list, references for images are formatted as other reference types, using the MLA style principles. There is no need to list an image in Works Cited if the caption provides complete bibliographic information about the source and the source is not cited in the text (see sec.1.7 of the MLA Handbook for further detail). Generally, however, an image would not be included in an assignment that is not discussed in-text. MLA does not require a separate illustrations list.
Image scanned from a book/magazine
Works cited order: Last name, first name. Title of work, medium (optional), Institution or collection holding work, date created. 2nd container (publication it is taken from) order: author, (first name, last name), title, publisher, year, page or plate number OR DOI number OR webpage details.
Works cited list: Singleton Copley, John. Mrs. Joseph Mann, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1753. Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art, Pearson, 2011, p. 143.
Caption: Fig.1. John Copley. Mrs Joseph Mann. 1753.
If no title, provide a brief informative description:
Works cited list: Leibovitz, Annie. Photograph of Kirsten Dunst in Alexander McQueen at the Grand Trianon. Vogue, September 2006, p. 46.
Caption: Fig. 1. Annie Leibovitz, photo of Kirsten Dunst in Alexander McQueen at the Grand Trianon, 2006.
If no creator is identifiable, provide a brief description in place of the author:
Works cited list: Street art of a girl with a balloon on a wall in Wellington. Photograph by author, 5 September, 2015.
Caption: Fig. 1. Photograph of street art of a girl with a balloon on a wall in Wellington, 2015.
Works cited list: Postcard of a lithograph of chickens in a farmyard, circa 1899. Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, New York, 2011.
Caption: Fig. 2. Postcard of a lithograph of chickens in a farmyard, circa 1899.
Image downloaded from an image database or institution website
Works cited order: Last name, first name, Title of Work (italicised), medium of work, date created, institution or collection holding work. 2nd container details [e.g. database/website name], collection identifier number [if available] or URL.
Works cited list: Sargent, John Singer, Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau). 1883-84. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ARTstor, 12492.
Caption: Fig. 1. John Singer Sargent, Madame X, 1883-84.
Works cited list: Bourne, George. Rua. Auckland War Memorial Museum Collections, PH-CNEG-C5879.
Caption: Fig. 1. George Bourne, Rua.
Works cited list: Eakins, Thomas. William Rudolf O'Donovan. 1891, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Flickr Commons, www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2547841439/in/photolist-4T9muF.
Caption: Fig. 1. Thomas Eakins, William Rudolf O’Donovan, 1891.
Personal Work
Works cited list: Your family name, your first name. Photograph of South Crater Tongariro by the author, 14 June 2015.
Caption: Fig. 9. Photograph of South Crater Tongariro, personal photograph by author, 14 June 2015
Screen shot or frame capture
Works cited list: Black Sheep. Directed by Jonathon King. New Zealand Film Commission, 2007.
Caption: Fig. 5. Screenshot from Black Sheep (45:07), 2007.
Captions for tables
Similar to visual material, a table will have a title with a number (e.g. Table 1) above the table, a brief and descriptive caption is given under the title:
Table 1.
Results from 46 Patients Using Three Kinds of Pedometers.
Give the source (if adapted from the source, this should be prefaced with Adapted from:) and any notes (denoted with superscript lowercase letters) below the table. Format the source as you would any other similar kind of reference (e.g., journal article, web page). If you are using data from your own research, then it is not included in the works cited list because you are not citing another work.
Disclaimer
These pages are provided as a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school, or institute may prescribe specific conventions, and their recommendations supersede these instructions. If you have questions not covered here, check in the style guide listed above, ask your course coordinator, or ask at Academic Q+A.