SOM Images and Video for Medicine and the Health Sciences: Citing Images and Videos

Never assume that an online image is freely available for use.  Copyright for images is in many cases similar in strictness to that of print. While this guide provides information for finding medical images, it does not give copyright information for individual images. Before using any image, read and abide by each website's terms of use.

For more information on copyright, visit the Copyright Resources LibGuide.

Why is it important to attribute and document your sources?

• It helps to avoid plagiarism, i.e. the presentation of another’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own.
• It allows the reader to find your research sources and to follow the steps you took toward formulating your ideas and reaching your conclusions.
• It strengthens the authority and credibility of your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of sources.
• It helps to place your own ideas into the framework of the larger intellectual conversation about your topic.

For additional NLM citation examples, consult Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2nd ed).

 

BOOKS

Figure in a book with a letter:

Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer AM, Kindig DA, editors. Health literacy: a prescription to end confusion. Washington: National Academies Press; c2004. Figure B-2, Improving chronic disease care: a framework based on health literacy and related research; p. 271.

Figure in a book without a number or letter:

Eroschenko VP. Di Fiore's atlas of histology with functional correlations. 10th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; c2005. Overview figure, Comparison (transverse sections) of a muscular artery, large vein, and the three types of capillaries; p. 152.

Figure in a book without a number with name implied:

American health: demographics and spending of health care consumers. Ithaca (NY): New Strategist Publications, Inc.; c2005. [Figure], Percent distribution of visits to emergency rooms by urgency of problem, 2002; p. 383.

Standard table in a book with a number:

Larone DH. Medically important fungi: a guide to identification. 4th ed. Washington: ASM Press; c2002. Table 15, Characteristics of some of the "black yeasts"; p. 200.

 

JOURNALS

Standard numbered/lettered table in a journal article:

Diaz-Cruz ES, Shapiro CL, Brueggemeier RW. Cyclooxygenase inhibitors suppress aromatase expression and activity in breast cancer cells. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 May;90(5):2563-70. Table 2, Aromatase activity and expression in cell lines; p. 2565.

Standard numbered/lettered figure in a journal article

Mitchell GF, Pfeffer MA. Evaluation and management of patients with uncontrolled systolic hypertension: is another new paradigm really needed? Am Heart J. 2005 May;149(5):776-84. Figure 3, Regional pressure wave forms in the normal arterial system; p. 780.

 

PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Standard citation for a print or photograph:

Day J. Dying before their time: early death & AIDS [poster]. Farmington (CT): University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Section of Medical Arts & Letters; 1988. 1 poster: color, 14 x 21 in.

 

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Citation examples from:

Patrias K, author; Wendling D, editor. Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007-. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/