Use of Images Tutorial
Finding and Citing Images
in Papers, Posters and Presentations
Ideally, the author of any paper, poster or presentation would use his/her own images as illustrations. However, when it becomes necessary to use an image from another source in a paper, poster or presentation, you should always identify the owner and source of the image. If your presentation/poster is to be used outside the campus, like at a national conference or published in a national journal, you must obtain permission from the owner of the copyrighted image to use it. This process may be as simple as an e-mail or may take weeks if dealing with a publishing company. Keep a copy of your request for permission and the permission received. Acknowledge that permission was obtained under the image with the phrase "Used with permission." If a presentation or poster is to be used for nonprofit or educational purposes such as a class, it is more likely to be considered fair use, and you do not have to get permission to use a copyrighted image but should still acknowledge the source of the mimage.
Under the Image on the Slide/Page: Put copyright information under the image on the page/slide in which it appears. Indicate if it is used with permission. Here are three PowerPoint slides with images from WebPath, images.MD, and eMedicine.
Citation: Images used in a paper, poster or presentation should be cited in either a footnote at the bottom of the slide or on the references list in the same format used for other references (AMA, APA, etc.). If Endnote is used, use the form for a Figure. It will ask for author, description of image content, source name like the name of the book or journal, publisher, web site, date copyrighted, date accessed, and URL of the page where the image was located (not the URL of the image file). When capturing an image from any source, every effort should be made to obtain information on the source and owner of the image. Usually the copyright information is provided on the web site main page, or on the About Us page if not on the page with the image. Here is an images references slide for the three slides above:
Note that the URL used is NOT the link to the image file, but the link to the web page where the image can be seen with captions.
The Maguire Medical Library subscribes to a number of resources that provide images for use by our faculty and students. These images are located under Images & Videos on the library website.
Scanning - You can scan any print image that you can find in books or journals. However, again, these are copyrighted and you must obtain permission from the owner to use these unless it is for an instructional activity involving medical students on one of our campuses. Scan at 200 - 300 DPI, then use a graphics program to resize the image to the size you need for your project.
Using Images and Videos Handout [pdf] This handout includes detailed instructions for capturing images from websites, embedding videos in presentations using embed codes, options for downloading streaming videos, and how to edit images in PowerPoint.