LibGuides: Citing Sources in Digital Assignments: Seneca Libraries Recommendations

Best Practices for Citing Sources in a Digital Assignment

Always confirm assignment expectations with your instructor first. There are no official APA or MLA rules for citing material in digital assignments, so Seneca Libraries recommends following these guidelines. However, if your professor requires you to use APA or MLA for a digital assignment, you must abide by their instructions.

General Recommendations

Citing information within your text

Name the source of information (e.g., name of website) with a hyperlink to the source within brackets.
When the URL for the source is long, you may use shortened URLs (e.g., bit.ly).

Citing images and videos inserted in your assignment

Underneath the image or video, include the creator's name or username (omit if not available) and a hyperlink to where you found it.
If it looks too cluttered to have this information directly underneath the image or video, then list it in one central place along with other media you have inserted in your assignment. Include a title or short description so it is clear which source you are crediting.
When the URL for the image or video source is long, you may use shortened URLs (e.g., bit.ly).
For images or videos with a Creative Commons license, see the “Attributing Sources” section of the Creative Commons page or the Wiki for best practices in attributing Creative Commons Sources for instructions on providing credit. Check out these free image sites.
If the source of the image or video provides you their recommended attribution note, you may copy and use it in your work.

Specific Recommendations

Recommendations for Citing Images & Videos Inserted in Your Presentation

Option 1: Crediting under image/video - List the creator's name or username (omit if not available) and a hyperlink to the source directly under the image/video.
Option 2: Crediting on end slide - List the title (or a short description of the image if the title is not available), the creator's name or username (omit if not available), and a hyperlink on an end slide. Example titles for the end slide are "Image Credits," "Video Credits," or "Image and Video Credits."

Recommendations for Citing Information Within Your Text

Include an in-text citation with the source name and hyperlink to source. For example, (National Post). You do not need to have an end slide with citations.
If you are citing information from a journal article, use the name of the journal as the source, and include a permalink to the article. (How do I find the permalink to an article?)

Examples

Recommendations for Citing Images and Videos Inserted in Your Infographic

Option 1: Below the image or video, provide a short description and in brackets, the creator's name or username (if available), and a hyperlink to the source.
Option 2: You may also list images and/or videos along with other information sources at the end/bottom of the infographic in a section called Sources. List the sources of images, videos, and other information in the order they appear in the infographic. In the Sources section, list the title of the image/video in quotation marks (if title is not available, list a short description of the information, not in quotation marks), and in brackets, the creator's name or username (if available), and a hyperlink to the source.

Recommendations for Citing Information

After paraphrasing or quoting, include the name of the source in brackets.
Add a section to the end/bottom of the infographic called Sources. List all information sources cited in the text. Include the title of the information in quotation marks (if title is not available, list a short description of the information, not in quotation marks), the source in brackets, and a hyperlink to the source.
List them in the order they appear in the infographic.
If you are citing information from a journal article, use the name of the journal as the source, and include a permalink to the article. (How do I find the permalink to an article?)

Examples

Recommendations for Citing Images and Videos Inserted in Your Website/Blog

Option 1: Crediting under image/video - List the creator's name or username (omit if not available) and a hyperlink to the source directly under the image/video.
Option 2: Crediting on a separate page or section - List the title (or a short description of the image if the title is not available), the creator's name or username (omit if not available), and a hyperlink in a separate page/section. Example titles for the section are "Image Credits," "Video Credits," or "Image and Video Credits."

Recommendations for Citing Information

Include in-text citation of source name with hyperlink to source, e.g. (National Post). You do not need to have a separate page/section citations.
If you are citing information from a journal article, use the name of the journal as the source, and include a permalink to the article. (How do I find the permalink to an article?)

Examples

Recommendations for Citing Images Included in Your Video

List a short description, the creator (omit if not available), and a link at the end of the video on a screen called Image Credits.

Recommendations for Citing Information

List the title of the information in quotation marks (if title is not available, list a short description of the information, not in quotation marks), the source in brackets, and URL at the end of the video on a screen called Sources.
If you are citing information from a journal article, use the name of the journal as the source, and include a permalink to the article. (How do I find the permalink to an article?)

Example

citing information sources in video

Recommendation for Citing Images Included in a Photo Collage

List the title (or a short description of the image if the title is not available), the creator (omit if not available), and a hyperlink in a separate document called Image Credits.
List them in the order they appear in the infographic, if possible.
The image credits appear on a separate document from the photo collage so as not to distract from the aesthetics of the photo collage.

Example

photo collage citation

Recommendation for Citing Images in an Instagram Post

List the title (or a short description of the image if the title is not available), the creator (omit if not available), and a hyperlink in the caption in a section called Image Credit.

Example

Instagram Post image credit

Citing AI-Generated Images Inserted in Your Digital Assignment

Here are a few examples on how you could cite AI-generated images in your projects and assignments. Remember to check with your instructor if you're permitted to use AI. Always follow your instructor’s preferred citation format.

If you're citing AI-generated text, see the APA or MLA citation guide for more information. For free images, see Finding Free Images, Audio & Video with the Seneca Sandbox.

Including Your Original Images and Videos in Digital Assignments

Always confirm citation expectations with your instructor first. See the APA or MLA citation guide if you are required to use one of these citation styles to cite media you have created and embedded in your assignment.

The following are Seneca Libraries' recommendations when citing original images or videos that you or your group created and included in a digital assignment. For example, embedding a video that your group filmed in your presentation slide, or including a photo you took in your infographic.

Add a note beneath the embedded media to make it clear that the work is your own or created by the group members, such as:

Video by authors
Diagram by [Student 1 First Name Last Name] and [Student 2 First Name Last Name]
Photo by [Student's First Name Last Name]

Example

Paper Cranes at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Photograph by author