Q. How do I reference lots of images in a creative or visual piece of work such as a moodboard or collage?

Any form of written assignment needs to follow the MMU Harvard referencing style. The instruction for citing images can be found in the Illustrations: e.g. images, pictures, diagrams, graphs, charts or tables section of the guide. You may also find the How to cite and reference online images video tutorial helpful.

However, for some creative pieces of work such as a collage, exhibition catalogue or a moodboard, it may not be appropriate to enter a traditional caption and citation for every image you have used as it would arguably spoil the creative look of the piece.

Art or fashion students will most likely have submitted similar visual pieces of work, whereby the assignment is a creative piece rather than a traditional academic essay. Your tutor would need to agree to any deviation from the MMU Harvard referencing style. They would also need to ensure external examiners are aware of the instruction provided so that there is no confusion over the referencing instruction you have followed.

Once you have permission to deviate from the MMU Harvard referencing style, you can instead use a numeric sequence to arrange your image references:

1. Give each image a number instead of a traditional citation.
2. Provide a full reference for each image following the MMU Harvard style. You will need to refer to the relevant section on the guide depending on the source of the image e.g. an image from a book, journal article, magazine, online image etc.
3. Instead of listing your references alphabetically by author surname, structure your reference list by number order. The numbers would need to correspond with the images presented in your work. 

Please note: Manchester School of Art students should refer to the Manchester School of Art section on the guide for more details.