PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Infographic, chart, or map

How to Cite an Infographic, Chart, or Map in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for an infographic, chart, or map gives the creator's last name and first name, the title in title case, the website's name in italics, the publisher if it's different from the website, the date, and the URL. A graphic on a website is part of that site, so its title goes in quotation marks; one that stands on its own, like a printed map, takes italics. You can add a label like Infographic, Chart, or Map at the end. When an organization made and published it, start with the title. The in-text citation is the creator's last name, or a short form of whatever starts the entry: (Hales) or (Driving directions). For Google Maps, describe the map in place of a title, give Google Maps in italics as the container, and add the date you looked at it.

The format

Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Graphic." Website Name, Publisher, Day Mon. Year, URL. Chart.

PERRLA MLA Experts ยท Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Choose Charts, Infographics, & Maps. There's no kind to pick: the same form covers infographics, charts, maps, and Google Maps. Under Role, pick Author for a person, or Group Author (Organization) for an agency or company. Type the title in Title of the Work, the date in Publication Year (the full date, like 9/4/2024, when the graphic gives one), the link in URL (Web address), and the site's name in Website Name. Put the organization that runs the site in Publisher or Producer when its name is different from the website's. With a website name filled in, PERRLA puts the title in quotation marks and the website in italics. When the group author and the publisher are the same organization, put it in both places: PERRLA leaves it out of the author spot and starts the entry with the title, the way MLA does.

Want the label at the end? Type one word, like Infographic, Chart, or Map, in Description, without square brackets, and PERRLA adds it after the URL.

For Google Maps, leave the author and Title of the Work empty, and describe what the map shows in Description, like Driving directions from Tuba City, Arizona, to Flagstaff Medical Center. Type Google Maps in Website Name, leave Publisher or Producer empty, paste the link, and set the Retrieval Date to the day you looked, which PERRLA prints as Accessed and the date. PERRLA's reference search reads most links as webpages, so add an infographic, chart, or map by hand to get this format.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author

Start with whoever made the graphic: a person's last name, a comma, and their first name as the source gives it, with any middle initial.

Hales, Laura J.

The author is who created the graphic, not who collected the data in it. When an organization both made and published it, like a government agency's infographic on its own website, skip the author and start with the title. The organization's name appears once, later in the entry, as the website or the publisher.

2. Title

A graphic you found on a website is part of that site, so its title goes in quotation marks and title case, with the period inside the closing quotation mark, even when the graphic prints its title in capitals or sentence case.

"Prevalence of U.S. Household Food Insecurity Increased in 2023."

A map or chart that stands on its own, like a printed map or a wall chart, takes italics instead. No title, like a Google Maps view? Describe what the map shows where the title goes, in plain type, with only the first word and proper nouns capitalized: Driving directions from Tuba City, Arizona, to Flagstaff Medical Center.

3. Website and publisher

A graphic you found online sits on a website, and the website is the container: its name in italics, followed by a comma. If a different organization runs the site, name it next as the publisher. Skip the publisher when it has the same name as the website.

Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

When the organization that made the graphic also runs the site, its name appears once, as the website: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 28 Feb. 2022,

For Google Maps, the container is the mapping tool itself: Google Maps in italics, and no author.

4. Date

Give the date the graphic was published or last updated, as fully as the page gives it, written day, month, year, with the month abbreviated (except May, June, and July).

4 Sept. 2024,

A map page that's refreshed every year takes the date of the version you used. Google Maps has no publication date, so leave the date out and add an access date at the end.

5. URL

End with the link to the page where the graphic lives, not the image file, without the https://, followed by a period.

www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/109859.

For Google Maps, copy the link to the map or route you used.

6. Label and access date (optional)

If your sentence doesn't already say what kind of graphic it is, you can add a one-word label at the end of the entry, capitalized, with a period.

Infographic.

For a map that changes, like Google Maps or a live interactive map, end with Accessed and the date you looked at it. A dated infographic or chart doesn't need one.

Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Examples

An infographic by a government agency

A National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) infographic on infective endocarditis, a life-threatening heart infection that can come from using needles that aren't sterile, posted on NIDA's own website on February 28, 2022. NIDA made it and published it, so the entry starts with the title, in quotation marks because the infographic is a page on NIDA's site. The website is the container, and the publisher is left out because it has the same name, so NIDA appears once. The in-text citation is the title: ("Infective Endocarditis").

  • In-text citation("Infective Endocarditis")
  • Narrative citationThe NIDA infographic "Infective Endocarditis" shows that …

A chart with an individual author

A USDA Economic Research Service chart showing that household food insecurity rose in 2023, from its Charts of Note series. The chart names its author and its date, September 4, 2024, so she goes first. The chart is a page on the ERS website, so its title goes in quotation marks; the website is the container, and the USDA, which runs it, is the publisher.

  • In-text citation(Hales)
  • Narrative citationHales shows that food insecurity rose in 2023, …

A set of maps from an organization

The CDC's Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps, updated on September 24, 2026, with 2025 data. The CDC made and published them, so the entry starts with the title, in quotation marks because the maps are a page on the CDC's website. The CDC's website is the container, and the publisher is left out because it has the same name. The page is refreshed every year, so cite the date of the version you used, and use Maps as the label for a set.

  • In-text citation("Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps")
  • Narrative citationThe CDC's "Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps" show that …

Google Maps directions

Google Maps driving directions from Tuba City, Arizona, to Flagstaff Medical Center, about 78 miles, the kind of route a community health paper uses to show how far patients travel for hospital care. A description of the route stands in for the title, Google Maps is the container, and the access date shows when you looked.

  • In-text citation(Driving directions)
  • Narrative citationGoogle Maps driving directions from Tuba City to Flagstaff Medical Center show a route of about 78 miles, …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for an infographic, chart, or map is the first thing in its Works Cited entry. Graphics have no page numbers, so don't add one.

  • A person as author: the last name: (Hales)
  • Two authors: both last names joined by and
  • Three or more: the first author and et al.
  • An organization that's also the publisher: the entry starts with the title, so cite the title, styled as the entry styles it and shortened to its first noun phrase if it's long. A short title can stay whole: ("Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps").
  • Google Maps or another untitled map: the description, shortened, in plain type, as it starts the entry: (Driving directions)
  • Name in your sentence: leave the parentheses off: Hales shows that food insecurity rose in 2023.

Putting the graphic itself in your paper? Label it Fig. 1 (then Fig. 2, and so on) and give it a caption that identifies the source. If the caption gives the full source details and you don't cite the graphic anywhere else, it doesn't need a Works Cited entry.

Common mistakes

  • (Hales, 2024)(Hales)That's APA. MLA in-text citations don't take the year.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 Sept. 2026,"Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 Sept. 2026,When an organization made the graphic and runs the site it's on, MLA starts with the title and names the organization once, as the website.
  • Hales, Laura J. "Prevalence of U.S. Household Food Insecurity Increased in 2023" [Chart].Hales, Laura J. "Prevalence of U.S. Household Food Insecurity Increased in 2023."MLA has no bracketed description after the title. If you want the label, put Chart. at the very end of the entry.
  • Google. Google Maps.Driving directions from Tuba City, Arizona, to Flagstaff Medical Center. Google Maps,Google isn't listed as the author. Describe what the map shows in place of a title, and give Google Maps in italics as the container.
  • Driving directions from Tuba City, Arizona, to Flagstaff Medical Center. Google Maps, www.google.com/maps/dir/Tuba+City,+AZ/Flagstaff+Medical+Center,+Flagstaff,+AZ.… www.google.com/maps/dir/Tuba+City,+AZ/Flagstaff+Medical+Center,+Flagstaff,+AZ. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.A Google map has no publication date and can change, so add the date you looked at it.

Quick checklist

  • The person who made the graphic, inverted, or the title first for an organization that also published it
  • Title in quotation marks and title case for a graphic on a website (italics for one that stands on its own), or a plain description for an untitled map
  • Website in italics, the publisher if it's different, then the date as fully as the page gives it
  • URL of the page that holds the graphic, without https://
  • Optional label at the end: Infographic, Chart, or Map
  • Google Maps: Google Maps as the container and an access date

Questions students ask

How do I cite Google Maps in MLA 9?

Describe what the map shows in place of a title, then give Google Maps in italics, the link, and Accessed with the date you looked. Google isn't the author. In the text, cite a short version of your description.

Do I need to write Infographic or Map in the entry?

No. MLA treats the label as optional. Add it at the end of the entry when your sentence doesn't make clear what kind of source it is.

Do I need an access date for an infographic or chart?

Usually not. MLA makes the access date optional, and a dated infographic or chart doesn't change. Add one for a map or graphic that updates, like Google Maps or a live data map, or one with no date.

What if the infographic has no author or no date?

No author: start with the title, then give the website and publisher as usual. No date: leave the date out and add an access date at the end. In the text, cite the title, shortened if it's long, in quotation marks or italics to match the entry.

How do I cite a chart or map from a journal article or report?

If you're using the article's or report's information, cite the article or report and give the page in your in-text citation. If you copy the figure into your paper, give it a caption that names the article or report it came from.

I found an infographic on Pinterest. What do I cite?

Click through to the site that first published it and cite it there. A pin is a copy, often without the creator, the date, or the full title, so it can't give your reader what they need to find the original.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, organization authors, optional elements, access dates, and in-text citations) and its appendix 2 maps and charts entries (a stand-alone chart in italics; a table on a website in quotation marks, with the website in italics), and the MLA Style Center pages "How do I cite a map?" (its online map with a landing page: title, website in italics, publisher, date, URL), "How do I cite a Google Earth location?," "How to Cite an Image," "When should I include an access date for an online work?," and "How do I cite an image found through an online search engine like Google Images?" The NIDA infographic was checked on its NIDA page on October 30, 2026: its title, National Institute on Drug Abuse as author and publisher (the site's own name), and its February 28, 2022, date. The other example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page, re-checked on October 29, 2026: the ERS chart's author, title, and September 4, 2024, date on the chart page; and the CDC maps' title and September 24, 2026, update on the CDC page. The Google Maps route was loaded in Google Maps on October 21, 2026, for the APA page, and that viewing is the access date.

PERRLA builds the entry for an infographic, chart, or map from what you type in, with the title, publisher, and date in MLA order.

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