This guide is specially curated by by your Architecture & Environmental Design Librarian to provide basic architecture research guidance PLUS key resources closely related to built environment research.
Citation Advice: Senior Thesis Books and Other Papers
Many architecture papers, posters, etc. require use of the work of others--photos taken by others, writing written by others, etc. When you create, you're making your own intellectual property (IP). The challenge--especially in creative fields--is that our intellectual property is often built on ideas (precedents) that came before. In order to be a responsible IP creator (and even law-abiding, when it comes to copyright laws), you should attempt to cite your sources as thoroughly as possible.
While there are many different standards for citing text-based information, unfortunately, there is no comprehensive or definitive style for citing images. The major citation styles do have some guidelines, but they currently all fall short of addressing the vast array of sources the internet presents us. The American Psychological Association (APA) is one of the more user-friendly citation styles, and currently provides the most extensive free advice for overall citations on the internet, here: https://apastyle.apa.org/. For more detailed guidance than given by the website, you can access a print copy at Kennedy Library: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: The Official Guide to APA Style.
The best, most responsible thing to do is come up with a consistent system of captioning your images and referring readers to an image list in your references in the back.
Here's a good example of a finished senior project book showing how one student chose a consistent, APA-based format for citing images and text. Tejal Patel (Studio Osborne, 2021) generously let me feature her book for the benefit of future students working on their own projects.
Zotero is a free tool that lets you save, cite and manage just about any format of information. You can create separate folders for your research and, since it is hosted remotely, you can access it anywhere, and create bibliographies in a wide range of citation styles.