When conducting an online search for an image to use as a reference, consider the following:

• Lighting: Is the subject well lit? Is the photo over or under exposed? Too much shadow?
• Focus & Detail: Was the photographer too far away? Is there not enough detail? Or, was the photographer too close and you can’t see the whole body? Is the photo too blurry or distorted?
• Artificiality: Has the photo been altered? Are the colours realistic? Is the pose a natural position? Too staged?
• Ownership/Plagiarism: Is the photo famous? Is it from a free image database? What Creative Commons license does it have?

And remember, if you can’t find what you are looking for online, try taking your own reference photos.

• Did you take the picture yourself? Free!
• Does the image have a watermark? If yes, this image falls under copyright protection and you should not use it.
• Does the image have details about usage rights or the creator? 
• Does the source specify that the image is in the public domain?
• Did you read about the Creative Commons license details? Are there any limitations on use?
• Did you check the image's metadata?
• Did you try a Google reverse image search to determine ownership?

When in doubt, don't use the image.

Image attribution, or giving credit to the creator of the image that you are using, should include the following details:

• the creator/author,
• the title of the image,
• the source (website link or URL),
• and the license information.  

Example in APA citation format:

Wang, J.C. (2008). Bur oak [Photograph]. Flickr https://bit.ly/2RZ6zIk

Example of Creative Commons license attribution:

"Ottawa, Parlamento," by Angel de los Rios, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Attribution: Similar to citation. You are crediting the creator of the work and/or the holder of the copyright.

Creative Commons: A non-profit organization started in 2001 that "provides Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools that give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works." For information regarding the six varieties of CC licenses go here.

Copyright: "The creator of an original creative work has the sole authority to copy, perform, distribute, license, monetize, or assign these rights to another. "

Fair Dealing: "Fair Dealing is a user's right which allows the use of short excerpts from copyrighted material without permissions or payment."

Open Access: Open access, or OA, refers to the unrestricted use of electronic resources. "Any kind of digital content can be OA, from texts and data to software, audio, video, and multi-media."

Public Domain: A creative work without exclusive intellectual property rights (copyright).

Stock Photography: An industry in which photographs are supplied to be used commercially, such as in advertising.