How to Cite Tableau

Citing your sources is a fundamental part of any credible research or report, but what do you do when your source isn't a book or a journal article, but an interactive data visualization? This guide provides a clear walkthrough on how to properly cite a Tableau dashboard in your work. We'll cover what information you need to gather, how to format it for different citation styles, and share some best practices along the way.

So, Why Bother Citing a Tableau Visualization?

You might wonder if citing a dashboard is really necessary. The answer is a definitive yes. Just like you would cite a written source to back up a claim, citing a Tableau visualization accomplishes several important things:

• Boosts Credibility: It shows that your work is based on verifiable data and analysis, not just opinion. Pointing to the source allows your audience to see the data for themselves.
• Provides Context: A proper citation tells your reader who created the visualization, where the underlying data came from, and where they can find it. This context is essential for interpretation.
• Gives Credit Where It's Due: Someone spent time gathering data, cleaning it, and building the dashboard. Citing their work acknowledges their effort and expertise.
• Enables Reproducibility: For academic or scientific work, citing your sources allows others to retrace your steps, verify your findings, and build upon your analysis — a core principle of good research.

Think of it this way: if you presented a chart in a meeting and someone asked, "Where did you get those numbers?" a proper citation is your ready-made, professional answer.

Before You Cite: What Information Do You Need?

Before you can format your citation, you need to collect a few key pieces of information from the Tableau dashboard. Sometimes this is straightforward, but other times you may need to look around the page. Here's your checklist:

• Author or Creator: Who made the dashboard? This could be an individual (e.g., Jane Smith) or an organization (e.g., The World Health Organization). Look for a name on the dashboard itself or on the Tableau Public profile page.
• Title of the Visualization: Every dashboard has a title. Use the exact title provided. It’s usually prominent at the top of the visualization.
• Date of Publication: When was the dashboard last updated or published? Look for a "Last Updated" or "Published" date. If one isn't available, you will use the date you accessed it.
• Publishing Platform or Website: Where is the dashboard hosted? Most often, this will be "Tableau Public," but it could also be a company's website or a news organization's site.
• URL: This one's easy — it's the web address you use to access the dashboard. Copy the full hyperlink.
• Data Source(s): This is one of the most important components. Where did the numbers come from? A good dashboard creator will mention the data source, often in a note, caption, or "About" section. Examples include "U.S. Census Bureau," "Company sales data for Q3 2023," or "Kaggle Open Dataset." If it's not listed, it's acceptable to note that the source was not specified.

How to Cite Tableau in Common Formats

Once you have your information, you can format it according to your required citation style. Let's look at the three most common ones: APA, MLA, and Chicago.

APA Style (7th Edition)

APA is widely used in social sciences and business. The format emphasizes the author and date of publication. For online dashboards, which can change, it's also helpful to include a retrieval date.

General Format: Author, A. A. or Organization Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of the dashboard [Interactive dashboard]. Publishing Platform. Acknowledgment of data source if available. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Example: Pew Research Center. (2022, August 15). Teen Social Media Use [Interactive dashboard]. Tableau Public. Data from a 2022 survey of U.S. teenagers. Retrieved October 26, 2023, from https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/pewresearch/viz/TeenSocialMediaUse2022/Dashboard

MLA Style (9th Edition)

MLA is common in the humanities. Its format is based on a flexible system of "containers." For a Tableau dashboard, the visualization is the title of the work, and the website (like Tableau Public) is the "container."

General Format: Author Last Name, First Name or Organization. "Title of Visualization." Title of Website/Platform, Publication Date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

Example: Doe, John. "Global CO2 Emissions by Country, 1990-2020." Tableau Public, 12 Apr. 2023, public.tableau.com/app/profile/johndoe/viz/GlobalCO2Emissions/Dashboard. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

Chicago Style (17th Edition - Notes and Bibliography)

Chicago style, often used in history and some other humanities, uses footnotes or endnotes along with a bibliography. The note is designed for the first reference in your text, while the bibliography entry is for your complete list of sources at the end.

Full Note Format:

1. Author First Name Last Name, "Title of Dashboard," Publishing Platform, Publication Date, accessed Month Day, Year, URL.

Bibliography Format: Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Dashboard." Publishing Platform. Publication Date. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL.

Example Note:

1. Samantha Creative, "Superstore Sales Analysis," Tableau Public, June 5, 2023, accessed October 26, 2023, https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/samanthacreative/viz/SuperstoreSalesAnalysis/Overview.

Example Bibliography Entry: Creative, Samantha. "Superstore Sales Analysis." Tableau Public. June 5, 2023. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/samanthacreative/viz/SuperstoreSalesAnalysis/Overview.

Best Practices for Citing Interactive Dashboards

Citing an interactive dashboard comes with a few unique challenges compared to a static book. Here are some extra tips to make your citations as useful as possible.

• Be Specific About What You Saw: An interactive dashboard is not static. If your analysis depends on a specific filter, view, or section of the dashboard, mention it in the text of your report. For example, you might write: "According to the dashboard, sales in the Western region for Q3 2023 were $87,500 (see Doe, 2023)."
• Include the Data Source in Your Text: Even if it's in the full citation, explicitly mentioning the original data source adds immediate credibility. Example: "The visualization, which uses data from the World Bank, shows a clear trend..."
• Pinpoint the Access Date: Web content, especially live dashboards, can be updated or removed. Including the date you accessed the information provides a timestamp for the version of the data you used. This is why it’s included in almost every style guide for web sources.
• Taking a Screenshot? Cite It!: If you include a screenshot of the Tableau dashboard in your presentation or report, use a caption to provide a brief citation right below the image. For example: "Figure 1. West Coast Sales Performance, Q3 2023. Sourced from Smith (2023) [Tableau dashboard]."

Final Thoughts

Properly citing a Tableau dashboard is a small step that adds enormous professional credibility and clarity to your work. By gathering the author, title, date, URL, and underlying data source, you can confidently apply standard formats like APA, MLA, or Chicago to acknowledge the source of your insights.

One of the most important — and sometimes difficult — parts of citing a dashboard is identifying all the underlying data sources. A lot of friction in data analysis comes from the manual work of pulling data from multiple platforms, like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Google Ads, and trying to stitch it together. We built Graphed to remove that headache. Because we connect directly to all your data sources in real time, you always have a single, unified view of performance. And by creating dashboards with simple natural language, you can generate the exact visualizations you need in seconds, making the whole process of analysis — and citation — infinitely easier.