How to Cite Tableau in APA

Citing a Tableau dashboard in your research paper or report can feel like a tricky gray area, but the APA style provides a clear framework for handling it correctly. Properly citing your sources not only gives credit where it's due but also adds a layer of professionalism and transparency to your work. This article will walk you through the exact steps to create both reference list entries and in-text citations for Tableau visualizations.

Why Citing a Tableau Visualization Matters

Before jumping into the formats, it’s worth understanding why this is an important step. Academic integrity requires you to acknowledge the tools and data you use to arrive at your conclusions. Citing a Tableau visualization accomplishes a few key things:

• Transparency: It shows your reader exactly how you analyzed and presented your data, which makes your methodology clear.
• Credit: If you're using a dashboard created by someone else (e.g., from Tableau Public), citing it properly gives intellectual credit to the creator.
• Avoiding Plagiarism: It ensures you aren't presenting someone else's data analysis or visualization design as your own.

The Core Components of an APA 7 Citation

According to the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual, a citation for something like a Tableau dashboard - which can be considered both software output and visual work - needs four key pieces of information:

1. Author: Who created the visualization? This could be an individual, a group, or an organization. If you created it yourself for an unpublished paper, you are the author.
2. Date: When was the visualization published or created? Use the most specific date available.
3. Title: What is the specific title of the dashboard or worksheet? The title should be italicized. If it doesn't have a formal title, create a brief, descriptive one.
4. Source: Where can a reader find this visualization? If it's published online, this would be the URL. If it's an unpublished work you created for your paper, its source is you.

Additionally, you’ll add a bracketed description, like [Tableau dashboard] or [Tableau visualization], to help your reader understand what kind of source it is.

How to Create the Reference List Entry

The format of your reference list entry depends on where the Tableau visualization comes from. Here are the most common scenarios.

Citing Your Own Unpublished Tableau Visualization

If you created a Tableau visualization yourself for a course paper, internal report, or dissertation that isn't formally published, you are the author. The work is considered "unpublished." It's also important to remember that you must separately cite the datasets you used to create the visualization.

General Format:

Author, A. A. (Year). *Title of the visualization* [Tableau visualization]. Unpublished work.

Example:

Doe, J. (2023). *Correlation between ad spend and lead generation in Q3* [Tableau worksheet]. Unpublished work.

In this case, Jane Doe built the chart herself for a project, so she lists herself as the author and labels it as an unpublished work.

Citing a Tableau Visualization from a Website (e.g., Tableau Public)

This is a very common scenario. Many data analysts and organizations share their work on Tableau Public or their own websites. Here, you cite the creator and provide a link to the source.

General Format:

Author, A. A. or Group Name. (Year). *Title of the dashboard* [Tableau dashboard]. Website Name. URL

Example:

Ahmed, E. (2022). *The world's most-visited cities* [Tableau dashboard]. Tableau Public. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/eloraahmed/viz/TheWorldsMostVisitedCities/Trip

Citing a Tableau Visualization from Within a Published Article

If the Tableau visualization is presented as a figure within a journal article, report, or book, you don't need a separate reference list entry for the visualization itself. Instead, you simply cite the article where you found it. You'll refer to it in your text by its figure number as assigned in that original article (e.g., "...as shown in Smith's (2023) Figure 4...").

Correctly Formatting In-Text Citations

Every time you mention the visualization in your paper, you need to include an in-text citation that points the reader to the full reference list entry. You can do this in two ways:

1. Parenthetical Citation: Include the author and year in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

• Example: Analysis of traffic patterns revealed a significant increase in evening congestion (Ahmed, 2022).
• Example: The third quarter showed a strong relationship between advertising spend and inbound leads (Doe, 2023).

1. Narrative Citation: Weave the author's name into your sentence and place the year in parentheses directly after.

• Example: Ahmed's (2022) dashboard visualizes trends in global tourism over the last decade.
• Example: Doe's (2023) visualization confirmed the marketing team's initial hypothesis.

How to Label the Visualization in Your Document

Beyond the reference list and in-text citations, APA has specific guidelines for formatting figures - including screenshots of your Tableau dashboard - within the body of your paper.

Step 1: Figure Number and Title

Above the visualization, place the figure number in bold and the title on a separate line in italics and title case.

• On the first line: Figure 1
• On the second line: Quarterly Sales Performance by Product Category

Step 2: The Screenshot

Directly below the title, insert the image of your Tableau visualization. Ensure it’s high-resolution and easy to read.

Step 3: The Note

This is a critical step. Immediately below the visualization, add a note that describes the figure and contains attribution. The word "Note." should be in italics.

The note typically includes:

• A brief description of what the figure shows.
• A "Data from..." or "Adapted from..." line attributing the original source referenced in your reference list.
• Copyright information if applicable (often stating the copyright year and the name of the copyright holder).

Example of a complete figure layout:

Figure 1 Quarterly Sales Performance by Product Category

[Image of your Tableau bar chart would go here]

Note. The bar chart compares revenue streams from Software, Hardware, and Consulting services from Q1 through Q4. Adapted from Quarterly Sales Performance Dashboard [Tableau visualization], by J. Doe, 2023, Unpublished work.

Final Thoughts

Following these APA guidelines helps you present your Tableau work professionally and ethically. The process is straightforward once you have the key pieces of information: create the full entry for the reference list, use parenthetical or narrative citations in your text, and label the visualization correctly as a figure with a descriptive note.

While mastering academic citations for tools like Tableau is important, sometimes the goal is simply to get timely, actionable insights to your team, not publish a formal paper. That’s why we built Graphed. Instead of creating static visuals you need to screenshot and formally cite, you can connect your data sources, ask for a report in plain English, and share a live, interactive dashboard with your team in seconds. It bridges the gap between complex data and clear, quick decisions.