How can I reference a Google Map?
Answer
If you are including a screenshot of a Google Map in your work, you need to cite it.
For example, suppose you want to use an image of Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia from this URL: https://www.google.com.sg/maps/place/Cottesloe+Beach/@-31.9915838,115.7447451,2317m
In your bibliography, there would be an entry like this:
MLA Style:
Google Maps. "Cottesloe Beach." Satellite image. 2017, www.google.com.sg/maps/place/Cottesloe+Beach/@-31.9917039,115.7448814,2286m. Accessed 18 June 2017.
APA Style:
Google Maps. (2017). Cottesloe Beach. Satellite image. Retrieved from https://www.google.com.sg/maps/place/Cottesloe+Beach/@-31.9915838,115.7447451,2317m
The in-text citation for this map, whether in a caption or in the body of the text, would look like this:
MLA Style:
Blah blah blah (Google Maps).
APA Style:
Blah blah blah (Google Maps, 2017).
If you have more than one Google Map in your paper, then you would need to distinguish them in each in-text citation, e.g.,
Blah blah blah (Google Maps, "Cottesloe Beach").