Knowing how to cite BioRender comes down to one credit line: “Created with BioRender.com,” placed in the caption, references, or acknowledgments of your work. You only owe this credit when your figure uses BioRender’s own icons or templates, not when a figure is built entirely from your own uploaded content. If you export under a Publication License, you’ll also get a unique URL you can cite instead of, or alongside, the credit line.
Do You Need to Cite BioRender?
Whether a credit is required comes down to one question: does the figure include any BioRender icons, templates, or other library assets (“BioRender Content”)? If it does, you need to credit BioRender in any published or unpublished work, from a lab notebook diagram to a peer-reviewed manuscript. If your figure was built entirely from your own uploaded pictures and shapes, with nothing pulled from BioRender’s library, no credit is needed.
If you’re not sure whether a graphic counts, check the elements you dragged into the canvas. Anything sourced from BioRender’s built-in icon library or template gallery counts as BioRender Content, even if you resized, recolored, or rearranged it.
The Standard BioRender Citation
For any figure that uses BioRender Content, the required credit is “Created with BioRender.com”. If you exported under that plan, you’ll also have a unique link that readers can use to view the original figure, and either the credit line or the link satisfies the requirement. Full details on when each applies are covered in BioRender’s own citation guidance for BioRender figures. These rules apply to BioRender figures in any format: poster, thesis, or published paper.
- Figure caption
- References section
- Acknowledgments section
Complete credit: “Mouse Influenza Progression” made in BioRender. Smith, J. (https://biorender.com/shortURL) is shared under CC BY 4.0.
Incomplete credit: A caption that only says “Graphic made with an online diagramming tool”. This drops both the BioRender credit and the unique link, so it doesn’t meet the requirement.
How to Cite BioRender in APA Style
essayreply’s image citation guide covers the general APA rules for figures. BioRender follows the same pattern with its own fixed credit line. Use this format for a reference list entry and in-text credit:
| Element | Format |
|---|---|
| In-text credit | (Created with BioRender.com) |
| Figure caption | Figure 1. [Figure title]. Created with BioRender.com. |
| Reference list entry | BioRender. (2026). [Figure title] [Figure]. BioRender.com. https://biorender.com/shortURL |
You can build the reference entry manually with the APA citation generator, or compare it with essayreply’s guide to citing journal articles if your BioRender figure is going into a manuscript alongside other references.
Citing BioRender in a Thesis or Dissertation
University library guides treat BioRender the same way they treat any third-party design tool: credit it wherever the figure appears, and check your institution’s publishing requirements before submission. The University of Kansas Medical Center’s research guide on citing figures and illustrations notes that figures made with a Basic (free) BioRender plan can go into an unpublished thesis or dissertation with a standard credit, but a chapter that will later be published as a peer-reviewed manuscript may need a Publication License first. Confirm the requirement with your graduate office before you submit.
Citing an AI-Modified or Adapted BioRender Figure
If you use BioRender’s AI tools to draft or restyle a figure from scratch, the standard credit line still applies. The exception is when your AI-edited figure is based on an existing third-party original, such as an anatomy textbook illustration or a previously published figure. In that case, credit both: acknowledge BioRender for the tool, and reference the original material for the underlying content, using a line like “Adapted from [Original Source] and created with BioRender.com”.
Common Mistakes When Citing BioRender
Most crediting problems come from skipping a step rather than getting the credit line wrong. Here are the ones that come up most often in published articles and student work.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Assuming any subscription allows publishing rights | That plan allows you to generate the unique link some publishers require. Confirm your plan covers it before submitting articles |
| Dropping the unique link for publication submissions | Include the figure’s unique link whenever a publisher explicitly asks for it |
| Forgetting to credit an adapted third-party original | Credit both BioRender and the original material when adapting existing content |
| Not checking publishing rights before downgrading a plan | Review BioRender’s plan-comparison page for how rights change if your subscription changes |
Citing BioRender for Posters, Social Media, and Unpublished Work
The credit requirement doesn’t change based on where the figure appears, only the level of formality. The table below shows the same core credit adapted to different formats, including presentation slides (see essayreply’s guide to citing a PowerPoint for the slide-specific formatting rules).
| Use case | What to include |
|---|---|
| Poster or conference presentation | The standard credit line, in the caption or footer |
| Thesis or dissertation | The standard credit line, or a unique link, per your library’s citing guide |
| Journal article | Unique link from a paid export, in the caption, references, or acknowledgments |
| Social media or YouTube | The standard credit line, in the post caption or video description |
| Personal or lab website | The standard credit line, near the figure |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a paid license just to cite BioRender?
No. Crediting BioRender with the standard credit line is free on any plan. A Publication License is only required when you want to publish a figure that uses BioRender Content in a scientific publication, and it’s what generates the unique URL some publishers ask for. See BioRender’s academic license terms for what each subscription tier covers.
What if my figure only uses my own uploaded pictures?
If nothing in the figure comes from BioRender’s icon library or templates, you don’t need to credit BioRender at all. The requirement only covers BioRender Content, not your own uploaded material. See essayreply’s guide to citing your own work if you’re reusing a figure you made previously.
Can I reuse a BioRender figure that someone else made and credited?
Yes, if it was shared under a CC BY plan. You can reuse, edit, or remix it as long as you keep the original creator’s attribution intact and add your own if you modify it, following the same credit format shown above.
Where exactly should the BioRender credit go?
Anywhere readers will naturally see it alongside the figure: the caption, the references section, or the acknowledgments. Publishers differ on which they prefer, so check your target publication’s author guidelines before you submit articles. If your plan or rights are unclear, BioRender’s support team can confirm which format applies, and their support articles cover publishing edge cases too.
For the same credit-line rules applied to other source types, browse essayreply’s full citation guide library.
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Terry is a Chicago-based writer and editor who creates practical, student-friendly guides on essay writing, research, and citation styles (APA, MLA, and Chicago). He’s spent 15+ years editing educational content and building clear examples that help readers apply rules without guessing. When he’s not revising drafts, he’s usually turning messy notes into clean outlines and hunting down the one detail everyone skips.