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Thesis and Dissertation Appendicies – What to Include

• By DiscoverPhDs
• August 12, 2020

An appendix is a section at the end of a dissertation that contains supplementary information. An appendix may contain figures, tables, raw data, and other additional information that supports the arguments of your dissertation but do not belong in the main body.

It can be either a long appendix or split into several smaller appendices. Each appendix should have its own title and identification letters, and the numbering for any tables or figures in them should be reset at the beginning of each new appendix.

Purpose of an Appendix

When writing the main body of your dissertation, it is important to keep it short and concise in order to convey your arguments effectively.

Given the amount of research you would have done, you will probably have a lot of additional information that you would like to share with your audience.

This is where appendices come in. Any information that doesn’t support your main arguments or isn’t directly relevant to the topic of your dissertation should be placed in an appendix.

This will help you organise your paper, as only information that adds weight to your arguments will be included; it will also help improve your flow by minimising unnecessary interruptions.

Note, however, that your main body must be detailed enough that it can be understood without your appendices. If a reader has to flip between pages to make sense of what they are reading, they are unlikely to understand it.

For this reason, appendices should only be used for supporting background material and not for any content that doesn’t fit into your word count, such as the second half of your literature review .

What to Include in a Dissertation Appendix

A dissertation appendix can be used for the following supplementary information:

Research Results

There are various ways in which research results can be presented, such as in tables or diagrams.

Although all of your results will be useful to some extent, you won’t be able to include them all in the main body of your dissertation. Consequently, only those that are crucial to answering your research question should be included.

Your other less significant findings should be placed in your appendix, including raw data, proof of control measures, and other supplemental material.

Details of Questionnaires and Interviews

You can choose to include the details of any surveys and interviews you have conducted. This can include:

• An interview transcript,
• A copy of any survey questions,
• Questionnaire results.

Although the results of your surveys, questionnaires or interviews should be presented and discussed in your main text, it is useful to include their full form in the appendix of a dissertation to give credibility to your study.

Tables, Figures and Illustrations

If your dissertation contains a large number of tables, figures and illustrative material, it may be helpful to insert the less important ones in your appendix. For example, if you have four related datasets, you could present all the data and trend lines (made identifiable by different colours) on a single chart with a further breakdown for each dataset in your appendix.

Letters and Correspondence

If you have letters or correspondence, either between yourself and other researchers or places where you sought permission to reuse copyrighted material, they should be included here. This will help ensure that your dissertation doesn’t become suspected of plagiarism.

List of Abbreviations

Most researchers will provide a list of abbreviations at the beginning of their dissertation, but if not, it would be wise to add them as an appendix.

This is because not all of your readers will have the same background as you and therefore may have difficulty understanding the abbreviations and technical terms you use.

Note: Some researchers refer to this as a ‘glossary’, especially if it is provided as an appendix section. For all intended purposes, this is the same as a list of abbreviations.

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How to Format a Dissertation Appendix

In regards to format, you can include one lengthy appendix or structure it into several smaller appendices.

Although the choice is yours, it is usually better to opt for several different appendices as it allows you to organise your supplementary information into different categories based on what they are.

The following guidelines should be observed when preparing your dissertation appendices section:

• Each appendix should start on a new page and be given a unique title and identifying letter, such as “Appendix A – Raw Data”. This allows you to more easily refer to appendix headings in the text of your main body should you need to.
• Each appendix should have its own page numbering system, comprising the appendix identification letter and the corresponding page number. The appendix identification letter should be reset for each appendix, but the page number should remain continuous. For example, if ‘Appendix A’ has three pages and ‘Appendix B’ two pages, the page numbers should be A-1, A-2, A-3, B-4, B-5.
• The numbering of tables and figures should be reset at the beginning of each new appendix. For example, if ‘Appendix A’ contains two tables and ‘Appendix B’ one table, the table number within Appendix B should be ‘Table 1’ and not ‘Table 3’.
• If you have multiple appendices instead of a single longer one, insert a ‘List of Appendices’ in the same way as your contents page.
• Use the same formatting (font size, font type, spacing, margins, etc.) as the rest of your report.

Example of Appendices

Below is an example of what a thesis or dissertation appendix could look like.

Referring to an Appendix In-Text

You must refer to each appendix in the main body of your dissertation at least once to justify its inclusion; otherwise, the question arises as to whether they are really needed.

You can refer to an appendix in one of three ways:

1. Refer to a specific figure or table within a sentence, for example: “As shown in Table 2 of Appendix A, there is little correlation between X and Y”.

2. Refer to a specific figure or table in parentheses, for example: “The results (refer to Table 2 of Appendix A) show that there is little correlation between X and Y”.

3. Refer to an entire appendix, for example: “The output data can be found in Appendix A”.

Appendices vs Appendixes

Both terms are correct, so it is up to you which one you prefer. However, it is worth noting that ‘appendices’ are used more frequently in the science and research community, so we recommend using the former in academic writing if you have no preferences.

Where Does an Appendix Go?

For a dissertation, your appendices should be inserted after your reference list.

Some people like to put their appendices in a standalone document to separate it from the rest of their report, but we only recommend this at the request of your dissertation supervisor, as this isn’t common practice.

Note : Your university may have its own requirements or formatting suggestions for writing your dissertation or thesis appendix. As such, make sure you check with your supervisor or department before you work on your appendices. This will especially be the case for any students working on a thesis.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a list of figures and tables.

A list of figures and tables compiles all of the figures and tables that you used in your thesis or dissertation and displays them with the page number where they can be found.

Frequently asked questions: Dissertation

When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

The results chapter or section simply and objectively reports what you found, without speculating on why you found these results. The discussion interprets the meaning of the results, puts them in context, and explains why they matter.

In qualitative research , results and discussion are sometimes combined. But in quantitative research , it’s considered important to separate the objective results from your interpretation of them.

Results are usually written in the past tense , because they are describing the outcome of completed actions.

The abstract appears on its own page, after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

Avoid citing sources in your abstract . There are two reasons for this:

• The abstract should focus on your original research, not on the work of others.
• The abstract should be self-contained and fully understandable without reference to other sources.

There are some circumstances where you might need to mention other sources in an abstract: for example, if your research responds directly to another study or focuses on the work of a single theorist. In general, though, don’t include citations unless absolutely necessary.

The abstract is the very last thing you write. You should only write it after your research is complete, so that you can accurately summarize the entirety of your thesis or paper.

An abstract is a concise summary of an academic text (such as a journal article or dissertation ). It serves two main purposes:

• To help potential readers determine the relevance of your paper for their own research.
• To communicate your key findings to those who don’t have time to read the whole paper.

Abstracts are often indexed along with keywords on academic databases, so they make your work more easily findable. Since the abstract is the first thing any reader sees, it’s important that it clearly and accurately summarises the contents of your paper.

A theoretical framework can sometimes be integrated into a  literature review chapter , but it can also be included as its own chapter or section in your dissertation . As a rule of thumb, if your research involves dealing with a lot of complex theories, it’s a good idea to include a separate theoretical framework chapter.

A literature review and a theoretical framework are not the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably. While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work, a literature review critically evaluates existing research relating to your topic. You’ll likely need both in your dissertation .

While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work based on existing research, a conceptual framework allows you to draw your own conclusions, mapping out the variables you may use in your study and the interplay between them.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organise your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation, such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

Your list of tables and figures should go directly after your table of contents in your thesis or dissertation.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, dictionaries are more general collections of words.

Glossaries are not mandatory, but if you use a lot of technical or field-specific terms, it may improve readability to add one to your thesis or dissertation. Your educational institution may also require them, so be sure to check their specific guidelines.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, an index is a list of the contents of your work organised by page number.

Definitional terms often fall into the category of common knowledge , meaning that they don’t necessarily have to be cited. This guidance can apply to your thesis or dissertation glossary as well.

However, if you’d prefer to cite your sources , you can follow guidance for citing dictionary entries in MLA or APA style for your glossary.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and is intended to enhance their understanding of your work.

APA doesn’t require you to include a list of tables or a list of figures . However, it is advisable to do so if your text is long enough to feature a table of contents and it includes a lot of tables and/or figures .

A list of tables and list of figures appear (in that order) after your table of contents, and are presented in a similar way.

Copyright information can usually be found wherever the table or figure was published. For example, for a diagram in a journal article , look on the journal’s website or the database where you found the article. Images found on sites like Flickr are listed with clear copyright information.

If you find that permission is required to reproduce the material, be sure to contact the author or publisher and ask for it.

Lists of figures and tables are often not required, and they aren’t particularly common. They specifically aren’t required for APA Style, though you should be careful to follow their other guidelines for figures and tables .

If you have many figures and tables in your thesis or dissertation, include one may help you stay organised. Your educational institution may require them, so be sure to check their guidelines.

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When you place an order, you can specify your field of study and we’ll match you with an editor who has familiarity with this area.

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How to Use Tables and Figures effectively in Research Papers

• 3 minute read
• 44.1K views

Table of Contents

Data is the most important component of any research. It needs to be presented effectively in a paper to ensure that readers understand the key message in the paper. Figures and tables act as concise tools for clear presentation . Tables display information arranged in rows and columns in a grid-like format, while figures convey information visually, and take the form of a graph, diagram, chart, or image. Be it to compare the rise and fall of GDPs among countries over the years or to understand how COVID-19 has impacted incomes all over the world, tables and figures are imperative to convey vital findings accurately.

So, what are some of the best practices to follow when creating meaningful and attractive tables and figures? Here are some tips on how best to present tables and figures in a research paper.

Guidelines for including tables and figures meaningfully in a paper:

• Self-explanatory display items: Sometimes, readers, reviewers and journal editors directly go to the tables and figures before reading the entire text. So, the tables need to be well organized and self-explanatory.
• Avoidance of repetition: Tables and figures add clarity to the research. They complement the research text and draw attention to key points. They can be used to highlight the main points of the paper, but values should not be repeated as it defeats the very purpose of these elements.
• Consistency: There should be consistency in the values and figures in the tables and figures and the main text of the research paper.
• Informative titles: Titles should be concise and describe the purpose and content of the table. It should draw the reader’s attention towards the key findings of the research. Column heads, axis labels, figure labels, etc., should also be appropriately labelled.
• Adherence to journal guidelines: It is important to follow the instructions given in the target journal regarding the preparation and presentation of figures and tables, style of numbering, titles, image resolution, file formats, etc.

Now that we know how to go about including tables and figures in the manuscript, let’s take a look at what makes tables and figures stand out and create impact.

How to present data in a table?

For effective and concise presentation of data in a table, make sure to:

• Combine repetitive tables: If the tables have similar content, they should be organized into one.
• Divide the data: If there are large amounts of information, the data should be divided into categories for more clarity and better presentation. It is necessary to clearly demarcate the categories into well-structured columns and sub-columns.
• Keep only relevant data: The tables should not look cluttered. Ensure enough spacing.

Example of table presentation in a research paper

For comprehensible and engaging presentation of figures:

• Ensure clarity: All the parts of the figure should be clear. Ensure the use of a standard font, legible labels, and sharp images.
• Use appropriate legends: They make figures effective and draw attention towards the key message.
• Make it precise: There should be correct use of scale bars in images and maps, appropriate units wherever required, and adequate labels and legends.

It is important to get tables and figures correct and precise for your research paper to convey your findings accurately and clearly. If you are confused about how to suitably present your data through tables and figures, do not worry. Elsevier Author Services are well-equipped to guide you through every step to ensure that your manuscript is of top-notch quality.

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Formatting Requirements

Tables, figures and illustrations.

Tables, figures, illustrations, and other such items should be identified with the word "Table", "Figure", or other appropriate descriptor, and include a title and/or caption. The title or caption must be included in the List of Tables, List of Figures, or other list.

You must use a consistent format for titles and captions of tables, figures, illustrations, and other such items throughout the thesis.

• lettering in tables and figures should be at least 2 mm high to ensure that the information is easy to read
• tables, figures, illustrations, and other such items must have titles or captions, and must be numbered
• titles or captions can go either above or below the table, figure, or illustration
• headings must be repeated on the second and subsequent pages of tables that split over two pages or more
• tables should be split at an appropriate place, e.g. just before a new subheading
• the format for titles and captions of tables, figures, illustrations, and other such items must be consistent throughout the thesis.

Tables, figures, illustrations and other such items must be numbered consecutively in order of appearance within the thesis.

There are two methods for numbering Tables, Figures and other items:

• sequentially throughout the thesis, e.g. 1, 2, 3…
• chapter number first, then numbered sequentially within each chapter, e.g.:

Tables in Chapter 1: Table 1.1, 1.2, 1.3…

Figures in Chapter 3: Figure 3.1, 3.2, 3.3…

Whichever method you choose, the numbering style must be the same for all numbered items; for example: Table 1.1 and Figure 1.3, or Table 1 and Figure 3, not Table 1 and Figure 1.3.

Tables and figures in the Appendices may be labelled A1, A2, etc.

There are three acceptable locations for tables and figures:

• within the chapter immediately following first reference to them
• grouped at the end of the relevant chapter
• grouped at the end of the thesis before the bibliography

Whichever method you choose, you must be consistent.

If your tables and figures are grouped at the end of the thesis, you must include an entry in the table of contents that directs the reader to their location.

If the caption for a figure, table, etc., will not fit on the same page as its accompanying illustration, place the illustration on a separate page.

Reproducing and Reducing

Copying and/or reducing the size of figures (e.g. charts, drawings, graphs, photographs, maps, etc.) may make certain images illegible. After reduction, all lettering must be large enough to fulfill the font size requirements, and must be clear and readable.

Copyrighted Material

If you remove copyrighted tables, figures, or illustrations from your thesis you must insert the following at the spot where the table, figure, or illustration previously appeared:

• A statement that the material has been removed because of copyright restrictions
• A description of the material and the information it contained, plus a link to an online source if one is available
• A full citation of the original source of the material

See the Theses and Dissertations Guide “ Unable to get Permission? ”

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Figures and tables.

Refer to the Sample (Straight Numbering) or Sample (Decimal Numbering) pages as you read through this section.

A thesis may include tables, figures, photographs, musical examples, charts, graphs, line drawings, maps, and other illustrative materials. In addition, a thesis may include statements such as definitions, corollaries, lemmas, theorems, propositions, and schemes. For the following discussion about numbering and placement, these items will be called figures.

• All figures must fit within the minimum 1-inch margins. Theses with any material extending beyond these margins will not be accepted for deposit.
• Figures must be numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis. Students may choose from one of two options:
• A straight sequence (1, 2, 3, etc.). (Using this method, continue figure numbering from the previous chapter. Do not re-start the numbering at 1.)
• The decimal system (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, etc.), in which the first digit corresponds to the chapter number and the digit after the decimal point is the figure number within the chapter. (Do not number figures by section (e.g., 1.2.1, 1.3.2, or the like. Using this method, figures in Appendix A, B, C, and so forth would be numbered A.1, A.2, B.1, B.2, C.1 and so on.)
• Each type of content (figures, tables, etc.) should be numbered independently.
• Figure captions may be single-spaced and are not required to be set in the same font style or size as that of the main text.
• Figure captions should appear on the same page as the figure to which they refer.

Figure Placement

• Figures should not be placed out of the order in which they are numbered.
• If figures are grouped at the end of a chapter or the main text, each figure may be placed on a separate page.
• Multiple figures may be placed on the same page as long as doing so does not compromise their legibility.
• Figures grouped at the end of a chapter are considered a section, the first page of which should display the appropriate section heading (i.e., “Figures”, “Tables”, “Figures and Tables”, etc.).
• Figures grouped at the end of the main text are considered a chapter, the first page of which should display the appropriate chapter title (i.e., “Figures”, “Tables”, “Figures and Tables”, etc.).
• Do not add figure callouts (i.e., <place Figure 2.1 about here>) anywhere in the thesis.

Multiple-Page Figures

• Every page containing part of a multiple-page figure must include at least an abbreviated figure label such as “Figure 2.5 (cont.)”.
• The figure caption is only required to appear once; an abbreviated label may be used on subsequent pages.

Rotated Figures

• Page numbers, headings, captions, and titles may be rotated with the figure.

Color Figures

Use of color in the thesis is acceptable. However, because theses may be converted to black-and-white if they are archived on microfilm or partially reproduced on a black-and-white printer, labels, symbols and other data within figures should be identified through other means than the use of color.

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Formatting your thesis: Tables, figures, illustrations

On this page

Tables, figures, illustration requirements and tips, table specifications, figures and other image specifications, image resolution and formatting, using images and objects from other publications.

• Include captions/titles/headings for tables, figures, and other illustrations as paragraph text. This allows captions and headings to be populated into the Table of Contents (ToC) or the lists that appear after the ToC.
• The maximum width for objects on a portrait page is 6 inches (15.24 cm).
• Text wrapping should be set to “In Line with Text” (no wrapping).
• notes, if any
• Source notes or footnotes for tables/figures/illustrations are inserted manually. Insert the note in the paragraph directly below the table or figure.
• Font: Arial Narrow 11pt (default), Arial Narrow 10pt [minimum size].
• To change the font or line spacing for tables see the Thesis Template Instructions .
• Font: Text in image files should follow the overall Font Specifications and be large enough to be read when inserted into the document. The font in images should appear  to be the same size as the text in your thesis.
• For example, an image 6 inches wide should be 1800 pixels wide to produce an equivalent resolution of 300 ppi. 6 inches X 300ppi = 1800px.
• ​ For best results, insert images as flattened .tif, .png, or high quality .jpg files.
• ​ Crop as closely as possible around the image to remove blank space and maximize the size. This can be done in Word or in an image editor like Photoshop or Fireworks.
• Landscape images on a portrait page should be rotated with the top of the image to the left.

If your thesis incorporates images, photos, maps, diagrams, etc., not created by you, copyright permission must be obtained from the copyright holder of those works to use their content within your thesis.  A copy of each permission must be uploaded to the Thesis Registration System.

See  Copyright at SFU  for instructions on how to obtain copyright permissions.

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Figures and tables

Figures and tables (display items) are often the quickest way to  communicate large amounts of complex information that would be complicated to explain in text.

Many readers will only look at your display items without reading the main text of your manuscript. Therefore, ensure your display items can stand alone from the text and communicate clearly your most significant results.

Display items are also important for  attracting readers  to your work. Well designed and attractive display items will hold the interest of readers, compel them to take time to understand a figure and can even entice them to read your full manuscript.

Finally, high-quality display items give your work a  professional appearance . Readers will assume that a professional-looking manuscript contains good quality science. Thus readers may be more likely to trust your results and your interpretation of those results.

When deciding which of your results to present as display items consider the following questions:

• Are there any data that readers might rather see as a display item rather than text?
• Do your figures supplement the text and not just repeat what you have already stated?
• Have you put data into a table that could easily be explained in the text such as simple statistics or p values?

Tables are a concise and effective way to present large amounts of data. You should design them carefully so that you clearly communicate your results to busy researchers.

The following is an example of a well-designed table:

• Clear and concise legend/caption
• Data divided into categories for clarity
• Sufficient spacing between columns and rows
• Units are provided
• Font type and size are legible

• A  figure is a graphic illustration of information, such as a line drawing, a graph, a map, a photograph, a plate, or a chart.
• A table is a graphic that contains a systematic arrangement of facts or numbers in rows and columns.
• All figures and tables must be numbered and have a descriptive caption, including figures and tables in the appendix.
• All figures and tables must be listed in the List of Figures or List of Tables.
• Figure numbers and captions appear below the figure.
• Table numbers and captions appear above the table.
• Captions are always single spaced, including the entry in the List of Figures or List of Tables.
• Do not make the mistake of choosing one style for your table captions and another style for your figure captions (i.e. do not make your table captions flush with the left margin and make your figure captions centered on the page).
• Do not split a caption over 2 pages. If the caption will not fit, you will need to select one of the options below to fill the white space or handle oversize figures/tables.
• Captions must be in the same font (e.g., Times Roman)as the main text of the thesis.
• Captions must be the same size font (i.e.10-12 point) as the main text of the thesis (do not make captions smaller).
• Captions are NOT in bold font
• Captions are NOT in italic font

Numbering a figure or table

• Figures and tables are numbered  consecutively throughout the text of the thesis.
• For example, The 1st figure in chapter 2 would  be Figure 2.1 &  the next figure would be Figure 2.2, etc.
• Related figures may be identified either by using the same number with a lower case letter (Figure 4.3a, Figure 4.3b), or by different numbers (Figure 4.3, Figure 4.4).
• Numbers for figures or tables that appear in appendices are preceded by the capital letter identifying the appendix, as in Figure A.3 or Table C.2.
• Do not make the mistake of numbering your figures and tables in the main text as 2.1, then numbering your figures and tables in the appendices as 2-1.

Placing a figure or table

• More than one table or figure may appear in sequence on a single page, if they represent sequential information.
• Use consistent line spacing to separate the figure or table from the preceding and following text.
• When caption text is too close to the main text, it can be difficult for the reader to tell the difference between the caption and the main text.
• Text must come before and after figures and tables, not top, around the side and under.
• Figures and tables must be placed one after the other (top of page to bottom of page)
• the caption for that table or illustration is centered (horizontally and vertically) alone on a separate preceding page.
• followed on the next page by the full-page table or figure
• first part will be labeled with (a) + the full caption (i.e. Figure 2.1a + caption)
• Do not split a single part (one image) figure over multiple pages.
• first part will be labeled normally (i.e. Table 2.1 + full caption
• each consecutive page will be labeled  with the Table + number + Continued (i.e. Table 2.1 Continued). If the table lists sources, the sources appear at the bottom of the first page.
• Stand alone figures or tables must be centered on the page both horizontally and vertically.
• More than one figure or table on a page does not make a stand alone figure or table, so if you have more than one figure or table on the page, you they either need to fill the page, or you need to add main text to the page.
• A figure or table too large to fit within the 6- inch by 9-inch text area may be reduced, but its caption font must be the same size and style as that used for the text in the rest of the thesis.
• A large figure or table that will not fit on a page and is not integral to the thesis may be uploaded as a supplemental file.

Landscape Figures and Tables

• Figures and tables that are formatted wider than they are high may be turned to fit on the page within all margins (landscape mode).
• The entire illustration, including its caption and sources, is turned so that the top of the illustration is parallel to and just inside the regular binding-side text margin (landscape orientation).
• The page number should be placed at the bottom of the figure or table, on the 11”side of the page (landscape orientation).
• This allows for optimum viewing on a computer screen.

Referring to a figure or table in the text

• All figures and tables included in the thesis must be referred to in the text of the thesis. The first reference in the text to a figure or table must precede it.
• If you cannot place a figure or table immediately after the text referencing the figure/table, tell the reader the page where  figure/table can be found. (i.e. See Figure 7.1 on page 10) 
• If two or more figures are referred to consecutively on one page, then they must follow on the page or the next pages consecutively.
• The text reference should identify a figure or table by number (e.g., write, “See Figure 7.1”), rather than by a relative location (e.g.  do not write, “In the following figure . . .”).

Guidelines for Using Figures and Tables in Your Research Manuscript [Free Downloadable Guide Included]

• Research Process
• Peer Review

In this article and downloadable resource, you will find information to help you determine what you should do if you would like to republish an image that has been previously published elsewhere by you or by another researcher, or publish an image that is similar to one previously published elsewhere.

Updated on February 13, 2019

If you created a figure or table to support your research, you may think that you are able to use it in as many publications as you want if the data are relevant. That is not always the case, however. Usually, the copyright permissions policies of the original publisher will determine if and how you may use it in future publications.

Use the questions below as a guide, or download this helpful resource created jointly by AJE and the Endocrine Society to find out if you need permission to use a figure and how you should provide attribution.

Are you using an original figure or table?

An original figure or table is one that you created and has not been published. If you would like to include an original figure or table in your manuscript, you do not need to ask permission or use attribution to use it. You can simply include the figure or table with your research manuscript when you submit it to the journal.

Are you using a reproduced figure or table?

A reproduced figure or table is an exact copy of a figure or table that has already been published by a journal or book, both in print and online. The figure may be one that was published in your manuscript, or it may be from another researcher's manuscript. A reproduced figure or table is not an original. To use a reproduced figure or table in a manuscript, you must receive permission from the owner of the copyright of the original figure or table, and you must also include attribution to the original source in your manuscript next to the reproduced figure or table. The owner of the copyright will often be the publisher of the original figure or table. In some journals, such as Endocrine Society journals, figures and tables used in most types of article may not be reproduced or adapted; only in reviews and mini-reviews may reproduced or adapted figures and tables be used.

Are you using an adapted figure or table?

An adapted figure or table is one that looks similar to a figure or table that has been previously published but has been changed slightly. To use an adapted figure or table in your manuscript, you must also obtain permission from the copyright owner (usually the original publisher) and provide attribution to the source that published the original figure or table. This must be done even if you created the original figure or table from which the new one has been adapted.

When you consider what figures and tables you would like to include with your manuscript, using an original figure is always the easiest, and many publishers require original figures for most article types. However, there may be data in a figure or table that has already been published that are essential to the discussion in the manuscript you're preparing. If this happens, and if the publisher allows the use of already published material, you have the option of using a reproduced or adapted version of the original figure or table and should consider which of these three types would work best for what you are communicating. If you decide to use already published material in a reproduced or adapted figure or table, it will be necessary to obtain the appropriate permissions and provide the correct attribution in the legend.

Theresa Somerville, BA

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Tips for Citing Figures and Tables in a Manuscript

During the preparation of your research article or thesis, you may choose to include figures and tables to illustrate key points. Similar to using information from a journal or other source, it is important that these items are correctly cited and listed in the references. If you created the table or image yourself, you would not include it in the reference list. You need to refer to the table or image two times. First, there should be, a brief mention of the table or figure in the text preceding its placement in your document. This should explain why the table or image was included or what major point the table or image is helping you to make. Just above the table or image, there should be an appropriate, descriptive title. The title should help the reader make sense of the information in the table or image.

If you are writing a thesis and there are many tables or figures, you would create a List of Figures and a List of Tables with their associated page numbers. Tables and scientific figures you have created would be included in these lists but excluded from your reference list. If you create a table based on data from other sources, the accompanying caption should detail the sources used. It may be appropriate, to use superscript numbers or letters to allow your readers to identify exactly which article or book each item in your table was first presented in, especially if this table was created using data from many sources. Again, depending on the format , you may be able to use the first column in your table to list the reference associated with data in each row.

Citing Others’ Tables

You may also choose to include scientific tables in your writing that have been obtained from other sources. In this case, in addition to mentioning the diagram in the text and giving it a descriptive caption, it would also need to be cited in the reference list. There are many variations in the way this is done so it is best to consult the style guide prescribed by the journal for which you are writing. This will help you to conform exactly to their preferences.

In general, the descriptive title will be placed near the table (either immediately above or below it, depending on the style used). The tables should be numbered sequentially. There should be an indication of the source of the table which may be included below the table. The information concerning the source should be enough to allow the reader to find the original source of the diagram. The author(s), year of publication, and the journal or book in which it was published should be included. If the scholarly article being written is made publicly available, then you should obtain permission from the original authors to reprint their data. The fact that you have permission to use the diagram should be included in the note below the table.

Note . Reprinted from “Title of Article,” by A. Surname, Year,  Journal Title, Volume (issue), page number. Copyright (year) by title of publisher.

Note.  Reprinted from  Title of Book  (p. xx), by A. Surname, Year, Place of Publication: Publisher. Copyright (year) by title of publisher.

If the diagram was obtained online, similar details will need to be provided along with the website from which the diagram was retrieved.

Note . A. Surname. (Year). Title of Webpage . [Table] Retrieved from http://www.sourceofdata.com .

The third place where the table should be mentioned is in the reference list. Much like the note below the table, as much detail as possible should be presented in the reference list. The only difference is that the phrase “reprinted from” would be excluded.

For example:

Surname, A. A., (year). Title of article.  Title of Journal, volume (issue) ,  page(s). Retrieved from URL (if the article was obtained online. Otherwise, this section would be omitted).

Citing Images

The purpose of citing an image, similar to citing a table, is to give credit to the original author for their work and allow your readers to find the original image. Like tables, images should be mentioned three times. The descriptive title and presentation in the reference list are similar to what is required for tables. The caption revealing the source is still placed below the image but the information in the caption can vary depending on your style guide.

Figure 1:   Questions the Literature Review can Answer (The Learning Centre 2007)  

Figure X . Descriptive title for figure. Reprinted from “Title of Article,” by A. Author, B. Author, and C. D. Author, Year,  Journal Title, Volume (issue), page number. Copyright (year) by title of publisher.

Figure X.  Descriptive title for figure. Reprinted from  Title of Book  (p. xx), by E. F. Author, Year, Place of Publication: Publisher. Copyright (year) by title of publisher.

Figure X.  Title of Image. Reprinted [or adapted] from  Title of Website,  by A. A. Author and B. B. Author, Year, Retrieved from URL. Copyright (year) by title of publisher.

Many authors are familiar with citing the ideas of others using a preferred citation style such as American Psychological Association’s style guide (APA) or the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). It is important to remember that photographs, diagrams, comic strips, and tables also represent intellectual property and need to be cited. The key to proper citation is to determine which reference citation style is preferred by the academic journal or university that you are writing for. Following that citation style guide closely will ensure that your diagrams are cited with the same level of precision as other ideas in your text.

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