TABLES AND FIGURES

All tables and figures must be numbered. In the thesis in manuscript format, restart the numbering in each chapter exactly as you would in a manuscript for submission to journal, and do not include a chapter number, i.e. Figure 3, and not Figure 2.3. In the monograph thesis, it is appropriate to include chapter number along with figure number.

In your introduction and discussion, tables and figures should appear at the most appropriate place in the text. In your manuscript chapters, you have a choice. You may either place them at the appropriate place in the text, or group them all at the end as you do when submitting to many journals, or place tables in the text and figures at the end. Placing them in the main body of the text has both advantages and disadvantages. Theoretically seeing the figures in table in the text provides context and makes it easier for your reader to follow your line of thought. In practice, unless your tables and figures are very neatly formatted, carefully placed and easily distinguished from the text, they often have the opposite effect by disrupting continuity and breaking up the text such that it ends up looking disjointed and the flow of thought is hard to follow. It is also very much easier to place tables and figures at the end of the chapter. When placed in the text, they frequently end up crossing pages, in the wrong place or with large expanses of white space before and after requiring much more work to make the thesis look professional.

Figures

Ensure that all figures are clear and of high quality. Do not use blurred or low quality images unless this is completely unavoidable. Low quality figures are not appreciated by examiners.

Tables

In our experience, tables are often very poorly thought out and presented. There is an art to making tables attractive and easy to read. This requires attention to both the content of the table and how it is formatted This is discussed in more detail elsewhere. Link to follow.

Each figure and table must be followed by a caption which begins with the word Figure or Table and its number, followed by a full stop and then by the title or description of the table or figure, and any additional explanation.

Here is a style which works well for captions.

Format font. Times new Roman numeral eleven points, regular, normal capitalisation. The word Figure or Table and its number may be formatted in bold type

Format paragraph. Spacing before 12 points points after 24 points. Line spacing 12 points. For one-line captions, use centre alignment for caption with indents left/right/special = 0, 0, none. However centre alignment looks clumsy captions extending over more than one line. For multi-line captions, rather use justified alignment and centre paragraph left and right indents such that the caption does not reach the left and right margins. This clearly distinguishes from the rest of the text. Adjust the indents such that the caption looks neat.