Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc.

Tables, figures, schemes, and other non-text items should be integrated into the text of your disquisition rather than grouped at the end of a chapter. All non-text items should be inserted at the first natural break point (between paragraphs or at the top or bottom of the page) after the first in-text reference; ideally, a non-text item should appear on the same page with its first in-text reference, but this is frequently not possible. All tables, figures, schemes, and other non-text items must have a label, number, and title, must fit within the page margins, and must have consistent styling across all occurrences of that type of item in the disquisition.

Our guidelines outline the general requirements for non-text items in your disquisition. Beyond these general requirements, we strongly recommend that non-text items in your disquisition follow the requirements of the style manual of your discipline (with respect to titles, borders, alignment, and so forth). For example, if your citations are formatted in APA style, then your table and figure titles and notes should also follow APA style. For more information about how to format tables, figures, schemes, and non-text items, refer to the style manual for your discipline.

Contents
  1. Formatting Requirements
  2. FAQ
  3. Troubleshooting
  4. Resources

Format Guidelines: Tables, Figures, Schemes, Etc.

  • Location - When you insert a table, figure, or non-text item into the text, try to do so as close to the first in-text reference as possible, and at a natural break on the page (at the top or bottom of a page, between pages, or between paragraphs). In other words, as much as possible, body paragraph text should not be interrupted by an item. If a non-text item cannot fit on the same page where it is mentioned, then move it to the next page.
  • Splitting items - If a table or figure can feasibly fit onto a single page (including its title and any notes), it should not be broken across two pages (some white space at the bottom of a page is acceptable to allow for this).
  • Multi-page items - Sometimes a non-text item simply cannot fit on a single page. When a table or figure continues over multiple pages, make sure that the title of the item appears on all pages of the item. On the subsequent pages, add the phrase “(continued)” to the end of the first sentence of the item title. When a table must extend for multiple pages, the header row of the table should appear at the top of the table on all subsequent pages.
  • Portrait vs landscape orientation – Tables, figures, and non-text items should appear in portrait orientation unless they are too large to fit within the required margins; then they can be converted to landscape orientation. However, the page numbers for such landscape items must appear in portrait orientation (on the landscape page, page numbers should appear in the left margin, centered vertically, and rotated 90 degrees). For an example of a landscaped figure, see Figure 3.
    • Note: If a table or figure appears in landscape orientation, only that table or figure (and its title/notes) may appear on the landscape-oriented page. Headings or paragraph text should not appear on a landscape page.
  • Numbering – All tables, figures, schemes, and non-text items must be labeled and numbered sequentially based on the type of item (such as “Table 1” and “Figure 1”). For example, you can have a “Table 1” and a “Figure 1”, but you cannot have two tables named “Table 1”.
    • There are two numbering scheme options. You can number the items sequentially according to the chapter in which they appear (such as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and so on). Alternatively, you can number the items in the order that they appear, regardless of chapter or section (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on). Whichever option is chosen, it should be used in all item types (i.e., a disquisition should not contain both a Table 1 and a Figure 1.1).
  • Titles – All tables, figures, schemes, and non-text items must have a label, number, and title (such as “Figure 1. Diagram of scientific method”) and must be included in the appropriate lists in the prefatory material. See the section on lists for how to format item titles within the appropriate list.
    • Long titles – When the title for a table, figure, scheme, or other non-text item is longer than one line, set it to be single spaced.
  • Font – The font used in the item titles must be same type as the rest of your disquisition.
    • In titles of tables, figures, schemes, etc., the font must be the same size and type as the text in the body paragraphs.
    • Within tables, the font must be the same type as the rest of your disquisition. The size can be reduced, if necessary, to fit the table onto a single page. Do not reduce the font by more than 4 pts; e.g., if your paragraph text is in 12 pt font, the smallest you may reduce your table text to have the table fit on a single page is 8 pt.
    • Within figures, schemes, and other non-text items, the font may be different from the rest of your disquisition. However, the text must be easily readable at 100% view size/zoom.
  • Formatting of item titles – The titles of tables and figures should follow the formatting rules for the style of your discipline. This includes capitalization (title case or sentence case), special formatting (like bold or italics), punctuation (after the item number and in the rest of the title), and location relative to the item being described (above or below). Note that the formatting must be consistent for all items of the same type throughout the disquisition. Refer to the style manual of your discipline for more information about how to format the titles of tables, figures, schemes, etc.
  • Alt-text– If your document contains images (such as figures, schemes, etc.), every image must have alt-text. Automatically generated alt-text is not sufficient to meet this requirement. See page 20 of the 2019 PDF Testing and Remediation Guide on the Section 508 website for more information on this process.
  • Margins – Tables, figures, schemes, and non-text items must fit in the required 1 inch margins. Non-text items that are too wide to fit in the margins of the page in portrait orientation can be placed on their own page in landscape orientation. However, the page numbers must still appear in portrait orientation. (This requirement ensures that when your disquisition is printed, all the page numbers will appear consistently and correctly.)
  • Spacing – Minimize the amount of blank space that appears before and after tables, figures, schemes, and other non-text elements. However, tables and figures and the titles for those items should be clearly distinguishable from the paragraph text.
  • Citations – Academic honesty is essential in all disquisitions. If you use a table, figure, or non-text item that is not your original design, you must cite the original source of the item, and ensure the appropriate copyright permissions to use the item have been obtained (if necessary). You may use an in-text citation in the text of the title or caption of the item, or you may include the citation as a footnote under the item. Refer to the style manual of your discipline for more information about citations of non-text items.
    • If you have adapted the design of a figure or non-text item from another source’s original design, then you must include the citation of the original source in the title or caption of the image and ensure the appropriate permissions to use the item have been obtained (if necessary). You must also state that your figure or image has been adapted from the original source.

Quick Answers

If you are reproducing content that is not from a government source, it is almost certainly copyrighted. You can reproduce copyrighted material in your document by acquiring permission to reproduce that content from the copyright holder. For journal articles or books, this is commonly an automated process. See our policy entry on copyright for more information.

Tables may be extended across pages with the following requirements. More information on splitting tables can be found in the troubleshooting section on this page.

  • Borders – The table must have a top and bottom border on all pages. (If your table did not originally have a top and/or bottom border, one must be added; with few exceptions, all tables should have a top and bottom border.)
  • Headers – The header row must be continued on all pages, so the reader can see what data each column represents.
  • Title – The table title must be continued on all pages, so your reader can identify it as being part of the same table.
    • The continued title should have the parenthetical "(continued)" added to the end of the first sentence of the title.
    • The continued titles should have the same table number. However, the table should only be listed once in the List of Tables, with the page number corresponding to the first page the table appears on.

Figures cannot be extended across pages. If the figure is large enough to fill the entire page, you may continue its title or notes onto a subsequent page with the following requirements. If the figure is composed of subfigures, see below.

  • On the page with the figure – The figure number and title of the figure must appear with the figure itself. Reduce the size of the figure as necessary to meet this requirement.
    • If the style manual of your discipline places the figure number and title below the figure, and if your figure title is more than one sentence, only the first sentence must be included.
  • On the page after the figure – The figure number and title of the figure should be continued, so your reader can identify that the subsequent text is related to the preceding figure. Figure caption/notes may be appended or added after the continued title.
    • Repeat the figure number and title in full and add the parenthetical "(continued)" to the end of the first sentence of the title.
      • If your style manual places the figure number and title on separate lines, such as APA, you may elect to repeat the figure number, the figure title, or both on the same line. Do not repeat the figure number and title on separate lines.
Subfigures

If you have a large figure that fits onto a single page but is composed of subfigures, we recommend breaking them up into new, distinct figures rather than trying to fit them all onto a single page. Note that text within figures must be readable at 100% zoom.

If your large figure is composed of subfigures and these subfigures extend across multiple pages, you must break them up into new, distinct figures that can each at least fit onto a single page.

When you insert a table or figure into the text, do so as close to the first in-text reference as possible (but not before), and at a natural break on the page, such as the top or bottom of a page, between pages, or between paragraphs. As such, non-text items should not immediately follow after a heading, as the item would not have been referenced yet.

If you refer to an appendix item within the chapters, you do not need to reproduce that item in both the chapters and the appendix. For example, you may suggest that your reader look to an appendix table for additional insight into a key result without having to include that appendix table in your results section.

Issue: Line Spacing

Line spacing issues are common, but easily resolved by cropping out extraneous whitespace from figures and using consistent style settings, such as those below. Since line spacing is a complex issue that relies on different components of your document to work together, the line spacing settings demonstrated here and provided in the templates cannot be taken as "one-size-fits-all" and will likely require you to modify them to fit the conventions of your discipline. For example, if you use figure titles above your figures rather below, if you have tables on landscaped pages, or if you have notes included with your non-text items, you will need to manage your line spacing options in different ways; refer to the requirements below.

Requirements:

  • There should be between 1-2 lines of space (roughly 12-24 pts of line spacing) between the top of the item, including its title if present, and the paragraph text, heading, or non-text item. The amount of space below the item, including its title or notes if present, should be equal to the amount space above the item.
    • In order to help separate the textual elements of non-text items (titles, notes, etc) from the surrounding paragraph text, the Graduate School recommends 24 pts of line spacing above and below (including their title and notes) non-text items. However, this may not as simple as setting the line spacing to 24 pts; see the figures below for more information.
    • Do not include line spacing between non-text items and the top page margin.
  • The amount of space above and below an item should be consistent for all non-text items in your document.
  • There should be between 0-1 lines of space between the title and/or notes of an item and the item itself.

If you are using a template document, we recommend using the Graduate School's default styles (prefixed with "NDSU") to help manage the line spacing around and within tables, figures, schemes, and other non-text items. Using our template's styles for their respective items ensures consistent line spacing above and below items, but these styles will likely require modification because there is no "one-size-fits-all" formula since formatting conventions vary widely across disciplines--for example, if the style manual of your discipline places figure titles above the figure, you will need to accomodate the figure & figure title Word styles to accommodate this.

Additionally, you will also need to crop extraneous whitespace from your figures, which may contribute to the perception of extra line spacing. To do so, click on a figure, then select the Crop tool from the Picture tab, and crop the figure as necessary to minimize the amount of whitespace around the figure.

Figure Line Spacing Examples
Table Line Spacing Examples

Issue: Non-text Items at Top of New Pages Are Not Flush with Page Margin

Requirements:

  • All content in the disquisition should begin flush with the top 1” page margin.

This issue commonly presents itself for several reasons. First, you may need to enable "suppress extra line spacing at top of page" to prevent line spacing settings from pushing your content off of the top 1" page margin.

  1. Go to File on the ribbon.
  2. Click Options, near the bottom left.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Scroll down to the bottom and enable suppress extra line spacing at top of page (shown below).

The setting above for automatic suppression does not work for some text. Notably, table titles that are above tables on landscaped pages do not always have their line spacing automatically suppressed, and may require manual adjustment. In these cases, set the line spacing to 0 pts above in the paragraph settings for that text.

Suppress line spacing at the top of pages
Access this feature from File tab -> Options -> Advanced, then scroll down to the bottom.

Carriage returns or other line breaks may be present above the content. You can view formatting marks by enabling formatting marks by clicking the pilcrow icon (¶) in the Paragraph group on the Home tab or with hotkey CTRL+SHIFT+8. Once enabled, remove any extraneous carriage returns and line breaks. For content that must start at the top of a new page, such as a full page table or figure, we recommend setting "page break before" in the paragraph settings for that item instead of using carriage returns or line breaks because upstream formatting may change during your review.

Finally, whitespace within your figures may cause it to appear lower on the page. Extraneous whitespace should be removed from all images, using either the cropping tool in Word, found in the Size group on the Picture Format tab, or with the photo editor of your choice. Removing whitespace ensures figures are positioned correctly both horizontally and vertically on the page, and also reduces the file size of your document.

Issue: Items Unnecessarily Spanning Multiple Pages

  • If a table or figure can feasibly fit on a single page alongside its title and any accompanying notes, then do not break up that content across two pages.

Select the entire table or figure, including its title and notes, and set "keep lines together" within the Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph settings. Additionally, set "keep with next" for any accompanying text above the item, such as a title. If your table or figure has content below it, such as a figure title or table notes, enable "keep with next" for the table or figure itself to anchor it to the text.

Paragraph settings

Issue: Splitting Tables to Place a Continued Title and Header Row on Each Page

Requirements:

  • When a table continues over multiple pages, the title of the item should appear on all pages with the item. On subsequent pages, add the phrase “(continued)” to the end of the first sentence of the table title. This helps the reader to remember what information they are looking at, and that it is all part of the same table.
  • When a table must extend for multiple pages, the header row of the table should appear at the top of the table on the subsequent pages. This helps the reader remember what the columns of data represent.

This process is best undertaken late in your drafting process. It is reversible--you can remerge your table back together--but small shifts in content above your table may force you to re-split your table repeatedly if you split it early. Use the steps below to split a multi-page table. Despite having multiple continued titles, the table should only be listed once in the List of Tables and the page number should point to the first page of the table.

  1. Locate a good row at which to split the table. Ideal rows are ones that give you enough room for your title and don't cut off information awkwardly within your table. Next, place your cursor within that row, and navigate to the Table Tools -> Layout tab -> click Split Table button. Your table will continue onto the next page.
  2. Insert the continued title. Place your cursor above the table but not within the table, then type (or copy) your title into this space. Add the parenthetical phrase "(continued)" to the end of the first sentence of the title. For example: "Table 3.1. Yield data from FY2024-2025. (continued). Corn was significantly ..."
  3. Add the header row to the continued table. You cannot use the "Repeat header row" function within Word, and must add the header row manually by copying the header row from the first page of the table.
  4. If the table extends onto further pages, repeat steps 1-3.

The method above is the most straightforward method to split tables. There are alternative methods to split tables, such as by altering cell buffer size and borders; you're welcome to use whatever method you prefer, but your tables must be formatted consistently in accordance with our Format Guidelines. If you need technical assistance with your tables, please schedule a consultation with one of our graduate consultants.

Issue: Figure Extends Across Multiple Pages

Unlike tables, figures cannot be extended across pages. We recommend making figures as large as possible (or necessary), but the figure's number and first sentence of the figure caption (the figure title) must appear on the same page as the figure. If the figure has additional sentences within its caption/notes, they may continue onto a subsequent page with the following requirements. If the figure is composed of subfigures, see below for additional guidance.

  • On the page with the figure – The figure number and title of the figure must appear with the figure itself. Reduce the size of the figure as necessary to meet this requirement.
    • If the style manual of your discipline places the figure number and title below the figure, and if your figure title is more than one sentence, only the first sentence must be included. If the style manual of your discipline places the figure number and title above the the figure, conventionally the title is a single sentence already, and additional information is placed within the figure notes; if this is not the case, please contact the Disquisition Coordinator.
  • On the page after the figure – The figure number and title of the figure should be repeated, so your reader can identify that the subsequent text is continued from the preceding figure. Additional figure caption/notes may be appended or added after the continued title.
    • Repeat the figure number and title in full and add the parenthetical "(continued)" to the end of the first sentence of the title.
      • If your style manual places the figure number and title on separate lines, such as APA, you may elect to repeat the figure number, the figure title, or both on the same line. Do not repeat the figure number and title on separate lines.
Subfigures

If your large figure is composed of many subfigures that all fit onto a single page, we often recommend breaking them up into new, distinct figures rather than trying to fit them all onto a single page. Larger figures are often easier to read and parse for readers. Note that among other accessibility requirements, text within figures must be easily readable at 100% zoom.

If your large figure is composed of subfigures and these subfigures extend across multiple pages, you must break them up into new, distinct figures that can each at least fit onto a single page; unlike tables, figures may not be subdivided across pages--only their caption text may extend across pages, as described above.

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