List of Tables, Figures, Schemes, Etc.

If you use tables, figures, schemes, or other non-text items in your disquisition chapters, then you also need to include a list of those items in the prefatory material.

All tables, figures, schemes, and non-text elements that appear in the text should be included in their respective prefatory lists.

Do not combine multiple types of items into the same list. For example, if you use both tables and figures in your disquisition, then you should include a List of Tables as well as a List of Figures.

If you use tables, figures, schemes, or non-text items in an appendix, then you must create a List of Appendix Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc. as well, which identifies the items in the appendices. (See our page on appendix material for an important exception to this requirement.) The List of Tables, List of Figures, etc. should list only the non-text items that appear in the chapters; the List of Appendix Tables, List of Appendix Figures, etc. should list only the non-text items that appear in any appendices.

Contents
  1. Formatting Requirements
  2. Quick Answers
  3. Common Issues
  4. Resources

Guidelines: Lists of Non-text Items

  • Order – The Lists appear after the Table of Contents. The List of Tables always appears before the List of Figures, which appear before the List of Appendix Tables, and so on. For more information, see Required Order of Elements. As prefatory material, these pages will use lower-case Roman numeral for page numbers.
  • Column headings – Each prefatory list must include two column headings that appear under the major heading and above the entries in the List: the name of the items being listed (like “Table” or “Figure”), and the page numbers on which the items appear (“Page”). The item column must be flush against the left margin, and the “Page” column must be flush against the right margin of the page. Each column heading should be underlined. See Figure 5 for an example of these columns and layout.
  • Alignment – Numbers for items must be aligned flush against the left margin and appear under the descriptive column heading. Page numbers must be aligned flush with the right margin, and appear under the “Page” column heading.
  • Justification – To avoid awkward gaps between words, do not justify the alignment.
  • Dot leaders – Use dot leaders to connect the last word of each title with the page number where that item appears.
  • Entries – List entries must be identical to the titles that appear in the text. This includes wording, punctuation, and capitalization. However, when an item title consists of multiple sentences, and the first complete sentence provides a description of the entire item (not just a component), then the entry in the prefatory List can end after the first complete sentence.
    • No label –The label of an item (like “Figure” or “Table”) should not be included in the List entry, though the label must appear in the title of the item where it appears in the disquisition chapter.
    • Long entries – Do not allow entries to extend into the page number column. You might need to force a line break.
    • Subsequent lines – If the title for an entry is longer than one line, indent the subsequent lines to align with the first word of the title. Subsequent lines for an entry should not align with the number for that entry.
  • Numbering – Item numbers that appear in the descriptive column (“Table”, “Figure”, etc.) must be identical to the item numbers that appear in the disquisition chapters. For example, if the first figure that appears in the disquisition chapters is named as Figure 1.1, then the item number for that entry in the List of Figures must be 1.1.
  • Spacing – Set entries to be single spaced, with one line of space between each entry.
  • Automated lists – Microsoft Word can create automated lists, and automated lists are included in the NDSU disquisition templates. If you use automated lists, make sure that you follow the guidelines that are listed here.

Relevant Requirements:

  1. When viewing the Tags Pane, tags are visible.
  2. Content is tagged correctly.
  3. The document is bookmarked in a logical reading order.

A prefatory list's major heading should be tagged H1, like other major headings. The entries in a prefatory list should be tagged TOC.

Quick Answers

No. Only the first sentence--commonly understood to be the title--of an item needs to be included in its respective list. You can achieve this programmatically by placing the style separator after the first sentence of your captions:

  1. Enable formatting marks by clicking the pilcrow icon (¶) or pressing Ctrl+Shift+8.
  2. Place your cursor at the end of the first sentence and press Enter to create a line break.
  3. Place your cursor back at the end of the first sentence, then press Ctrl+Alt+Enter to insert a style separator. The line break will be removed and be replaced with the style separator (a pilcrow ¶ in a dotted box).
  4. Change the style of the text after the first sentence. For example, you could use the Table Note style for the additional text in a table's caption.
  5. Adjust line spacing settings as necessary.

For more information on how to use style separators, see this article.

First, if it's simply a formatting issue, try selecting the entire List and applying the List of Tables/Figures/Schemes/Etc. style from your document; if your document doesn't have one, you can copy the formatting from one of our templates. After applying the style, don't fret if extra dot leaders appear--you will need to manually insert tabs in front of the first word of each entry before it will look correct.

If you need to start from scratch, delete your old List of Stuff and insert a custom Table of Contents in its place the from the Reference tab -> Table of Contents button -> Custom Table of Contents. In the custom TOC dialog box that appears, enable the option for hyperlinks, then click the Options button to open a super crusty dialog box.

In the Table of Contents Options dialog box, make sure there are numbers only in the entries you want showing up in your List of Stuff. Have only the box for "Styles" enabled, then go through the list and place a "1" in the type of entry you want in your List; for example, for a List of Tables, only "NDSU Table Title" should have a 1 next to it and all other fields would be blank.

Once you have verified everything is good in the Options dialog box, click OK to save and close it, then click OK in the TOC creation dialog box to make the new List of Stuff. You may be asked if you want to replace your TOC--click "No".

Finally, apply the List of Tables/Figures/Schemes/Etc. style to the entries in the list and manually insert a tab before the first word of each entry. Be mindful of extra spaces before titles, and remove any bold font from item numbers or text, if present.

Issue: Prefatory List is Out of Alignment

Requirements:

  • Item numbers should be flush with the left 1" page margin, and page numbers should be flush with the right 1" page margin.
  • Do not include the item label in the entry, such as "table" or "figure".

When you update an automatically generated prefatory list, it may remove some or all of the default formatting, and you must reformat the entries.

First, select the entirety of the list and apply the List of Tables/Figures/Etc Entry style or use the settings in the image below.

Second, remove the item label, such as "table" or "figure"; we recommend using the replace function (CTRL+H) to quickly remove these labels from the list, but ensure that none of your titles include the same word elsewhere in the title before doing so.

Third, place a tab space in front of the entry's title, in order to create a uniform space between the item number column and the title column; be careful not to include additional spaces before the title, or your entries will be out of alignment. If you do not use tab spaces here and have more than nine items, the titles will be misaligned.

Paragraph settings for entries in prefatory lists.

Issue: Multi-line Titles Are Not Aligned

Requirements:

  • If an entry is longer than one line of text, subsequent lines should be aligned with the first word in the title, not the item number.

Using the default alignment scheme, entry titles are aligned in the title column at 0.5" (see the previous issue for more information). If any entries in your list are longer than a single line, you can select the entire list and set a hanging indent of 0.5" to force the subsequent lines to align with the first word in the title, as shown below.

Misaligned list entries
Paragraph settings for entries in prefatory lists.

Issue: Entries Extend into the Page Number Column

Requirements:

  • Entries should not extend into the page number column.

The page number column is 0.5" from the right page margin (page margins are 1" from the edge of the page). In order to prevent entries from extending into the page number column, select the entire list, then open the paragraph settings and set a right indent of 0.5". Alternatively, you can manually force a line break within the title of the entry, but we do not recommend doing so.

Entries should not extend into the page number column
Paragraph settings for entries in prefatory lists.

Center for Writers

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