Captions

All figures and tables must be captioned and numbered. As a rule, tables have headings, while figures or diagrams are provided with captions. These captions must be self-explanatory, i.e., each figure must be understandable from its caption without having to read the surrounding text. Reference all figures and tables in the text. Figures and tables without references in the text must not occur. Make sure that the caption is on the same page as the figure.

Ensure that the font size of the text in the figure resp. in the table is sufficiently large. For the figure itself, the principle applies: Often less is more – the essential content should be shown large and clearly. Therefore, crop figures appropriately if necessary.

Typical mistakes

• Low-quality mobile phone photos and poor scans are used. Instead, create clean, simple figures.
• Figure captions are missing or not self-explanatory.
• A large figure shows an important detail that is hardly visible. Rather crop the image and scale the essential detail larger. Always make sure that the figure quality is sufficient so that it does not become pixelated.

Frequently asked questions

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Possible word processing programs

You can write your thesis with any word processing program, e.g. Open Office Writer or MS Word. However, with large documents, mathematical formulas, and internal references, these programs reach their limits. As an alternative, LATEX is available, a professional typesetting program that is (not only in many Linux distributions) available free of charge.

Getting started with LATEX can be somewhat tedious at the beginning – but once you have overcome the initial hurdles, effective work with professional results is possible.

Getting started takes time, you don’t learn LATEX in just a few days.

In some semesters there is an elective lecture on this topic at the Faculty of EFI. The Regional Computer Center Erlangen (RRZE) of the FAU Erlangen also offers courses, which are also open to students of the TH Nuremberg.

Basic layout rules

No matter which option you choose: When it comes to the layout of a thesis, opinions often differ. If your professors (later publishers or companies) provide fixed guidelines (e.g. font Times in 11 pt with 1.3 line spacing), you should follow them strictly. However, often you can and should also express your own (good) taste. In doing so, you should know some of the rules for professional typesetting:

• The text should be consistent in its design features.
• Avoid extravagance and excessive individuality.
• The text body should be in a common font size. Fonts that are too large or too small are hard to read and also appear unprofessional (“page padding”). With 11 pt you are on the safe side for DIN A4.
• Serif fonts (e.g. Times New Roman) are easier to read in print works than sans-serif fonts (e.g. Arial) and are therefore preferable. For purely digital texts, sans-serif fonts like Arial are easier to read.
• Resist the temptation to play around with several fonts and many different font sizes (except for headings). This makes the text look restless and overloaded. Anyone who values professionalism selects a maximum of two basic fonts (e.g. Times for the body text, Arial for headings). The entire thesis should be created with this one chosen font and its corresponding italic. Other forms of emphasis (s p a c i n g, bold, ALL CAPS, or small caps) should be used sparingly and consistently.
• Underlining ruins the appearance of a page and is an absolute no-go in typesetting.

Frequently asked questions

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What do lists of tables or figures look like?

The lists contain a chronological compilation of the titles and page numbers of all figures or tables in the text. They are titled “List of Figures” or “Figures” or “List of Tables” or “Tables” and are not given a number in the table of contents.

Figures and tables are listed in separate listings, and these listings are also included in the table of contents with page numbers.

Examples for indexes

Make preparations

Before creating a list, all tables and figures in your text must be correctly labeled. The label includes the abbreviation “Fig.” along with a consecutive number, the title, and if necessary a short reference when you need to provide a source. For tables it is very uncommon to use the abbreviation “Tbl.”, so you should avoid this.

If you use MS Word, the labeling is done via the function Insert Caption. Enter a precise description (e.g. Table 1: Overview of the experimental results).

Number the labels automatically to keep the numbering consistent. Word will do this for you!

Create a list of tables and figures automatically

Once all tables and figures are labeled, you can have your word processing program create the lists automatically.

Place the cursor where the list should appear (e.g. after the table of contents). In MS Word, go to References → Insert Table of Figures and then choose the desired category Table or Figure. If necessary, you can still adjust the layout.

If you later add or move tables or figures, you should update the list. Click on the list and choose Update Table. Decide whether to update only the page numbers or the entire list.

Citing sources in captions for figures and tables

Figures and tables you include from your sources in your academic paper are treated the same way as direct quotes regarding citation – that is, they are given a short reference in the caption and a full citation in the bibliography.

Creating your own figures and tables

Of course, you can also create your own visual elements to support the understanding of the text. Figures and tables are inserted into the text and labeled appropriately.

Some lecturers want the caption to include the note: own illustration. Others consider this unnecessary because everything in your academic paper that is not cited is attributed to you. It’s best to ask!

The list of figures or tables is an optional part of the structure of a scientific paper.

Frequently asked questions

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