Figure and Table Captions
Table 1: This is a table. This caption is fine. It is left-justified, and captions can be either left-justified or centered. Also:
having part of a caption be one style (bold) and the other part be another style (not bold) is fine. You can also have captions
that are all bold, or not bold at all. HOWEVER: once you choose to center OR left-justify a caption, and once you choose a
font style, ALL captions from that point MUST be the same.
The Table’s
caption always
goes on top of
the table
Example of
a Table
Example of
a Figure
The Figure’s
caption is
always placed
below the table
Figure 1: This is a photograph. This caption is also fine, because it matches the previous caption.
It has the same font style, and it is also left-justified.
The caption’s “Font”, “Justification”
(whether it is left, right or center
justified) is same for all the tables
and figures through out the
dissertation or thesis.
Basic Rules about Consistency in Figure and Table Captions
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Figure 1: You can have centered captions for Figures and Tables, OR you can have left-justified
captions, but you cannot have both. If ONE caption is centered, then ALL captions have to be centered.
OR, if ONE caption is left-justified, then ALL captions have to be left-justified.
5
4
3
2
1
0
Series 1
Any of these options (leftjustified, centered, bold, italic,
etc.) are fine as long as they are
applied to EVERY caption for
EVERY Table and Figure. But
you cannot mix styles. If these
captions were all in the same
document, they would be
wrong, because they are not
consistent.
Series 2
Series 3
Figure 2: You can have italicized captions—or captions with an
italicized part, such as the title or the explanation—
but all captions for all Tables and Figures have to be the same throughout.
Table 1: You can have all-bold captions, or captions with no bold
at all, or captions with mixed bold and not-bold text, but you
cannot have more than one style for captions throughout your
document. If you choose one style for your captions, it has to be
the same for every caption.
Examples of Individual Figure and Table Captions
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
INDIVIDUALLY all the captions of these
Tables and Figures are correct. But you
cannot have different formats for Tables
and Figures throughout your document.
If you use one type of format for any one
Figure or Table, then you have to use the
same format for all the other Figures
and Tables throughout the document.
Figure 1: This is a pie chart, which shows important information. The italic
font is fine, the bold name and un-bold text is fine, and the centered text is fine. If you
chose this style, then you would need to make sure that every caption for every Table
or Figure in the document looked like this one.
Font – Italic, Times New
Roman
Justification – centered
Heading – Bold
Text – Not bold
5
4
3
2
1
0
Font – Times New Roman
Justification – Left-justified
Heading – Not bold
Text – Not bold
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Figure 2: This chart also shows important information. The italic font is fine,
and it’s fine that the caption is left-justified. If you chose this style, then you would
need to make sure that every caption for every Table or Figure in the document
looked like this one.
Font – Times New Roman,
bold
Justification – centered
Heading – Bold
Text – Bold
Table 1: This is a table. The text is bold throughout. This caption,
also, is centered. If you chose this style, then you would need to
make sure that every caption for every Table or Figure in the
document looked like this one.
Justification of Captions
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Mistake 1
Figure 2: You can have centered captions for Figures and Tables, OR you can have left-justified
captions, but you cannot have both. If ONE caption is centered, then ALL captions have to be centered.
OR, if ONE caption is left-justified, then ALL captions have to be centered.
Table 2: This caption is wrong because it is right-justified. You can
have left-justified OR centered captions in your document, but NO
CAPTION CAN EVER BE RIGHT-JUSTIFIED.
5
4
3
2
1
0
Series 1
Left-justified OR centered
captions are fine, as long as you
make sure that ALL captions are
EITHER left-justified OR centered
in your document. If these were
all in the same document, they
would be wrong, because they are
not consistent.
Series 2
Series 3
Figure 3: You can have left-justified captions, but all captions for all Tables and Figures
have to be the same throughout.
Caption Fonts
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Figure 2: It is fine to have the name of a Table or Figure be one style, and the text be another style.
However, all font styles for all Table and Figure captions throughout the document must be the
same.
5
4
3
2
1
0
Series 1
Series 2
Your captions can be bold, italic, or
none of the above. You can have one
part of the caption (the name of the
Table or Figure) be one style (for
example, bold), and the explanation be
another style (for example, not bold),
but all font styles in all captions
throughout your document must be the
same. If these were all in the same
document, they would be wrong,
because they are not consistent.
Series 3
Figure 3: You can have italicized captions—or captions with an
italicized part, like the title or the explanation—but all captions for all Tables and
Figures have to be the same throughout.
Mistake 2
Table 2: You can have all-bold captions, or captions with no bold
at all, or captions with mixed bold and not-bold text, but you
cannot have more than one style. If you choose one style for
your captions, it has to be the same for every caption.
Example of Figure and Table Captions with No Mistakes
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
No
Mistakes
Figure 1: This is a pie chart. The font style is fine, and so is the left justification. This first
caption, for this first Figure, should be exactly like the rest of the captions for all other
Figures and Tables in the document.
Table 1: This is a Table, the first Table in the document. The
captions for Tables should look exactly like the captions for
Figures, and should remain consistent, in both font style and
justification.
5
4
3
2
1
0
All the captions’
Font – normal, “NO” Bold or Italic
and Times New Roman
Justification – Left justified
Caption headings – Left justified &
bold
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Figure 2: This is a chart, and it is the second Figure in the document. This caption
is fine because it has remained consistent with the rest of the captions in this
document. All other captions for all other Figures and Tables should match this
one, and all the previous captions.
Example of Figure and Table Captions with No Mistakes
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
No
Mistakes
Figure 1: This is a pie chart. The font style is fine, and so is the center justification. This
first caption, for this first Figure, should be exactly like the rest of the captions for all
other Figures and Tables in the document.
Table 1: This is a Table, the first Table in the document. The
captions for Tables should look exactly like the captions for Figures,
and should remain consistent, in both font style and justification.
5
4
3
2
1
0
All the captions’
Font – Italic and Times New Roman
Justification – center justified
Caption headings – Center justified
& bold & Italic
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Figure 2: This is a chart, and it is the second Figure in the document. This caption
is fine because it has remained consistent with the rest of the captions in this
document. All other captions for all other Figures and Tables should match this
one, and all the previous captions.