Figures & Illustrations

• Tables and illustrations should appear in your document as close as possible to the text that discusses them. 

• Label each table with the word Table followed by an arabic numeral, then give it a title.

  • Both the label and the title sit 

    • above the table

    • flush left

    • each on its own line

    • formatted in title case rather than all capitals.

  • Any source information or notes go in a caption directly beneath the table.

According to the MLA Handbook, 9th edition, tables in academic writing should follow these formatting guidelines:

• Placement: Position tables and illustrations as close as possible to the part of the text they relate to.

• Reference: Refer to any figure or table in the text of your essay so that it doesn’t just appear without context.

  • “As shown in fig. 2, the rate of…”

  • “Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between…”

  • "(fig. 1)."

• Figure Types (photographs, maps, charts, drawings, graphs, etc.):

• Caption: Provide a caption directly below the figure with the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper.

  • • Begin the caption with the figure's label abbreviated as Fig. + Arabic numeral: Fig. 1

      • In the caption, write "Figure" and "Fig." in bold typeface.

• Citation in Caption: When you include complete bibliographic information in a caption, format and punctuate it like a Works Cited entry, but keep the author’s or artist’s name in normal order rather than reversing it.

  • If a table or image caption fully identifies its source and you don’t cite that source anywhere in the main text, you don’t need to include a separate Works Cited entry for it.

  • If NOT including bibliographic information in a caption, use commas to separate elements in a caption and provide full publication details in the works-cited list.

• Reference in Text 

  • • It the body text of the essay, abbreviate as "fig." in parenthetical references but spell out "Figure" when it begins a sentence.

1. Parenthetical mid-sentence

The data reveals a sharp increase in urban migration patterns (fig. 3).

2. Figure starts the sentence

Figure 2 demonstrates the correlation between income inequality and crime rates.

3. Referencing in analysis

When examining the structural decay visible in the photograph (fig. 7), the timeline becomes clear.

4. Multiple figures referenced together

Both maps confirm the territorial shift (figs. 4 and 5).

5. Figure introduced before discussion

As illustrated in figure 1, the mortality rate peaked in 1918 . . .