Using images, tables & other visual material in your work

Each figure or table in your work is given a number, in the format Figure X or Table X: this is simply done in order of appearance in your work. So the first figure that appears is Figure 1; the second figure to appear is Figure 2; and so on. Each figure or table is given its own unique number in your work. 

Figure and table numbers help your readers find material within your work; unlike citations, which help your reader find material in outside sources. Figure and tables numbers are used to refer to that particular figure or table when talking about it elsewhere in your work: they make it easy for your reader to understand which figure or table you are talking about. For example: 

Comparing Figure 6 with Figure 5, it is clear that… 

…and the results from this group are presented in Table 3. 

... before and after the work was done (see Figures 8 and 9).

Please note that the citation for any figure or table only appears in the caption underneath it and is not used to refer to that figure or table elsewhere in your work. Not all figures will necessarily have a citation, so you can't rely on citations to refer to your figures.

Figure numbers and decorative figures

Decorative figures do not have figure numbers, as there is no need to refer to them in your work

Alternative figure number systems: chapter/ section

Some longer works might use a slightly different system for numbering figures. In these cases, the figure number will start with the chapter or section number; then a decimal point; and then a number in order of appearance in the chapter or section. The order of appearance restarts each chapter. For example:

Chapter 1: Figure 1.1, Figure 1.2, Figure 1.3, etc
Chapter 2: Figure 2.1, Figure 2.2, Figure 2.3, etc
And so on...

You can also do this for appendices, although in that case you would include the letter of the appendix rather than the initial number, without a decimal point. For example:

Appendix A: Figure A1, Figure A2, Figure A3, etc
Appendix B: Figure B1, Figure B2, Figure B3, etc
And so on...

If the assignment guidelines allow it, this is a perfectly acceptable way of numbering figures in your work. However, it is most suitable for longer assignments with lots of chapters and sections and/ or figures.

You have considerable freedom in how you refer to figures in your text, and what you do when you need to refer to several figures at once; it is much more like writing a conventional sentence than writing a citation, and you can adjust it to fit the situation

It often makes sense to group figures by type- for example, groups tables together and figures together- and to present the figures in rising number order. This makes it quick and easy for your readers to find the figures. For example:

(see Figures 4 and 5, and Table 2)

However, if you wish to emphasise a particular figure, it is okay to reorder the figures to make that figure more prominent. For example:

(see Table 2. See also Figures 4 and 5)
(see Figure 5. See also Figure 4 and Table 2)

Most assignments do not require a figure list. But some assignments, such as dissertations or reports, may ask you to include one: check the assignment guidelines. 

A figure list normally appears at the start of the work; often this will be just after the contents page, if the work includes one.

The figure list (or its equivalents) are simply a list of figures numbers and titles/ description for each figure that is included in your work in order of appearance, together with the page number that figure appears on, e.g.: 

Figure 1. Foxgloves (digitalis purpurea) in Rivelin Valley, Sheffield , p.4 
Figure 2. Fundamental principles of Universal Design for Learning. , p. 11 
Figure 3. "Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!" Illustration by Arthur Rackham, p.11
Figure 4. Bull elephant, Loxodonta Africana, in Kruger National Park, South Africa, p.13
etc. 

Figures are often the quickest way for a reader to assimilate the basic ideas, data and results from a piece of work: a figure list simply makes it easier to locate the figures in a longer piece of work.

In most assignments that have them, you only need one set of figure numbers.

However, if your assignment has both a figure list and a variety of different figures, then you might include multiple sets of numbers to make it easier to find certain kinds of information in different sorts of figures. 

Tables are the figures which are most commonly numbered separately from other all figures, to distinguish numeric data from more visual information. So you would label your tables Table 1., Table 2., Table 3., etc.; and then all other figures would be grouped together and labelled Figure 1., Figure 2., Figure 3., etc.

If your work contains several of any particular type of figure as well as 'normal' figures, then you may wish to add a separate set of numbers for that particular type of figure: for example, Map 1., Map 2., Map 3., etc, or Plan 1., Plan 2., Plan 3, etc. But this would be optional, and only if you think it would benefit your readers.

If you have more than one set of numbers, then, when adding a list of figures, you would have a separate list for each set of numbers: for example, a list of figures and a list of tables.