Creating a List of Figures and/or a List of Tables

If your paper contains a large number of figures or tables, you may be required to include a List of Figures or List of Tables page.

There is not a feature within PERRLA to create a List of Figures or a List of Tables. However, you can use normal Word functions to create both of these in a PERRLA paper.

About Lists of Tables & Figures

Typically, the List of Figures and List of Tables will be placed immediately after the Table of Contents. These instructions are written with the assumption that you have already added a Table of Contents to your paper.

Note: These instructions are for Microsoft Word. If you are working in PERRLA Online, you'll need to export your paper to your computer as a Word document and do this as the final step before turning your paper in.

Click here for instructions on how to download/export your PERRLA Online paper to your computer.

Creating a List of Tables or Figures

First, you'll need to create a new blank page where you can add the List of Figures or List of Tables.

1. Place your cursor on the line immediately below the last Table of Contents entry.
2. Go to Word's Layout tab in the ribbon.
3. Click the Breaks button in the Layout toolbar to bring up a dropdown menu.
4. Click Page under Page Breaks.

You should now have a new blank page after the Table of Contents where you can place the List of Figures and/or List of Tables.

Next, you'll need to place a heading at the top of the blank page.

1. Place your cursor at the top of that new blank page and hit the ENTER button on your keyboard.
2. Move your cursor back up to the top line of the blank page.
3. Type List of Figures (or List of Tables).
4. Highlight the text that you just typed.
5. Go to the PERRLA tab in Word's ribbon.
6. Click the Text & Heading Style button in the PERRLA toolbar to bring up a dropdown menu.
7. Click Heading 1.

You should now have the text List of Figures (or List of Tables) formatted as a Level 1 Heading at the top of the page. You can use PERRLA's Heading 1 feature to format this correctly.

Finally, you'll add the figures (or tables) to the list.

1. Place your cursor on the line below the List of Figures/List of Tables heading.
2. Go to Word's References tab in the ribbon.
3. Click the Insert Table of Figures button in the References toolbar.
4. In the Caption Label box, choose Figure if you're creating a List of Figures or Table if you're creating a List of Tables.
5. Click the OK button.

A list of the figures or a list of the tables should now appear underneath the heading.

Modifying the List Formatting for APA & MLA

There are a couple of things to take notice of at this point.

First, Word single spaces the list by default. If you need it to be double spaced, as is required by APA and MLA, follow the steps below.

1. Highlight the generated list.
2. Go to Word's Home tab in the ribbon.
3. Click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button to bring up a dropdown menu.
4. Click 2.0.

Second, the list will only show "Figure 1, Figure 2, etc." or "Table 1, Table 2, etc." without including the title of the figure or table.

If you need to include the titles of the figures and/or tables, you will have to type them in by hand. However, you cannot click directly within the list to make these edits. You'll need to use the arrows on your keyboard to navigate your cursor inside the list.

For example, use the keyboard arrows to move the cursor next to "Figure 1." You should then be able to type in the title of Figure 1 to get something like "Figure 1: Title of the Figure." You can continue using the keyboard arrows to navigate to the other listings in order to type in the titles.

Last, to add a List of Tables below the List of Figures on a separate page, you can follow all of the previous steps listed above, starting with creating a new blank page below the List of Figures page.