Information in this section is as outlined in the APA Publication Manual (2020), sections 2.14, 2.17, 2.24, and 7.6.
Appendices are used to include information that supplement the paper’s content but are considered distracting or inappropriate for the overall topic. It is recommended to only include an appendix if it helps the reader comprehend the study or theoretical argument being made. It is best if the material included is brief and easily presented. The material can be text, tables, figures, or a combination of these three.
Placement:
Appendices should be placed on a separate page at the end of your paper after the references, footnotes, tables, and figure. The label and title should be centre aligned. The contents of the appendix and the note should be left-aligned.
- If you are choosing to include tables and figures in your appendix, then you can list each one on a separate page or you may include multiple tables/figures in one appendix, if there is no text and each table and/or figure has its own clear number and title within the appendix.
- Tables and figures in an appendix receive a number preceded by the letter of the appendix in which it appears, e.g. Table A1 is the first table in Appendix A or of a sole appendix that is not labeled with a letter.
The follow elements are required for appendices in APA Style:
Appendix Labels:
Each appendix that you place in your paper is labelled “Appendix.” If a paper has more than one appendix, then label each with a capital letter in the order the appendices are referred to in your paper (“Appendix A” is referred to first, “Appendix B” is referred to second, etc).
- The label of the appendix should be in bold font, centre-aligned, follow Title Casing, and is located at the top of the page.
- If your appendix only contains one table or figure (and no text), then the appendix label takes the place of the table/figure number, e.g. the table may be referred to as “Appendix B” rather than “Table B1.”
Appendix Titles:
Each appendix should have a title, that describes its contents. Titles should be brief, clear, and explanatory.
- The title of the appendix should be in bold font, centre-aligned, follow Title Casing, and is one double-spaced line down from the appendix label.
- If your appendix only contains one table or figure (and no text), then the appendix title takes the place of the table/figure title.
Appendix Contents:
- Text:
- Left aligned and indented; written the same as paragraphs within the body of the paper
- Double-spaced and with the same font as the rest of the paper
- Tables and Figures:
- If the appendix contains a table and/or figure, then the table/figure number must contain a letter to correlate the table and/or figure to the appendix and not the body of the paper, e.g. “Table A1” rather than “Table 1” to clarify that the table appears in the appendix and not in the body of the paper.
- For tables and figures in an appendix with text:
- All tables and figures in an appendix must be mentioned in the appendix and numbered in order of mention.
- All tables and figures must be aligned to the left margin, (not center aligned), and positioned after a paragraph break, preferably the paragraph in which they are referred to, with a double-spaced blank line between the table and the text.
- Each table and figure should include a note afterwards to further explain the supplement or clarify information in the table or figure to your paper/appendix and can be general, specific, and probability. See “Table Notes” in the section “Table and Figures” above for more details.
Some Common Appendices Tips:
Referring to Appendices in the Text:
In your paper, refer to every appendix that you have inserted. Do not include an appendix in your work that you do not clearly explain in relation to the ideas in your paper.
- In general, only refer to the appendix by the label (“Appendix” or “Appendix A” etc.) and not the appendix title.
Reprinting or Adapting:
If you did not create the content in the appendix yourself, for instance if you found a figure on the internet, you must include a copyright attribution in a note below the figure.
- A copyright attribution is used instead of an in-text citation.
- Each work should also be listed in the reference list.
Please see pages 390-391 in the Manual for example copyright attributions.
