Your Complete Guide on How to Make an Appendix

An appendix contains all the additional information that cannot be provided in the main part of your research paper or any writing assignment. It includes all the raw data or a reference section. You can also add some additional details to your appendix.

Just like any other writing, an appendix has to be engaging and helpful for your target reader. To find out how to write such an appendix from our detailed guide below written by Tutoriage qualified writers.

The Notion of the Appendix

An appendix is usually provided at the end of the citation page or right after it. It will include some references to the main body of your text. Your teacher or professor may offer its placement when giving you detailed instructions on your assignment. So your audience will have additional information on the discussed topic.

The appendix is always at the end of your document and never within the main body. Since such information is not necessary for the main body and may not be helpful for all your readers, it is not included in the main body of your work. Not everyone is interested to read that information, and for that reason, you shouldn’t include it to the main body of your paper.

Very often, an appendix is used for PowerPoint presentations; however, it is a bit easier with it, while you can use options of hiding it or making it visible.

The Information to Include to the Appendix

The appendix can include the following information:

• Graphs;
• Charts;
• Texts/paragraph;
• Examples, images, illustrations, and pictures;
• Website links;
• Maps, drawings, diagrams.

But you should include references in the text to everything you state in the appendix, so state only the information you are going to provide references to. So avoid any unnecessary or unhelpful information.

The Content to Provide

Make sure the content of your appendix to be as follows:

Raw data

You surely collect some raw data during your research, so you should include them in your appendix, as well. If that data supports your thoughts and are relevant to the main idea, then make sure to include it in your appendix.

What raw data can be like? It may be calculations referring to in the paper body, statistics, or some specific data expanding the ones you talked about in your work. Moreover, you can combine some facts from different sources and include them in your appendix as well. Don’t forget about citing.

Images graphs, and charts

Visual supporting documents are also important for your research, so put them to your appendix too. They also have to be relevant and support the main idea of your work. They can be different charts, graphs, maps, pictures, or drawings.

You can use the charts and graphs from different sources or even create them on your own. If you take them from other sources, don’t forget to cite them properly.

Research instruments and tools

The instruments you used for your research are important as well. Such tools and instruments include cameras, different gadgets, and devices that were helpful for you to collect your information. You can even tell your reader how exactly you used that device for your research.

This can be something like: “All the interviews were recorded with the help of a camera”.

Surveys and interview transcripts

Any surveys and interview transcripts should also be contained in your appendix. Don’t forget they are a part of your research as well. The transcripts are to contain your whole interview, as well as all the questions and answers. If the survey was completed online, save the copy and provide it. Also, you can provide photos of the hand-written surveys.

If you had correspondence with the subjects in the process of conducting your research, include it in your appendix. It can be anything, from emails to written notes.

What Is the Proper Format of the Appendix?

As in the case of any other writing assignment, you should stick to a certain format when working on your appendix. Find out how to create an appendix in the right format below.

Title

Right on the top of the page, you should write the title of your appendix. The letters can be either capital (APPENDIX) or sentence case (Appendix). It is preferable to use the same font and font size as in your chapter headings to stick to the style of the paper so to say.

In case you have more than one appendix, they have to be ordered by number or letter (APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B; Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc.).

Note that each appendix is to begin on a new page not to confuse the reader!

The content order

The content of your appendix related to that in the text. This way, your reader will find the information he or she needs faster and easier. if you provided raw data in the second line of the paper, that data has to be placed second in the appendix, etc.

Where to place the appendix?

Your appendix (-es) are to be placed right after the reference list. However, your professor may have his or her requirements for your paper, so in that case, stick to them.

By the way, the table of contents also has to contain your appendix. Don’t forget to list them according to their titles in case you have more than one appendix.

Enumerate your pages

The appendix also should have page numbers at the bottom center or right corner of the page. The format has to be the same as in the entire paper. Your paper and appendixes have to look like one entity, so you should encounter the pages from the text into the appendix.

Revision

Once everything seems to be ready, it’s time to review your appendix or appendixes. It has to be clear and coordinated. The word or page number doesn’t matter but avoid making your appendix too long if there is no need for that. You should browse them once again and see if all the information you included is related to the text.

If not, then remove than unnecessary information. In case your appendix is too long, it may influence the professor’s impression of your work. It really works when someone else reads your appendix. You can ask your mentor or friend to check it and see whether all the information is relevant to the text.

During your revision do the following:

• Check for grammar errors. The appendix, similarly to the whole paper, should not contain any grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes. Review the appendix on your own, read it through, and use a special grammar checking tool online to avoid various errors and typos;
• Refer to your appendix in the text. Completing your appendix is not all yet. You will have to return to the text and cite the information in the appendix by title. This way your reader will understand the information you included is relevant to the main body of your text.