What’s an appendix for anyways?
by Kelsie McWilliams, Writing Center Coordinator
Much like the role of the appendix in the human body, the appendix in an essay or academic paper is nonessential. Not every paper requires an appendix, and generally, the appendix only contains information that is helpful, but not absolute necessary, for your reader.
So how do I know if I need an appendix for my paper?
Typically, you can use an appendix section for information that the reader might find valuable, but not valuable enough to interrupt the content of the paper itself. This is especially true for images, tables, and figures that take up a lot of space. In some of your classes, your instructor might ask you to include certain figures, tables, or images in your appendix if they don’t want it to count towards the length requirement of your assignment.
For example, if you are writing a report about a company’s financial state, you might include a table of sales figures over the past decade in the appendix if your instructor has requested it or if you think it might provide helpful context for your reader.
In other words, ask yourself these questions to see if you have content that might belong in an appendix instead of the body of your essay:
- Does this figure/table/image I want to use take up a lot of space (more than half a page) in my paper? If yes, put it in the appendix.
- Is this information helpful but not critical in order for my reader to understand my essay? If yes, put it in the appendix.
- Has my instructor asked me to put this information in the appendix? If yes, then you should definitely follow instructions and put it in the appendix!
It can be tempting to include big and bulky images, figures, or tables to beef up the page count of your paper, but your instructor will notice — and they might even take off points if the rest of your paper isn’t long enough! Instead, use an appendix to make sure that your essay meets the length requirements for your assignment. Plus, your essay will look better, and it will be much easier to read, which your instructor will appreciate.
For more information on appendices, check out our post on Formatting an Appendix (TBD).
