What Is A Figure Legend?

A figure legend is

a chunk of text that accompanies each figure in a laboratory report

. Its purpose is to explain the figure clearly and thoroughly, providing readers with all the information necessary to understand the figure without returning to the main text of the lab report.

What is a figure and figure legend?

You write a figure legend so that the reader can fully understand the content of your figure without having to refer to the main text. Figure legends

are written alongside the actual figures

, separately from the main text and should be concise and to the point.

What does a figure legend include?

Include

an explanation of all symbols, patterns, lines, colors, non-standard abbreviations, scale bars, and error bars

(standard deviation or standard error), as well as any other potentially non-intuitive features, in the figure itself.

How do I make a figure legend?

1. Title– The title of a figure legend should describe the figure, clearly and succinctly. …
2. Methods– These methods are meant to be VERY brief and to describe the design of your experiment. …
3. Results– Here, you provide a single sentence on the results shown in the figure.

What is a figure legend in a paper?

Legends or captions

explain figures, tables, or images in the manuscript

. As you know, using of figures and tables in research papers serves the purpose of providing illustrative description of the subject matter. Similarly, what legends or captions do is provide descriptive information of the figures or tables.

Where do you put figure legends?

Both Figure and Table legends should

match the width of the Table or graph

. Table legends go above the body of the Table and are left justified; Tables are read from the top down. Figure legends go below the graph and are left justified; graphs and other types of Figures are usually read from the bottom up.

What are examples of legends?

Examples of legends are

Ali Baba, the Fountain of Youth, Paul Bunyan, Kraken, Atlantis, the Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot

. Some legends are stories about real people; others are not. Odysseus and Robin Hood for example may have been real but most the stories about them are definitely fiction.

How do you caption a figure?

1. A figure caption is centered under the figure; a table caption is centered above the table (if a caption is more than one line, make it left justified).
2. A Figure and its caption should appear on the same page.
3. All captions should start with a capitalized word and end with a period.

What is a figure key?

Figure keys

provide additional information to interpret the data in a figure

. Keys can define the color codes that indicate number ranges, for example. If you can interpret the figure without the key, then the key information should be moved to the figure legend to keep the figure as simple as possible.

How can I make a good scientific figure?

1. Send a clear message. Each figure should convey a clear message. …
2. Choose the best plot type. …
3. Be selective. …
4. Use color effectively. …
5. Cut out the clutter. …
6. Be consistent. …
7. Use simplified figure legends. …
8. Create quality illustrative diagrams.

What makes a good figure legend?

An effective legend is

the key to help a figure stand alone

. The title should describe what the figure is about. The methods include all (and no more than) the necessary details to understand the figure without referring back to the body text. … Keep the legends consistent with the body text of the paper.

What is the difference between a legend and a key?

Technically,

the key is part of the map legend

. The key explains the symbols while the legend holds the key and other information.

How do you do a figure legend in Word?

1. Select the object (table, equation, figure, or another object) that you want to add a caption to.
2. On the References tab, in the Captions group, click Insert Caption.
3. In the Label list, select the label that best describes the object, such as a figure or equation.

What is a legend on a table?

Legends identify the different groups of data on the graph. Tables include statistical information for the graph variables. Some graphs have a legend or a table. … The legend

identifies the visual elements used to distinguish different groups of data on the graph

. The legend helps you evaluate the effects of grouping.

How do you label a scientific figure?

Figures

should be labeled with a number followed by a descriptive caption or title

. Captions should be concise but comprehensive. They should describe the data shown, draw attention to important features contained within the figure, and may sometimes also include interpretations of the data.

How do you cite a figure?

All figures and tables must be

mentioned in the text (a “callout”) by their number

. Do not refer to the table/figure using either “the table above” or “the figure below.” Assign table/figure # in the order as it appears, numbered consecutively, in your paper – not the figure # assigned to it in its original resource.