Appendices are sections placed at the end of an academic paper, thesis, dissertation, or report that contain useful supporting material too detailed or bulky for the main text. They provide evidence, transparency, and reproducibility without interrupting the argument. Each appendix should be relevant, clearly labelled, titled, and cited in the main text.
Introduction
A well-designed appendix helps readers examine the evidence behind an academic argument. It may contain a survey questionnaire, interview guide, technical calculation, coding framework, detailed table, research protocol, archival document, computer code, or another item that supports the study.
An appendix should not function as storage for everything collected during a project. Its contents must have a clear relationship to the paper and a defined purpose for the reader.
This guide explains what appendices are, when they are needed, what they should contain, how to organise and format them, and how modern considerations such as digital repositories, participant confidentiality, accessibility, research software, and artificial intelligence affect their use.
Key Takeaways
- An appendix contains relevant supporting material that would interrupt or overload the main discussion.
- Essential evidence and explanations must remain in the main text.
- A single appendix is normally labelled “Appendix”; multiple appendices are usually labelled Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, and so forth.
- Every appendix should have a descriptive title and normally be mentioned in the main text.
- Institutional, departmental, journal, and assignment requirements take priority over general advice.
- Large datasets, executable code, media files, or restricted information may belong in a repository or controlled-access system rather than inside the document.
What Are Appendices?
Appendices are sections of supplementary information placed after the main body of an academic document. They provide additional evidence, methodological detail, or reference material that supports the work but is not necessary for understanding its central argument.
The singular form is appendix. The standard plural form is appendices. The alternative plural “appendixes” is acceptable in some general contexts, but “appendices” is more common in formal academic writing.
An appendix may be included in:
- A research paper
- A laboratory report
- A thesis
- A dissertation
- A technical report
- A policy report
- A case study
- A grant report
- A journal manuscript
- A programme-evaluation report
The central principle
The main text must remain understandable without requiring the reader to examine the appendix constantly.
An appendix supports the argument; it does not replace the argument. A writer should not move a crucial definition, core result, essential methodological explanation, or necessary interpretation into an appendix merely to reduce the apparent length of the paper.
What Is the Purpose of an Appendix?
An appendix allows the writer to balance two academic goals:
- Clarity: The main discussion remains focused and readable.
- Transparency: Interested readers can inspect additional evidence or procedural detail.
Appendices can serve several specific purposes.
Providing methodological transparency
Researchers can include complete questionnaires, interview protocols, observation forms, laboratory procedures, coding manuals, or analytical decision rules.
Supporting reproducibility
A technical appendix may show equations, model specifications, simulation settings, computer code, parameter values, or detailed analytical steps.
Preserving documentary evidence
Historical, legal, policy, and case-study research may require reproductions or transcriptions of relevant source documents.
Helping readers verify conclusions
Detailed tables, supplementary analyses, robustness checks, codebooks, or scoring systems can help readers understand how the results were produced.
Meeting submission requirements
Some departments, funders, ethics committees, supervisors, or publishers require specific documents to be included or submitted separately.
Do You Need an Appendix?
You need an appendix when relevant supporting information would be useful to some readers but would make the main text unnecessarily long, technical, or difficult to follow.
Ask the following questions:
- Is the material directly related to the study?
- Would removing it reduce transparency or prevent detailed verification?
- Can the main argument still be understood without reading it?
- Would placing it in the main text interrupt the discussion?
- Is the material suitable for inclusion under privacy, copyright, consent, and submission rules?
- Is an appendix the best location, or would a repository or separate supplementary file be more appropriate?
When the answer to the first four questions is yes, an appendix may be appropriate. The fifth and sixth questions determine whether the material can and should be included in the document.
Main Text, Appendix, or Repository?
The correct location depends on the material’s importance, size, format, sensitivity, and intended use.
| Location | Best used for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Main text | Information required to understand the argument, method, results, or conclusions | Principal hypotheses, essential method, primary results, interpretation |
| Appendix | Relevant supporting material that is manageable within the document | Questionnaire, interview guide, coding framework, additional table, worked calculation |
| Separate supplementary file | Material required by a journal or platform but supplied outside the article PDF | Reporting checklist, additional figures, video, extended protocol |
| Public repository | Large, reusable, machine-readable, executable, or versioned research objects | Dataset, source code, analysis script, software package, high-resolution media |
| Controlled-access repository | Sensitive information that can be shared only under approved conditions | Detailed clinical data, potentially identifiable records, restricted administrative data |
| Exclude from submission | Irrelevant, unauthorised, unlawfully reproduced, or unjustifiably identifying material | Unused notes, copyrighted content without permission, identifiable transcripts without approval |
A short statistical table may fit in an appendix. A dataset containing hundreds of thousands of rows will normally be more useful in an appropriate repository.
Similarly, a short code excerpt may illustrate an important procedure, while the complete executable project may be better deposited in a version-controlled archive.
What Should Be Included in Appendices?
The appropriate contents depend on the discipline, research design, submission rules, and needs of the reader.
Research instruments
Examples include:
- Survey questionnaires
- Interview guides
- Focus-group prompts
- Observation schedules
- Assessment rubrics
- Experimental stimuli
- Screening forms
- Data-extraction forms
- Test instructions
When reproducing an existing proprietary instrument, confirm whether permission is required. It may be permissible to name and cite an instrument without reproducing every item.
Detailed methodological information
An appendix may contain:
- Extended sampling procedures
- Recruitment materials
- Experimental protocols
- Laboratory settings
- Decision trees
- Quality-control procedures
- Variable-construction rules
- Coding instructions
- Scoring systems
- Data-cleaning rules
The main text should still summarise the method sufficiently for readers to understand and evaluate the study.
Supplementary data and analyses
Possible contents include:
- Additional descriptive tables
- Robustness checks
- Sensitivity analyses
- Diagnostic tests
- Alternative model specifications
- Worked calculations
- Detailed output required for assessment
- Secondary subgroup analyses
Primary findings should remain in the results section.
Qualitative research materials
A qualitative appendix might include:
- Interview schedules
- Coding frameworks
- Code definitions
- Anonymised transcript excerpts
- Reflexive prompts
- Audit-trail examples
- Theme-development tables
- Document-analysis protocols
Complete transcripts should not be included automatically. They may be too long, may fall outside the scope of participant consent, or may contain combinations of details that make participants identifiable.
Technical and computational material
Examples include:
- Algorithms
- Pseudocode
- Software settings
- Model equations
- Parameter tables
- Data dictionaries
- Variable definitions
- Brief code listings
- File-structure descriptions
- Reproducibility instructions
Large codebases should generally be preserved in a repository rather than pasted into a document.
Documentary material
Depending on permission and relevance, an appendix may contain:
- Policy extracts
- Archival records
- Legal documents
- Organisational forms
- Letters
- Public notices
- Maps
- Timelines
- Catalogue information
- Translated source passages
Copyright, confidentiality and licensing conditions still apply.
Ethics and administrative documents
Some programmes ask students to include:
- Participant information sheets
- Blank consent forms
- Ethics-approval confirmation
- Recruitment notices
- Debriefing forms
- Permission letters
Do not include signed consent forms or documents displaying participant identities unless a legitimate requirement and appropriate approval specifically permit it.
What Should Not Be Included?
An appendix should not contain material merely because it was produced during the project.
Avoid including:
- Information unrelated to the research question
- Every output generated by statistical software
- Every raw transcript
- Unused questionnaire drafts
- Results that are essential but omitted from the main discussion
- Material never mentioned or used in the paper
- Personal data that should not be disclosed
- Copyrighted material without permission
- Broken links or inaccessible external files
- Poor-quality images that readers cannot interpret
- Duplicate information already presented clearly in the main text
- Unverified AI-generated text, data, citations or analysis
A large appendix does not automatically demonstrate rigorous research. Relevance, organisation, transparency and ethical appropriateness matter more than volume.
How to Write Appendices in Eight Steps
Step 1: Check the governing requirements
Begin with the instructions that apply to the work.
Check:
- The assignment brief
- Departmental handbook
- Thesis or dissertation manual
- Style guide
- Journal instructions for authors
- Funder requirements
- Ethics approval and consent documents
- Repository or data-sharing policy
Local requirements take priority over generic online examples.
Step 2: Inventory the possible materials
Create a list of all items that might support the paper, such as instruments, tables, scripts, transcripts and administrative documents.
For each item, record:
- Its purpose
- Its relationship to the text
- Its size and file format
- Whether readers need it
- Whether permission is required
- Whether it contains sensitive information
- Whether it is better suited to a repository
Step 3: Classify each item
Place each candidate into one of four groups:
- Essential to the main text
- Suitable for an appendix
- Better as a supplementary file or repository object
- Unnecessary or unsuitable for release
This classification prevents the appendix from becoming a miscellaneous storage section.
Step 4: Review ethics, privacy and copyright
Before including participant-related or third-party material:
- Remove unnecessary direct identifiers.
- Look for indirect combinations that could reveal identity.
- Confirm that the proposed use is consistent with consent.
- Follow ethics-board and institutional requirements.
- Confirm copyright or licensing permission.
- Avoid publishing confidential organisational information.
- Use controlled access where public sharing would be inappropriate.
Simply replacing a name with “Participant 1” may not be sufficient when a transcript still identifies a rare occupation, location, institution or event.
Step 5: Group and order the contents
Arrange appendices in the order in which they are first mentioned in the main text.
For example:
- Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire
- Appendix B: Interview Guide
- Appendix C: Coding Framework
- Appendix D: Supplementary Analysis
Related items should remain together unless the applicable instructions require separate appendices.
Step 6: Label and title each appendix
A single appendix is commonly labelled:
Appendix
Survey Questionnaire
Multiple appendices are commonly labelled:
Appendix A
Survey Questionnaire
Appendix B
Interview Guide
Appendix C
Codebook
Use descriptive titles. “Additional Information” is less useful than “Variable Definitions and Coding Rules.”
Step 7: Refer to every appendix in the main text
Direct readers to the supporting material at the point where it becomes relevant.
Examples:
- The complete questionnaire is provided in Appendix A.
- Appendix B presents the interview protocol.
- Additional model diagnostics are reported in Appendix C.
- The variable-construction rules appear in Appendix D.
Do not attach an appendix that has no clear relationship to the discussion.
Step 8: Conduct a final quality check
Confirm that:
- Labels and titles match the table of contents.
- Appendices appear in the intended order.
- All in-text references point to the correct appendix.
- Page numbers are continuous where required.
- Tables and figures are numbered consistently.
- Links work.
- Files are accessible.
- Identifying information has been removed where necessary.
- Permission and licensing requirements have been satisfied.
- The final exported PDF preserves headings, links and readable formatting.
How to Format an Appendix
Formatting depends on the applicable style guide or institutional handbook. Nevertheless, several principles are widely useful.
Basic appendix format
A typical appendix contains:
- An appendix label
- A descriptive title
- A short introductory note when context is needed
- The supporting material
- Source, permission or repository information where applicable
Example:
Appendix A
Online Learning Questionnaire
This questionnaire was administered to undergraduate participants after the final teaching session. Section 1 measured frequency of platform use, while Section 2 assessed perceived usability.
[Questionnaire items begin here.]
Start each appendix clearly
For a formal thesis or dissertation, each appendix commonly begins on a new page. Do not rely on repeated blank lines to create the new page; use a page break or section break.
Use a consistent heading hierarchy
The appendix label and title should be visually distinguishable from the contents. Subsections may be used when an appendix contains several related components.
Example:
Appendix C
Qualitative Coding Framework
C.1 Coding process
C.2 Code definitions
C.3 Example coded extract
Use subsection numbering only when it is permitted and genuinely improves navigation.
Include appendices in the table of contents when required
Long theses, dissertations and reports commonly list appendices in the table of contents. Requirements for shorter papers vary.
Use the same wording in:
- The table of contents
- The appendix heading
- In-text cross-references
Continue or restart page numbering according to instructions
Many institutions require continuous page numbering through the appendices. Others prescribe specific back-matter conventions.
Do not assume that a page-numbering example from another university applies to your document.
How to Format One Appendix and Multiple Appendices
One appendix
When there is only one, a typical heading is:
Appendix
Participant Questionnaire
The style guide may still require a letter, particularly in publisher-specific systems, so check the applicable instructions.
Multiple appendices
When there are several, assign letters in the order of first reference:
- Appendix A
- Appendix B
- Appendix C
- Appendix D
After Appendix Z, exceptionally large documents may require another approved naming system. In practice, such a large quantity should prompt reconsideration of whether some material belongs in a repository or separate volume.
Tables, Figures and Equations Inside Appendices
Appendix tables and figures should be clearly distinguishable from those in the main text.
A common system combines the appendix letter with the item number:
- Table A1
- Table A2
- Figure A1
- Figure B1
- Equation C1
Under this system:
- Table A1 is the first table in Appendix A.
- Figure B2 is the second figure in Appendix B.
- Equation C1 is the first numbered equation in Appendix C.
Each table and figure should have:
- A meaningful number
- A descriptive title or caption
- Any necessary explanatory notes
- A source or permission note when required
- Sufficient context to be interpreted independently
Do not paste unreadable screenshots of statistical output when a clean, accessible table would communicate the information better.
Style-Specific Appendix Considerations
| System or document type | General approach | Important caution |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | A single appendix is labelled “Appendix”; multiple appendices use letters. Appendix-specific tables and figures use labels such as Table A1 and Figure B1. | Follow the APA manual and any instructor or journal modifications. |
| MLA | Appendices may be used as back matter when supporting information is required. | Assignment, publisher and institutional requirements determine the exact layout. |
| Chicago or Turabian | Appendices are normally treated as back matter and may contain documentary or technical information. | House style, programme rules and document type can affect placement and numbering. |
| Harvard referencing | Harvard describes a family of author-date citation practices rather than one universal document-format standard. | Use the university or publisher’s own Harvard guide for appendix formatting. |
| Thesis or dissertation | Appendices normally follow the main chapters and reference section, subject to the institutional handbook. | Binding, pagination, table-of-contents and electronic-submission rules may be highly specific. |
| Journal manuscript | Some information may be an appendix within the article, while other information is uploaded separately as supporting information. | The journal’s instructions for authors control file type, naming, size, citation and publication. |
For APA-style work, appendices are ordinarily placed after the reference list and any other end matter required by the document. The exact sequence of footnotes, tables, figures and appendices can depend on how the manuscript is being prepared or submitted (American Psychological Association, 2020).
How to Refer to an Appendix in the Main Text
Refer to an appendix by its assigned label, such as “Appendix A,” rather than using vague phrases such as “the appendix below.”
Correct examples:
- The questionnaire is reproduced in Appendix A.
- See Appendix B for the full interview schedule.
- Additional robustness tests are presented in Appendix C.
- The coding framework appears in Appendices B and C.
Parenthetical examples:
- The complete item list is available separately (see Appendix A).
- Two alternative specifications were tested (Appendix D).
Avoid:
- “See the appendix” when several appendices exist.
- “See below” when the appendix is many pages away.
- Referring to an appendix that has been removed from the final document.
- Using inconsistent labels such as “Annex 1” in the text and “Appendix A” in the heading.
An annex and an appendix may have different meanings in legal, governmental or organisational documents. Do not interchange them unless the relevant convention permits it.
Appendix Examples by Discipline
Social-science survey study
A study of student attitudes might use:
- Appendix A: Participant Questionnaire
- Appendix B: Recruitment Message
- Appendix C: Variable Codebook
- Appendix D: Supplementary Regression Diagnostics
The main methods section should still identify the measured constructs, sampling approach and analytical procedure.
Qualitative interview study
A qualitative dissertation might use:
- Appendix A: Interview Guide
- Appendix B: Initial Coding Framework
- Appendix C: Theme-Development Example
- Appendix D: Anonymised Transcript Extract
Complete transcripts may instead require secure storage or controlled access.
Experimental or laboratory research
Possible appendices include:
- Detailed experimental protocol
- Equipment calibration procedure
- Stimulus list
- Supplementary measurements
- Error-propagation calculation
- Additional model diagnostics
Information necessary to reproduce the central experiment should still be summarised clearly in the methods section.
Computer science or data science
Possible appendices include:
- Pseudocode
- Hyperparameter table
- Data dictionary
- Model architecture details
- Evaluation-metric definitions
- Small code excerpts
- Computing-environment specification
The complete code, dependency file and machine-readable data may be more useful in a repository.
Humanities research
Appendices may contain:
- Archival inventory
- Document chronology
- Translation notes
- Catalogue of primary sources
- Genealogical table
- Map
- Extended textual comparison
The interpretive argument belongs in the chapters, not in the appendix.
Education research
Possible materials include:
- Lesson plan
- Assessment rubric
- Classroom-observation schedule
- Student questionnaire
- Interview protocol
- Supplementary achievement table
Student work should be anonymised and reproduced only when ethically and legally appropriate.
Business and organisational research
Possible appendices include:
- Case-study protocol
- Interview questions
- Process map
- Risk matrix
- Financial assumptions
- Supplementary market table
- Organisational document, where permission permits
Confidential commercial information should not be published merely because it supports the analysis.
Appendices Compared with Related Sections
| Section | Purpose | Typical content |
|---|---|---|
| Appendix | Provides relevant supporting material within the document | Questionnaire, protocol, codebook, detailed calculation |
| Reference list | Identifies works cited in the text | Books, articles, reports, datasets and webpages |
| Footnote or endnote | Provides a brief citation, qualification or comment | Source note, concise clarification |
| Glossary | Defines specialised terms | Technical vocabulary and abbreviations |
| Supplementary file | Provides additional material outside the main article file | Extra tables, reporting checklist, video or extended protocol |
| Repository record | Preserves and distributes research objects | Dataset, software, code, documentation and media |
| Annex | Adds attached material under a legal, policy or organisational convention | Official records, schedules, forms or externally produced documents |
An appendix does not replace a reference list. Sources reproduced or discussed in an appendix must still be acknowledged according to the applicable citation and copyright rules.
Advantages of Appendices
They improve readability
Technical details can be available without interrupting the main argument.
They increase transparency
Readers can inspect instruments, coding decisions, calculations and supplementary evidence.
They support evaluation
Supervisors, examiners and reviewers can assess how the study was designed and conducted.
They support reproducibility
Procedures, model settings and analytical rules can help other researchers understand or reproduce the work.
They accommodate different readers
A general reader can follow the central discussion, while a specialist can examine the technical material.
Limitations of Appendices
They can become excessively long
A large unorganised appendix can make the document difficult to navigate.
They may be ignored
Important findings can be missed when the writer wrongly moves them out of the main text.
They can create privacy risks
Detailed records may reveal individuals, communities or organisations.
They are not ideal for every file type
Executable software, interactive visualisations, large datasets and audiovisual files may not work well inside a static document.
Requirements vary
A format accepted by one university, discipline or journal may be rejected by another.
Links can fail
A bare link to a personal cloud folder may change, expire or require inaccessible permissions. Stable repository records are preferable for long-term research objects.
Common Appendix Mistakes
Moving essential information out of the main text
Readers should not need Appendix C to discover the principal finding or understand the basic research design.
Including unrelated material
Every appendix must support a specific element of the paper.
Failing to mention the appendix
An appendix that is never cited in the text appears disconnected from the research argument.
Using vague titles
“Extra Results” is less informative than “Sensitivity Analyses Using Alternative Exclusion Criteria.”
Inconsistent labels
The label in the text, table of contents and appendix heading must match.
Adding identifiable participant information
Names are not the only identifiers. Job titles, rare characteristics, dates, quotations and locations can also reveal identity.
Reproducing copyrighted instruments without checking permission
Citation does not automatically grant permission to reproduce a complete scale, test, photograph, map or document.
Pasting unreadable software output
Recreate necessary results as clean tables, retaining only information that helps the reader.
Treating appendices as a way around the word limit
Whether appendices are excluded from a word count is determined by the assignment or institution. Examiners may still reject attempts to relocate essential discussion.
Using unstable file-sharing links
Repository records with documentation and persistent identifiers are generally more suitable for long-term access than temporary personal links.
Appendices in Modern Research
Digital research has changed what should be placed inside an appendix.
Appendices and reproducible research
A reproducible project may involve:
- Data
- Code
- Software versions
- Computational environment
- Processing steps
- Analytical decisions
- Documentation
- Licence information
A PDF appendix can describe these components, but it may not be the best place to preserve them.
The FAIR principles encourage research objects to be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable where legal and ethical conditions allow (Wilkinson et al., 2016). FAIR does not mean that every dataset must be openly available. Access restrictions may remain necessary for privacy, consent, security or contractual reasons.
Data-management and sharing requirements
Funders and institutions may require researchers to plan how scientific data and associated documentation will be managed and shared. The appropriate solution may involve an established discipline-specific, institutional or general-purpose repository rather than an oversized appendix (National Institutes of Health, 2025).
A useful appendix can provide:
- A concise data dictionary
- A file inventory
- A description of access conditions
- A repository citation
- A persistent identifier
- Instructions for reproducing the analysis
- An explanation of material that cannot be shared
Versioning and persistent identifiers
Research objects can change after the paper is written. Record:
- The version used in the analysis
- The release date
- The software version
- The repository record
- The persistent identifier
- The access date where required
- Any restrictions or embargoes
This is more reliable than linking only to a continually changing project homepage.
Accessibility of digital appendices
A digital appendix should be designed for readers using different devices and assistive technologies.
Useful practices include:
- Use real text instead of images of text.
- Apply meaningful heading styles.
- Give tables clear headers.
- Provide alternative text for meaningful images.
- Use descriptive link text.
- Include captions and transcripts for audiovisual content.
- Avoid colour as the only way of communicating meaning.
- Check reading order in the final PDF.
- Explain specialised abbreviations.
Accessibility improves usability for all readers, not only those using assistive technology.
Digital Tools for Creating Appendices
Microsoft Word
Use:
- Heading styles for appendix labels and titles
- Page breaks or section breaks
- Automatic captions for tables and figures
- Cross-reference fields
- An automatic table of contents
- Navigation pane checks
- PDF accessibility checks
Avoid manually typing every page number or cross-reference when Word can update them automatically.
Google Docs
Useful features include:
- Heading styles
- Page breaks
- Bookmarks
- Internal links
- Table-of-contents generation
- Comment and suggestion history
Inspect the exported PDF because page breaks, wide tables and image placement can change during export.
LaTeX
A basic structure may use:
\appendix
\section{Survey Questionnaire}
\label{app:questionnaire}
\section{Supplementary Analysis}
\label{app:analysis}
The text can then refer to an appendix with:
See Appendix~\ref{app:questionnaire}.
The document class, institutional template and journal package may alter appendix numbering and placement.
Statistical and qualitative-analysis software
Software can generate large volumes of output. Select and format only the material required for interpretation, assessment or verification.
For qualitative projects, an appendix may present a codebook or short coded example without exporting confidential source files.
Repositories and version-control systems
When depositing data or code:
- Include a README file.
- Describe file names and formats.
- State software dependencies.
- Add licence information where appropriate.
- Preserve the analysed version.
- Explain access restrictions.
- Cite the repository object in the paper.
Artificial Intelligence and Appendices
AI tools may help organise, check or document appendices, but researchers remain responsible for the final material.
Potentially appropriate uses include:
- Checking whether appendix labels are consistent
- Suggesting descriptive titles
- Identifying broken cross-references
- Drafting a file inventory
- Converting notes into a preliminary table structure
- Drafting alternative text for later human review
- Documenting an AI-assisted analytical workflow
Important safeguards include:
- Do not upload confidential participant data to an unapproved external AI system.
- Verify every AI-generated statement, citation, table and calculation.
- Preserve original data and human analytical decisions.
- Document material AI use when required by the institution, publisher or discipline.
- Do not identify an AI tool as an author.
- Check generated text for plagiarism, misquotation and fabricated sources.
- Record model, version, date and purpose when reproducibility requires this information.
- Explain whether AI output affected data collection, analysis, interpretation, translation, writing or visual production.
Current medical-journal guidance, for example, places responsibility on human authors, calls for disclosure of relevant AI-assisted work, and does not recognise chatbots as authors (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, 2026).
An appendix may document:
- Prompts that formed part of a reproducible method
- Human review procedures
- Output-selection criteria
- Validation steps
- AI model and version information
- Known limitations
It is rarely useful to reproduce every exploratory prompt. Include only the information needed to understand, evaluate or reproduce the reported process.
Final Appendix Checklist
Before submitting, confirm the following:
- Every appendix has a clear purpose.
- Essential information remains in the main text.
- Appendices follow the required order.
- Labels and titles are consistent.
- Every appendix is referred to in the main text.
- Table-of-contents entries match the headings.
- Tables, figures and equations are numbered correctly.
- Page numbering follows the applicable requirements.
- Confidential and identifying information has been reviewed.
- Consent conditions permit the proposed disclosure.
- Copyright and licensing requirements have been checked.
- Repository links and persistent identifiers work.
- Digital materials have adequate documentation.
- Accessibility has been checked.
- AI-assisted material has been reviewed and disclosed where required.
- The final PDF has been inspected after export.
- Institutional or journal instructions have been followed.
Conclusion
Appendices make academic work more transparent by preserving useful evidence and methodological detail without overwhelming the main discussion. Effective appendices are selective rather than exhaustive: each item should support a specific part of the paper, have a clear label and title, and be referenced in the text.
Writers must also decide whether supporting material belongs in the document, a supplementary file, a public repository or a controlled-access system. The final decision should reflect relevance, readability, reproducibility, privacy, copyright, accessibility and the requirements of the institution or publisher.
References
- American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. (2026). Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals.
- National Institutes of Health. (2025). Data management and sharing policy.
- Wilkinson, M. D., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I. J., Appleton, G., Axton, M., Baak, A., Blomberg, N., Boiten, J.-W., da Silva Santos, L. B., Bourne, P. E., Bouwman, J., Brookes, A. J., Clark, T., Crosas, M., Dillo, I., Dumon, O., Edmunds, S., Evelo, C. T., Finkers, R., … Mons, B. (2016). The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, 3, Article 160018. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18
