Where to put the appendix in a document
I have spent more years than I care to admit wrestling with submission guidelines from journals, universities, and corporate clients. The answer to o apêndice fica de que lado depends entirely on what style guide you are following, and getting it wrong will make a copy editor or thesis examiner visibly sigh before they even look at your content. Here is what actually works in practice.
Most common placement: after the reference list
For APA, Chicago, and most scientific journals, the appendix goes after the reference or bibliography section. You would format it as Appendix A, Appendix B, and so on, with each one starting on its own page. The rule is straightforward enough that most people do not mess it up on the first try. MLA is different. In that style, the appendix is called an "Works Cited" followed by additional material if needed, but MLA 8th edition does not give appendices the same formal treatment as APA. If you are writing for an English humanities journal under MLA, check with the editor because they may not want appendices at all and instead expect everything folded into footnotes or the main text.
The edge case that catches people out
Last year I was helping a colleague revise a dissertation for a Brazilian engineering program that required ABNT formatting. ABNT NBR 14724 says appendices belong at the end of the document, after references, which sounds simple until you realize the student had already formatted six appendices with internal page numbers that reset on each new appendix page. When we moved them to follow the reference section, the table of contents still pointed to the old placement and the examiners flagged it as an error. The fix was to regenerate the TOC after moving everything and then manually verify that every appendix reference in the text matched the new pagination. This usually takes about twenty minutes if you are careful, but it can stretch to an hour if you are dealing with a document that has fifty pages of appendices and no automated cross-referencing.
What happens when the guidelines are vague
Not every publisher or institution is explicit about appendix placement. Some thesis manuals simply say "appendices at the end" without specifying whether that means after references or before. In those cases, the safest approach is to contact the supervisor or editorial office directly. I have seen students spend two or three weeks reformatting a document only to receive an email saying the appendix should have been before the references all along. Asking takes five minutes and saves you from having to redo the entire formatting pass.
Counter-intuitive insight: appendices are not extra content, they are part of the document structure
Beginners often treat appendices as optional attachments, like files you email separately. They are not. Appendices are formally part of the document and must be referenced in the main text. If you write "see Appendix A for the complete survey instrument," that reference has to exist before the reader ever sees the appendix. A common mistake is to forget to mention an appendix in the text and place it at the back anyway. Examiners will mark this down because it breaks the logical flow of the argument. Another thing people miss is that not every supplementary material belongs in an appendix. Raw data, code repositories, and large datasets should go in a data availability statement or supplementary online material, not in an appendix. Appendices are meant for content that supports the argument but is too detailed for the main text, such as interview transcripts, survey instruments, or detailed mathematical derivations. Keeping this distinction clear will make your document look more professional and reduce the chances of a reviewer asking why certain materials are in the wrong place.
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Downsides and when appendices fail
Appendices can become unwieldy. If you find yourself with more than three or four appendix sections, consider whether the material should be integrated into the main text or split across multiple papers. A thesis with ten appendices is harder to navigate and less likely to be read thoroughly by examiners. Some publishers impose strict page limits that exclude appendices entirely, in which case you need an alternative such as supplementary online files or a compressed PDF hosted on a repository. Knowing your constraints before you write saves time and prevents last-minute reformatting.
Quick reference for major style guides
APA: after references, labeled Appendix A, B, C, each on a new page. Chicago: after references, similar to APA but allows more flexibility in labeling.
ABNT: after references, following NBR 14724, with explicit requirements for page numbering and title formatting. MLA: appendices are less formally defined; check with the instructor or editor for specific expectations.
IEEE: appendices appear after references, labeled Appendix A, B, etc., following the conference or journal template. When in doubt, use the official style guide or contact the relevant authority. The cost of asking is low, and the cost of guessing wrong can be significant in terms of time lost to reformatting and revision cycles.
The key takeaway is that o apêndice fica de que lado is not a universal question with a single answer. It depends on the style guide, the institution, and sometimes the preferences of the individual reviewer. Treat it as a structural decision rather than an afterthought, and you will avoid most of the headaches that come with late-stage reformatting.
