Which caption is correct for Figure 2 according to standard caption formatting?

• A. Figure 2: The results of the experiment.
• B. Fig. 2: The results of the experiment.
• C. Figure 2: Results of the experiment.
• D. Figure 2: The results of the experiments.

Answer: (A)

Captions should present a clear label, the figure number, and a concise description as a complete sentence. The standard format uses the full word Figure, the figure number, a colon to separate the label from the caption, and a caption that is a complete sentence starting with a capital letter and ending with a period.

Figure 2: The results of the experiment. does this correctly: it uses the full label "Figure," the number, a colon, and a caption that is a complete sentence describing what the figure shows. The singular form "experiment" matches a single study depicted by the figure, and the capitalization after the colon signals a full sentence.

Using the abbreviated label ("Fig. 2") is less consistent across journals. A caption that starts with "Results of the experiment" lacks a complete sentence after the colon, and "the experiments" would imply multiple studies, which might not reflect the figure’s content.