Endfloat

Endfloat is a term used in LaTeX typesetting and manuscript preparation for a technique that defers the placement of floating figures and tables to the end of a document. It is commonly used to satisfy journal submission guidelines that require figures and tables to be provided as separate material or collected at the end, rather than embedded near where they appear in the text.

In practice, the endfloat package gathers all floats during compilation and replaces them in the text with placeholders, while moving the corresponding content to a dedicated end section at the document’s end. It can also generate lists of figures and tables that reflect their captions and page numbers.

Users can configure which kinds of floats are moved, such as figures, tables, or both, and decide the order of the end matter. Options may control whether placeholders appear in the text, and whether figures and tables are listed together or in separate lists. The package is designed to work with the caption and hyperref packages and may write end material to separate files.

Limitations include potential incompatibilities with other float-handling packages and document classes, possible disruption of cross-references, and the need to adjust for journals that do not accept endfloat formatting. Some publishers prefer endfloat to be disabled during production stages, and using it may require additional verification before final submission.

See also: LaTeX, float environments, caption package, journal submission guidelines.